Monday, March 25, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Emboss It Card using AALL & Create's Numberama Die Set

"Emboss it" is our theme this week over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I made a card with some hand-drawn marks that I heat-embossed and collaged together.


I started with the background, which I made with acrylic paint that I added water to and then sort of streaked and smeared up and down the page.  I also shook on some Infusions color stain, spritzed it with water, and moved that around the page with a wet brush so that it acted like watercolors.


And now for the embossing!  I love using embossing ink pens because they give you the freedom to draw whatever shape you want, and then you can add embossing powder and heat set it.  I did this with black plus-signs and white rings.


For the background of the card, I cut this fabulous funky-edged frame (Numberama from AALL & Create) out of Strathmore Mixed Media black paper.  I added some more heat-embossed white doodles to the black paper, then glued a piece of my painted paper and some embossed-paper scraps onto it.  I added some Distress Crayon and Distress Watercolor Pencil scribbles here and there for some more pops of color.


I cut an arch shape out of Dina Wakley's collage paper and glued that on top.  I added some more paint and then stamped on a Tim Holtz sentiment to finish off the card.


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

Embrace embossing this week and 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!




Monday, March 18, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Tea Bag Quote Ribbons

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is food and drink.  I decided to make some quote ribbons out of tea bags (imaginary drum roll) and here they are!


What in the world is a "tea bag quote ribbon" anyway?  Well, I decorated tea bags, cut them up, sewed them back together in a long ribbony shape and stuck quotes on them, hence the name.  I love using tea bags in my crafty creations because they have such great texture and are made to handle water and paint and whatever else you want to throw on them.  Yet they're still light and delicate enough to be able to do things that paper just can't do.  And so it began...

I started with a plain tea bag that you can make your own tea in (if you wanted to use them for their intended purpose, which I never have).  I cut the bag up the two longer sides, laid it out flat, and added some paint.


Next I shook on some Paper Artsy Infusions color stain, which I spritzed with water and then let dry.  Since the Infusions stain powder has little brown granules in it, it looks very tea-ish and right at home on a tea bag, in my opinion.


When that dried, I got things wet again by spritzing on some Distress Oxide sprays and scribbled around with Distress Watercolor Pencils, which I then added water to.


While all that was drying, I made another tea bag in tones of teals and greens and followed the same process.  Then I splattered on some Snow Cap Alcohol Ink Mixative for the white splotches.  My apologies for the blurriness of the photo!  It is not your eyes that are the problem; the problem was me snapping pictures too fast!


My next move was to cut the bags into four strips each.


Then I used my sewing machine to sew them back together end to end to form two long ribbons.  Just for funsies, I used red thread on one ribbon strip and black thread on the other.


I thought it would be nice to add some quotes to the ribbons, so I stamped this favorite quote onto a piece of fabric, which I then cut up and glued to one of the ribbons.  This quote comes from Tim Holtz's Purely Random stamp set - an oldie but a goodie.  If you're familiar with that set, my words are configured differently than the quote stamp because I cut the quote stamp up years ago so I could stretch the quote out longer if I wanted to or stamp the words to fit into different areas.  I used Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink, which works fine on fabric if you're not planning to wash it or use it on clothing-type stuff.


I stamped another sentiment from Tim's Theories stamp set onto fabric and cut that one out, too.  Then I glued the long quote to the green ribbon and the other quote to the pink ribbon.  The green ribbon quote was too long to show adequately in a photo, but you get the gist of how it looked.


Once these ribbons are done, you can use them in all sorts of projects.  To store them, you can wind them around thread spools or old button cards or whatever you want to wrap them around, but I decided to whip out the Spellbinders Stitched with Love Bobbin die and stamp set to make cute little cards to hold these ribbons.  I cut the bobbin cards, stamped them, and colored them with some paint.


My ribbon and their holders were done!


Was this the easiest way in the world to make ribbon?  Um, no.  But that's not why we make things.  We make things because we know we will FEEL something at the end of it...even if it costs us ten times more and twenty times longer to make than if we would've just bought it, right?  Yes!  So craft on!  It's worth the struggle and it's worth the investment of YOU to make something that didn't exist before.  

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

Be sure to upload your projects that tie into the food/drink theme to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for your chance to feel that sense of accomplishment and to be entered to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.





Monday, March 11, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: A Bit o' Green Card using Tim Holtz's Noble Gent Stamp Set

 With St. Patrick's Day upon us, this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is "A Bit o' Green."  Can you spot my nod to the holiday?


I started by cutting a rounded rectangle shape with a die set from Avery Elle (Pierced Rounded Frames).  I stamped some circles onto it (courtesy of Darkroom Door's Open Circles stamp set) and painted them green.  Then I stamped one of the noble gent images onto a piece of Tim Holtz Backdrops paper (volume 4).


Next I cut a frame out of Dina Wakley's Collage Sparks book, collection 3.  I also cut a hat out of Vicki Boutin's Warm Wishes paper and stamped the word "imagination" onto a piece of paper.  The word was curved in the stamp set, but you can usually bend and straighten out a curved stamp long enough to stamp it straight-ish.


I added more colors and scraps to the card.  Since I wanted it to have a St. Patrick's Day vibe, I drew a clover and cut it out.  Then I noticed that I had a stamp that said "clover" as part of the Concord & 9th Swatchbook stamp set, so I added that on as well.  Done!


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

Happy St. Patrick's Day wishes to you and we're excited to see how you incorporate green into your projects 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!




Monday, March 4, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Bright and Cheerful Notebook using Seth Apter's Eclectica ESA34 Stamp Set

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme was right up my alley: Bright and Cheerful.  We're also featuring products from Paper Artsy, so I utilized some Infusions and one of the talented Seth Apter's Eclectica stamp sets.


I started with a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper that I cut to the size of the notebook I planned to cover.  I put down a base coat of white acrylic paint, then added some Dina Wakley Raspberry acrylic paint and smooshed it around with water.  Next I shook on some Are You Cerise Infusions stain and spritzed it with water.


When that dried, I added more white paint on top in a few places and when that dried, I added some yellows, neon pink and neon orange acrylic paint on top of the white.  While that was drying, I used AALL & Create's SkyCrossed Paradise die set to cut some X's, which I painted.  I also tore off a piece of Dina Wakley ledger paper.


I glued the ledger paper down, then stamped a scribble shape onto it using Ranger Jet Black Archival ink and one of the stamps from Seth Apter's ESA34 stamp set.  From that same stamp set, I stamped the word "Storyteller" from a word collage and cut it out.  I outlined my X's with a black Sharpie to make them stand out a little more.


I glued the "Storyteller" word onto the bottom of my notebook cover, then went back and cut out one more X and painted it to add to the cover as well.  I sewed my collage to the notebook cover and scribbled around the edges with Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks.  I also drew circles around my orange dots with a black pen to make them stand out.  This notebook cover was done!


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

I love seeing bright and cheerful stuff, so 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!




Monday, February 26, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Fur or Feathers Bear Tag using Honey Bee's Heart Hugs Die Set

"Fur or Feathers" is this week's intriguing Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme.  It seemed like the perfect time to try out the adorable Honey Bee Heart Hugs die set, which is where my bear came from.


I started by cutting out a tag using Waffle Flowers' Nested Tags die and Strathmore Mixed Media paper (I know, I know.  What else is new?).  I stamped the tag with circles (Darkroom Door's Open Circles stamp set), then painted some of them in.  Next I grabbed some Lemoncello Infusions, sprayed that on and spritzed the whole thing with water.  When that dried, I added some Dina Wakley acrylic paint in Turquoise and Olive.  While that dried, I cut my bear out of Distress Heavystock and added some paint around the edges and some text to the bottom of him.  I cut out a heart (also from the Honey Bee die set), made my own crown, and cut a wreath shape from Tim Holtz's Vault Funky Floral Wreath dies.  I cut off all of the leaves so it just looked like circles and I painted that, too.


I glued everything together, then stamped a "leap and the net will appear" sentiment from Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set and added that as the final element.  I don't know-- this bear looked so hopeful that I thought that sentiment would give him strength for whatever he was gathering the courage to do!


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

We're excited to see your creations this week and whether you go the fur or feathers route.  Upload your projects to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!



Monday, February 19, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Not a Card Notebook Cover using Seth Apter's ESA34 Stamp

"Not a Card" is this week's theme for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  You know I can't get enough of nifty little notebooks, so that's what I made for my project.


I started by painting a piece of paper using watercolors, Infusions stain, acrylic paint, and even some alcohol ink.  I've done these painty backgrounds a lot and have been a fan of Infusions color stain for several years, but I hadn't thought to use watercolors and alcohol ink together.  The green dots are from Alcohol Ink Pearls (Sublime) and the white dots are from Alcohol Ink Mixative (Snow).  Credit for this intriguing idea goes to Roben Marie Smith.  She's got a great video on Youtube about her process.  Here's how my background turned out:


I cut a piece of this background that was the same size as my store-bought notebook.  Then I stamped this black archway onto it using a stamp from Seth Apter's ESA34 stamp set.  The words "Magical" and "Doorway" also came from this stamp set, though I cut them out of a text section he had and put them together in a different order.  After all, what's better (or potentially more disastrous) than a magical doorway?  I also cut some scraps, ripped some patterned paper, and painted a bit more.


After I had the base layer done, it was just a matter of gluing stuff on, which I did.  Once my cover was looking decent, I sewed it to the cover of my store-bought notebook using my sewing machine.  I added some more acrylic paint and scribbling and this little notebook was done!


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

What will you make that's not a card?  We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with!  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.