Take Me For a Ride

Hello Monday my friends! Welcome back to this week's challenge - TAKE ME FOR A RIDE at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I hope you have had a lovely week enjoying summer. I had many ideas for this week's challenge, from bicycles to trucks to hot air balloons, but then I remembered my ride on an elephant...

Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Sandra Rupp, srpaperlove, our June guest designer, this week. I have really enjoyed having you with us this month Sandra, and the wonderfully creative approach you took for our challenges.  I am looking forward to seeing more of your beautiful work, and wish you the best!!

When I came across this saying from Bill Murray "They say an elephant never forgets. What they don't tell you is, you NEVER forget an elephant." Elephants are such beautiful and majestic creatures, I love watching them. And then, I got to ride one in India...and the rest they say is history, LOL! Truly, it was a life experience and one I will never forget. 

Elephant Ride

The elephant stamp I used is very large, and I don't have any blocks big enough to use. Also, since this was getting stamped directly into the journal, I couldn't use a stamp press. I also know I often have to stamp repeatedly to get a total image. So, what I tried was sticking the stamp to the opposite page, closing the pages and pressing down from the other side. I did this three times, and it came out clear...I was pleasantly surprised. 

There are so many bright colors in India, I wanted to capture some of that, so used stencils and Oxide inks in pinks and oranges around the elephant. 

I swiped the ink pads down the other page, not really sure what I wanted to do, other than echo the colors. 

I lightened the page with some Heather paint (just rubbed it in), then a bit of stenciling to tie the pages together. I hand lettered the saying. 

Over on the elephant side, I used colored pencils to color in the elephant. Again, I wanted to use a variety of bright colors. 

I added some gold touches too. 

So...my interpretation of this week's challenge was to "take me for an elephant ride", an experience I will never forget!

Now, it's your turn to interpret our them this week and share your creation with us! Our generous friends at Simon Says Stamp have a $25 shopping voucher to give away!

SUPPLIES:

Pink Ink Designs Elephant clear stamps	Simon Says Stamp Stencil LARGE MOROCCAN ssst121345 Pure Sunshine	Simon Says Stamp Square Dance stencil	Faber Castell - Polychromos Colored Pencils	Dyan Reavely Dylusions Art Journal
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ripe Persimmon	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide SPICED MARMALADE	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad ABANDONED CORAL Ranger TDO55778	Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Black	Ranger Dina Wakley HEATHER 10 oz Media Acrylic Paint
ranger mini round ink blender	ranger mister bottle	Uniball Signo Gold Pen	Black Sharpie Fine Point Pen	Tim Holtz Grid Acrylic Blocks
Ranger HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL

A GREAT place to shop!!

Simon is on Instagram - use #sssmchallenge

Head on over to take a ride with the design team!