My Cards and Tags: Tags Using My Favorite Things' Rolled Rose Die

This past week my garden (and I use that term loosely) showed off its first Crocus of the season!  I have to believe that Spring is getting closer (despite the hail storm that followed my Crocus sighting).  To give us all hope, the theme this week for our Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "Beautiful Blooms."  

I started with two tags cut from Strathmore Mixed Media paper.  I inked up a Jumbo Plaid stamp from The Stamp Market with a few different colors of Distress Ink, then spritzed the stamp with water and stamped it onto my tags.

I followed that up with more stamping using The Stamp Market's Criss Cross stamp and Flora and Fauna's Texture 5 set (the plus signs).  I added in some different colors with Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels, then I made some dots with a polka dot stencil and white paint.

I love color and patterns, but I wasn't liking how these tags looked, especially when I knew I'd be adding more colorful flowers on top.  So, as I always do when things are looking too crazy, I covered up most of my work with a palette knife and white paint.  I know, I know.  Why do all that work only to cover it up?  I didn't intend to, but when I don't like how something's going, white paint saves the day.  And all that work I did does still contribute to the layering and overall visual effect.

While my tags were drying, I made my flowers.  I cut them out of some collaged paper I had made for another project and after I rolled them into their rose shapes, I smooshed them down a bit so they didn't look so perfect and uniform.  Then I cut some hydrangea petals out of text paper to use as leaves for the roses.

I added some color back to the edges of my tags with acrylic paint and glued on my flowers, cutting thin stems for them out of black cardstock.  I also added a bit of stamping back on with the Criss Cross pattern.

I added some pink and white paint to my roses and then used some Infusions powder stain on the bottom of my tags to represent dirt.  I also stamped on some tiny-print words by my stems using a Paper Artsy stamp (EEA03).  I added some Bingo-style numbers from Inky Antics' Circles and Frames stamp set.

Here's a closer look at my flowers:

I hope wherever you are, there are signs of beautiful blooms on their way!

Here are the products I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

My Favorite Things Rolled Rose Die	Simon Says Stamp Hydrangea Petals die	Tim Holtz Stacked Tags Thinlits Die	The Stamp Market Criss Cross Background Stamp	The Stamp Market Jumbo Plaid Background Stamp
Flora and Fauna Textures Five Clear Stamps	Inky Antics Circles and Frames stamp set	Paper Artsy Eclectica Everything Art 03 Stamp Set	Strathmore Mixed Media Paper	Sizzix Big Shot
Dina Wakley Spaced Dots Stencil	Dina Wakley Palette Knife	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley UMBER Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dina Wakley Ranger Night Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley OCEAN heavy body acrylic paints	Dylusions Paint - London Blue	https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/product/Paper-Artsy-ROCKY-ROAD-Infusions-Colored-Stain-CS20-CS20PA
Paper Artsy A BIT JADED Infusions Colored Stain	Salty Ocean - Distress Ink	Picked Raspberry - Distress Ink	Squeezed Lemonade - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad LUCKY CLOVER Ranger
Tim Holtz Distress Twisted Citron Ink Pad	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID LAGOON	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ABANDONED CORAL	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad

I'm excited to see your interpretation of our theme this week!  Upload your masterpieces to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp.

My Other Creations: Journal Page using Dina Wakley's Positive Women and Inky Antics' Branching Out

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is, "Down on the Farm."  I thought first of farmers.  I have always been so impressed with those that can coax fruits and vegetables and flowers out of the ground.  I made a journal page to honor such green-thumbed wonders.

I started with a Creative Journal by Dyan Reaveley, whose pages hold up nicely to paint and water.  I stamped some branches onto the page after masking off an area where I wanted my girl to be.  I stamped the branches with Ranger Jet Black Archival and then colored them in with Prima watercolor pencils and blended the colors with water.  The purple on the side of the page is actually over-spray from the page next to it, but it seemed to work okay with this one.  Once the watercoloring was dry, I stamped on my girl.

Next I stenciled some white polka dots on the girl and added acrylic paint.  I also did some coloring and smearing and smudging with Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels.  I cut some scallops from Dina Wakley's Collage Collective book and glued them to the bottom.

I typed the sentiment with my We R Memory Keepers typewriter and added it to the front.  I also stamped the word "Earth" at the bottom with Inky Antics' Quirky Alphabet.  At that point, I was going to add more, but I challenged myself to leave some white space for once, so I called it done.

I enjoyed this project and using these fab supplies that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Dina Wakley Positive Women Stamp Set	Inky Antics Branching Out stamp set	Inky Antics Quirky Alphabet Clear Stamp Set	prima marketing the basics watercolor pencils 576714	Prima Flowers ARTIST QUALITY OIL PASTEL CRAYONS
Dyan Reaveley SMALL CREATIVE JOURNAL Ranger Dylusions	Altenew Halftone Stencil	Dina Wakley Collage Collective	We R Memory Keepers Mint Typewriter	Tim Holtz Distress Crayons SET 3
Dina Wakley TANGERINE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Acrylic Blocks: Couture Creations

I'm excited to see how you incorporate the farm into your projects this week!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.