Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Bird Tag using Dina Wakley's Nested Birds Stamp Set

Welcome to another week and another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week's theme is insects/birds.  I'd been looking for the perfect chance to use Dina Wakley's Nested Birds stamp set, so this was it.  And hold on to your hats because I forced myself NOT to use any fluorescent colors this time!  I know!  Hopefully the world will continue to revolve without me having touched my beloved hot pink on this project.

One of my favorite quick and dirty (literally dirty -- I have to clean the stamp pretty well after this one) background techniques is to take a rubber stamp, smear paint onto it, spray a bit of water on it, then stamp my image onto some hearty paper (like Strathmore Mixed Media).

This technique works well if your stamp has a lot of red rubber.  It won't work too great with stamps that are just lines.  You need some rubber for that paint to stick to and then moisten up on when you spritz it.  I love this stamp from Tim Holtz's Remnants stamp set for this technique.  Here's how it looks after I stamped it.  And you get 3-4 good stampings off one application of paint.

While that dried, I stamped and fussy-cut out one of Dina's birds.  I painted it and cobbled together a nest from some paper scraps I had lying around and some of Tim Holtz's fabric tape.  I also added some embroidery floss to my nest.  When my stamped images don't come out dark enough, I draw over the stamp lines with a black ballpoint pen or a Sharpie.

I cut my background paper into a tag shape, glued some text scraps around the edges, and smeared on some more paint.  Then I found a plaid paper frame scrap that I thought would do nicely here.  I also made a crown for my bird.

I glued all my elements onto my tag and added the word "bird" that I typed out on an old typewriter.  I outlined my tag with Umber paint and this project was done!

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

Dina Wakley Nested Birds Stamp Set	Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous REMNANTS	Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits Tag Collection dies	Strathmore Mixed Media 6x8 Paper	Simple Stories Family Fun 12x12 Paper Pack	Tim Holtz Ideaology Fabric Tape	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint
Dina Wakley Ranger Blushing acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger SEDONA 1OZ Media Acrylic Paints mdq59844	Dina Wakley Marine Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Turquoise paint	Dina Wakley Ranger LAPIS 1 oz Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger ELEPHANT 1 oz Media Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Umber acrylic paint	Black Permanent Sharpie Marker	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink

Will you be inspired by birds or insects this week?  We're excited to see your projects either way.  Be sure to upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: House on Wheels using Tim Holtz's Sizzix Village Collection and Theories Stamp Set

"Transport It" is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme, so I thought to myself, why not make a house on wheels?  I always love a good quirky house!

I started this project with Strathmore Mixed Media paper (nice and sturdy), my Sizzix Big Shot, and Tim Holtz's Village Collection die set from Sizzix.  The village set is a costly investment as far as dies go, but there are about a billion dies in the set, so it justifies the price in my opinion.  I also liked how you could get the whole village (towers, add-on's -- everything) in one big hurrah.  That saved me from having to obsess about if/when subsequent village sets would be made available.

Once I had the pieces cut (I did trim down the side wall pieces and my roof so my house would be narrow enough to fit on my thread spool wheels), I painted over all the pieces with a layer of white acrylic paint.  Then I stamped images onto the pieces using Dina Wakley's You are the Universe stamp set and also glued on some patterned paper scraps.

And then, you know how I do!  Paint, paint, paint.

I assembled the house and found myself at this point:

I decided it needed a scallop overhanging part, so I cut out a scallop edge and painted it.  I stuck it onto my house with foam dots for a little more dimension.  Next I painted a piece of cardboard for my house to sit on.  I threaded a thick wire through the base and stuck it all the way through the inside of my house with the wire poking up through the roof.  I also made my little flag banner that would fly from the wire.

I assembled everything (added some yarny bits to my wire) and wah-la!  This house was ready to roll!  Here's a side view:

And this is what the back looks like:

The shift key image was cut from a fabric scrap I've had in my stash forever.

And here's that fabulous sentiment that flies above my house (from Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set):

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

tim-holtz-sizzix-village-collection-thinlits-dies-665564	Stamper′s Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Theories	Dina Wakley You are the Universe Stamp Set	Honey Bee Harvest Festival 6x6 Paper Pad	Reverse Confetti 6X6 Free Spirit Paper	Craft Consortium Wood Textures 6x6 Paper	Best Creation Big Circles 3D Foam Tape Adhesive
Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger BLACKBERRY 1OZ Media Acrylic Paints MDQ53958	Dina Wakley Ranger NIGHT acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ocean Paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Carnation Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dylusions Tropical Sangria	ranger archival jet black ink pad	Strathmore Mixed Media 6x8 Paper

We are excited to see how you interpret our "transport it" theme this week!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.