Love Potion Number 9

 

 Hello Monday my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  Food and/or Drink Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

Please join me in welcoming our guest designer for this month, Laura Cassina! I know you will enjoy her creative takes on our challenges. Welcome Laura!

This week the challenge is: LOVE IS IN THE AIR

We are showcasing the awesome products from Paper Artsy this week, and we would love to see you use your Paper Artsy stash if you have any! 

LOVE POTION #9

How could I resist creating a love potion with Paper Artsy stamp sets by Gwen Lafleur, and these adorable Love Birds! I went for bright colors filled with sunshine and love.

I began by stamping the test tube and stand onto a tag using distress ink.

I used watercolor to do the test tube and stand then stamped the quote and dog heart. But...I messed up the stamping of those. No worries, there is always a way around it - I'll just stamp it on another paper and cover it up!

I added watercolor to the background, trying not to touch the images, as I was using water soluble inks. I think I have been missing the sun lately, as I've noticed myself reaching for yellow lately.

I love this new technique to add texture to watercolor that I learned from Joanne Sharpe recently. Mix a few drops of dish soap with water, dip in an old toothbrush, and tap, tap, tap. It's a great way to add splatters to the watercolor. (mine was partially dry, but you can also do it on dry watercolor) Leave it on for a bit, then lay a paper towel over it, press down, and lift off the color where the soap and water were.

I blended around the edges of the tag with Simon's Sweets ink. I really love how yellow, orange and pink blend together.

I popped the birds, dog, and quote. I restamped the pup and words onto a piece of gel printed paper I had in my stash. The love birds I had already stamped and colored a long time ago. I keep my extras in with the stamps or dies, so when I pull them out I can find them. It makes it easy to do a bunch at once and have them on hand. If I remember correctly, I colored the birds with watercolor too. 

So, are our love birds in a tiff and don't want to think of each other? Do they both love their friend Simon? 

Have the love birds taken the potion yet?

I felt like the tag needed a bit more, and the stamped hearts did the trick. 

Then, s song stuck in my head...Love Potion Number 9...so I had to add that in too. I used an alphabet stamp set on a scrap of gel print.

And, Couldn't resist adding in this cute Simon!

Love is in the Air! 

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Paper Artsy Eclectica Gwen Lafleur EGL30 stamp set

Paper Artsy Jofy JM20 Lovebirds 

Paper Artsy Minis MN109

Simon Says Stamp/Whimsy Pawsitively Awesome stamp set

Simon Says Stamp Sweets Pawsitively Saturated ink

Simon Says Stamp Black Dye ink

Simon Says Stamp Small Blending Brush Cheeky

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Scissors

Tim Holtz Ground Espresso distress ink

Alte New Tropical Fiesta Watercolor Brush Markers

Prima Water Brush

Dina Wakley Media Assorted Tags

Simon Says Stamp Big Momma Foam Tape

Heat It tool

paper towel

gel print scraps

Alphabet stamps

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .

Earl Greyer at the Papercut Cafe

 Hello Monday my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  Beautiful Blooms Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

It's been wonderful having Monica with us this month, sharing her gorgeous makes! Be sure to keep checking back to see what she is creating at My Bonnet Bee.

This week the challenge is: FOOD AND/OR DRINK

I had so much fun combining new Tim Holtz dies with an image I cut out of a tea catalog, to create a proper gentleman's tea time. Earl Greyer and his gentleman friend are off to the Papercut Cafe for a nice cup of pipping hot Earl Grey tea today.

I started by piecing together the cups from the Tim Holtz Papercut Cafe set. My go to glue for detail glueing lately is the Bearly Art Precision Glue - I love the tiny nozzle for small bits. The Simon Says Stamp Reverse Tweezers were a great aid also in picking up and placing the small pieces of the cups.

 In the journal, my first layer were torn strips of the Tim Holtz Background Papers. Then, I covered this with clear gesso and let that dry.

Next, I stenciled Umber paint with the Simon Says Stamp Large Moroccan stencil and dried that with the heat tool. 

I layered Lemon, Cheddar and White acrylic paints over the background. I decided to blend with my fingers and a baby wipe.

I decided to make more of a focal area in the center, so I went around the edges with more white and some umber paint.

Then, I laid out my images to create my design and glued them in place.

I noticed the steam on the top cup didn't show up well, so I blended some white paint around it to make it pop more.

I like the contrast between the dark silhouettes and the bright paints.

I scrubbed back the paint in some areas, so the background papers would show through. One advantage of using clear gesso is that you can scrub back layers more easily. 

I used patterned paper for the cups for added interest. (Tim's Background Papers)

I had just received a tea catalog in the mail, and thought the tea canister image would be a nice addition to my page. I like the contrast between all the colors and patterns and the gentlemen.

Well, now I am ready to go to my favorite tea house after working on this! Since it's snowing, I'll just have to brew a cuppa at home. 

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Dylusions Creative Journal

Tim Holtz Sizzix Papercut Cafe dies

Tim Holtz Sizzix Gentlemen dies

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Backdrops Volume 2

Tim Holtz Classic Kraft paper

Simon Says Stamp Large Moroccan stencil

Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints - Umber, Lemon, Cheddar, White

Bearly Precision Art Glue

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Scissors

Simon Says Stamp Reverse Tweezers

Ranger Clear Gesso 

Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway

Heat It tool

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .

BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS

 

 Hello Monday my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  4 Legged Animals  Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is: Beautiful Blooms

I went for a vintage distressed look for my card this week. I started with some ink smooshing, then stamped over that with the same ink and Simon's Old Letter 1878 stamp (one of my favorite layering stamps) on a slimline card. 

I wanted to brighten it up, so blended in some of Simon's Pawsitively saturated inks with their small blending brushes.

I decided I needed a lighter area for my stamped image, so to figure out where the paint needed to go, I lightly stamped the flower image, then blended paint over that with my fingers.

Once the paint dried, I stamped the image again. Now, it stands out more.

I colored the flower with ink and blending brushes. Then, I dabbed glue in a couple of areas and applied metallic flakes using Simon's Reverse Tweezer, which worked really well to help me place the pieces.

I brushed off the flakes, leaving only the areas with the glue. I also decided to add in a bit more color to the flower, so added a bit more with Scribble Sticks.

I added a touch of white to the flower with a pen to bring out some more detail.

Final step, some of Tim Holtz's Big Chat stickers that I blended a bit of ink onto, then doodled around them with a black pen. Flowers definitely have their beautiful moments of glory!

May all your moments be beautiful this week, and let's bloom with creativity!

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Botanic Collage stamp set

Simon Says Stamp Old Letter 1878

Tim Holtz IdeaCitrine-ology Big Chat stickers

Prima Art Ingredients Steampunk Metal Flakes

Simon Says Stamp Slimline card

Simon Says Stamp Black Dye ink

Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated inks -  Citrine, Field, Grapefruit

Simon Says Stamp Small Blending Brushes

Simon Says Stamp Reverse Tweezers

Tim Holtz Ground Espresso distress ink

Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks

Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints - White, Lemon

Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte

Tim Holtz Splatter Brush

Pens - Black, White

Heat It Tool 

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .