Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs Release!

Simon Says Stamp Painted Christmas Wreath stamp

 Hello Creative friends! I have two makes to share with you for the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs release. I've worked in my art journal with both of these, but they could be easily made as cards for the holidays too. Let me share how I made these with you.

TIS THE SEASON WREATH

To create this look, I used Simon's small blending brush to add the Pawsitively Saturated inks directly onto the stamp. I spritzed it with water, then stamped into the art journal. The saying is stamped with Simon;s Premium black dye ink. 

Next, I laid the Simon Floating Leaves stencil on the page and blended yellow and orange inks into it with blending brushes.

Final step - I decided I wanted more holly leaves popped up in the corners, so followed the same method, stamping on watercolor paper and fussy cutting them out.

A seasonal art journal page, but this could be framed as a home decor piece or turned into a card.

SANTA SEASON

I decided to try something a bit different on these pages. The stamp has three parts to it - the wreath, the saying, and a piece that fit between like a puzzle piece. I took this odd piece of rubber and stamped it repeatedly with several inks.

Then, I overstepped it with Simon Says Stamp's Old Letter 1878 stamp.

I used the blending tools, and rubbed color into the shapes.

I liked this as a background page, but decided to go further. 

I stenciled 24 and 25 using Simon's Bold Number stencil and stamped the saying onto Simon's Bright Yellow card stock, and popped it.

I felt like it needed more, so added some doodles. I wasn't really happy with this result.

So, when things don't turn out as you want them to, just go in and add paints and whitewash it. The designs are still there, but very muted now. Then I stenciled in white dots for snow.

Coming back to this the following day, I still felt like something was missing. So I sketched a Santa and sleigh to come off the corner of the page.

I colored this with Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor pencils and fussy cut it. Then, I added some Glossy Accents and Simon's Unicorn Confetti to make it look like Santa was flying by December 24 and 25.

Details...you can still see bits of the original  layers.

Tis the Season! 

It is always interesting to see where my muse takes me. On this project, I ended up in a completely different place than anticipated. I love knowing I can change something just by adding another layer or two and make it completely new. 

Enjoy the new COZY HUGS release from Simon Says Stamp!

Maura