SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - WHATEVER THE WEATHER

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE

It's my final week as Guest Designer for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and it's been an honour to have been part of this great challenge for the whole of April.  

The challenge theme this week is Whatever the Weather.  Spring is definitely on our minds as we hopefully turn to warmer weather here in the UK and the birds on their nests.  

I started my card with spritzing some Tim Holtz Distress Oxides direct to the card to give a mottled effect.  I then used the Tim Holtz stencil with Speckled Egg to create the extra markings.  I wanted it to look a little bit like a birds nest - all jumbled together.   

I added a stamp from Alison Bombers set Winter Grasses for Paper Artsy stamps just behind the die cut of the feather.  

The die cuts are from Tim Holtz Thinlets set Funky Nature - I just love the addition of the feathers and the eggs in that set.  The little bird is one of Tracy Evan's Boutique Designs stamp set New Beginnings which I stamped and cut out and tucked behind the eggs. 

The sentiment is from another Tracy set with an additional quote from Tim Holtz Ideaology cuttings book. It doesn't show up very well on the picture but I also stamped the quote New Beginnings on the right hand side of the card and embossed it in white embossing powder - to give extra texture. 

Stamps - Tracy Evans Boutique Designs - The Wonder of Nature - TE14

                Tracy Evans Boutique Designs - New Beginnings TE004

        

                Paper Artsy Alison Bomber Winter Grasses - EAB42

Stencil -     Tim Holtz Doodle and Bubble 

Dies -         Tim Holtz Funky Nature thinlets 

Inks -         Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray - Speckled Egg 

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Bundled Sage 

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Evergreen Bough

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Frayed Burlap

                    Versafine Clair - Pinecone 

                    Posca Fine White Paint Parker 

Sentiment -     Tim Holtz Ideaology clippings Small Talk 

Embossing Powder - Ranger White 

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - BLOOMING BLOOMS - AURICULA

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I am delighted to be Guest Designer again for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and our challenge this week is Blooming Blooms.  I chose some of the new stamps by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs for my card.

The background was created first with the gel press and some distress paint by Tim Holtz.  I gently brayered Salvaged Patina and Peeled Paint over the gel press and you just never know what you'll get which is part of the fun.  I was happy with the background colours and added some extra detail with the Fronds Snippet Stencil by Tracy in Peeled Paint again. 

Once the background was completely dry I used one of Tracy's Stamps called Take Flight embossed in white to add some more interest to the background behind the flower.

The flower stamp is called Alpine Plant and I stamped this and fussy cut it to add some layers to the piece. It was coloured in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils.

Behind the flower in its cute pot I added another stamp, a persicaria flower, by Tracy from the set Delight in Nature.  The sentiment which is from New Beginnings has been stamped on a piece of calico from my stash in Versafine Nocturne. 

Stamps used - Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Design in Nature TE13

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs New Beginnings TE004

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Take Flight - TE009

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Alpine Plant - TE 001

Stencil            Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Fronds Snippet Stencil SS5 

Paints -            Tim Holtz Distress Paint Salvaged Patina 

                        Tim Holtz Distress Paint Old Paper 

Inks -             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray - Iced Spruce 

                       Versafine Clair Shady Lane

                       Versafine Clair Nocturne

                       Versamark Embossing Ink Pad

                       Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils my sets used are 1, 4 and 5 

Embossing 

Powder            Ranger Embossing Powder Cottontail

Tools                Gel Press 5 x 7 

                         Speedball Brayer - 4 inch 

Every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a $25 voucher to spend at  Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - TREATS

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I'm delighted to be Guest Designer again this week for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  The challenge this week is treats.  I just adore Anita Jeram - my kids read her books when they were young and I now read them to my grandkids.  I even have a mug with some characters on.  So when I saw this set over at Simon Says Stamp and the little treat jar it was a must have! It's called Treat Yourself. 

I wanted to keep the colours fairly close to Anita's own style of soft colours.  I stamped the dogs first on some water colour paper in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I stamped the treat jar and then restamped it and fussy cut it to add a bit more interest.  I carefully added some clean water around the dogs then used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint for the background.

For colouring the dogs I used the following Distress Oxides with a very small paint brush -  Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy, Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain, Saltwater Taffy

The little treat jar was coloured in Salty Ocean, Saltwater Taffy and Rusty Hinge. 

I used Versafine  Clair Morning Mist stamped off for the Yummy sentiment and Pinecone for the main sentiment. 

Supplies used:

Stamps -     Anita Jeram Stamps Treat Yourself 

Inks     

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy

             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Salty Ocean

             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Peeled Paint

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Brushed Corduroy

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Black Soot

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pumice Stone

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Walnut Stain

           Versafine Clair -  Nocturne

            Versafine Clair   Pinecone 

            Versafine Clair   Morning Mist

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

I'm adding this into the following:

4 Season - Animals 

Dragonfly Dreams - Animals 

Stamping Sensations - Animals 

SimplyCreate2 - Furry Animals 

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - A TAG SHOWCASING STUDIO LIGHT

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I am delighted to have been asked to be Guest Designer for the month of April for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  

Our first challenge for this month is a Tag showcasing Studio Light.  I must admit this is not a company I have heard of before so it was exciting to be using some new stamps.  My eye was immediately drawn to this gorgeous Thistle stamp set with the gorgeous thistle and the extra images of the bird and the ladybird.  A set that is right up my mixed media street!  I had a great time playing with this set and as well as the project for the challenge I also did a few more which I've added below. 

For my tag for this Monday challenge I did the following:

I used some watercolour paper from my stash for the tag which measures approximately 6" x 3 ".

I started off by smooshing some inks for my background - drying in between until I was happy with the results.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers and Distress Oxide Twisted Citron.  I then stamped the thistle stamp in Versafine Clair Nocturne and used some black embossing powder to make it pop.  

I coloured some ribbon from my stash with the Wilted Violet and added some wording from an old dictionary I use for my mixed media with the word Thistle on it.  I also stamped the little ladybird next to the thistle.  

Some Distress Oxide in Black Soot and some twine from my stash which was inked with the Wilted Violet finished off this tag.

Products Used:

Stamps - Studio Light Thistle 

Inks -      Tim Holtz Distress Ink Wilted Violet 

                Tim Holtz Distress Ink Peacock Feathers 

                Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Twisted Citron     

                Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Black Soot 

                Versafine Clair Nocturne

Embossing Powder - Spellbinders Black

I also had a play with this set on a canvas which measures 7" x 5".  I love working on canvases of this size and it makes a change from cards.  I brayered Old Paper Distress Oxide and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide onto the canvas.  I used a Tim Holtz Dot Fade stencil with some Tim Holtz Crackle Paste to add a bit more texture.  I used a Tim Holtz word stencil with some Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina to some of the corners.  The numbers are from the same stencil which were inked in Pumice Stone.

I then stamped the thistle stamp with Versafine Clair Pinecone.  I stamped the bird separately and cut it out layering it onto some cheesecloth material which has also been stamped with the extra dots stamp that is in the set.  I added some twine as a branch for the bird to rest on. The quote is from an old Tim Holtz Ideaology book Small Talk and thought it suited this as I was trying to work with just this one set and not throw a load of products at my canvas like I usually do. 

Here is what I used on my extra canvas project:

Stamps - Studio Light Thistle 

Inks  - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina 

           Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pumice Stone

           Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Old Paper

           Tim Holtz Distress Ink Weathered Wood

           Tim Holtz Distress Ink Scorched Timber 

           Versafine Clair Pinecone

Stencils - Tim Holtz Dot Fade 

                 Tim Holtz Mini Stencil set 49

Media - Tim Holtz Crackle Paste Opaque 

I had one more play with a tag using a simple watercolour technique.  I inked the stamp with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Peeled Paint and Dusty Concord - gave it a spritz of water and stamped it onto watercolour paper.  Once it was dry and I added some Distress Oxide Antique Linen to the background and Distress Oxide Iced Spruce to the edges.  A simple CAS tag which allows this lovely stamp to shine. 

Inks - 

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide  Peeled Paint 

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Dusty Concord

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Antique Linen

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Iced Spruce 

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

I'm adding this into the following:

Ellibelles Wednesday - AG 

Stamping Sensations - Flowers 

We love 2 Create - AG Mixed Media 

Allsorts - AG 

Outlawz - Not a Card