Simon Says Stamp Favorite Things Release

Easter Zine created with the new BUNNY  BLESSINGS stamp set. 

Enjoy!

 

Simon Says: Tie It Up

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

This week the challenge is: TIE IT UP! (Use ribbon or twine)

TRUST YOUR HEART - DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING... 

It all starts with some stamping...a fun stamp design from Lynne Perrella and my favorite black ink from Simon. 

I hand lettered around the stamp with a black pen... 

 I decided to stencils dots around the edge of the design using Simon's Medium Dots stencil and texture paste. I'm mixing the Paper Artsy Infusions into the paste with a palette knife. Just remember, a small amount of powder goes a long ways!

I stenciled Golden Sands with the paste at the top, then worked into Orange County, finishing with Magenta. I discovered that it's rather hard to differentiate the colors once they were down, maybe due to the intensity of the powders.  Let this dry completely. 

Clean your stencils right away after using texture paste. 

 I wanted to add some Rusty Car Infusions, so spritzed the tag with water, then sprinkled some powder onto the tag. I wiped back with a baby wipe to let the dots show. I don't think I had thought ahead to how this would darken the tag, and I was disappointed that the color of the dots got lost.

Now it's time to TIE ON some hand dyed ribbon.  

The hand dyed ribbon is a blend of Simon's Pawsitively Saturated Sweets and Citrine. inks. 

I have a VIDEO to share with you on hand dyeing your own ribbon using Simon's inks and seam binding. ENJOY!

I added the Tim Holtz Quote Chip "TRUST YOUR HEART" to the bottom of the tag. 

Well, I thought I was finished with the tag, but as so happens with me from time to time, in the night I think of a way to change it up.

I decided to stamp the image again on watercolor paper, letter around the edge, color it a bit with markers, then fussy cut and pop it up.  I really struggle to work monochromatically - I have this need to add color!

 Details...

 TRUST YOUR HEART...Dance like nobody's watching

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

Supplies:

Paper Artsy Lynne Perrella LPM13 stamp

Paper Artsy Infusions - Rusty Car, Magenta, Golden Sands, Orange County 

Ranger Texture Paste Transparent Matte

Palette knife

Ranger Craft Sheet

Ranger Mister Bottle

Tim Holtz Quote Chips

Dina Wakley Mixed Media Tags

Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink

Simon Says Stamp Medium Dots Stencil

Simon Says Stamp Everyday Scissors

Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Inks - Sweets and Citrine

Canson Watercolor Paper

Foam Tape

Black pen

Heat It Tool

Seam Binding (similar)

Tombow Markers

Baby Wipes

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 .

Fun With Stencils

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

Please join me in welcoming back our guest designer for the month - Cassie Lynch aka mk_knits! You've seen her gorgeous work before, so get ready for lots more inspiration from Cassie.

At the beginning of each month we showcase a company, and this month it is STAMPERIA, a favorite of mine!

This week the challenge is: FUN WITH STENCILS

I came across an old kit from River City Rubber Works in my stash and thought it was perfect for this week's challenge. This is what happens when you finally clean out your craft space (well, mostly...) - you find some forgotten treasures to work with. 

Also, when I saw the Coffee and Chocolate paper from Stamperia, I knew I had to get it.  I do so love my coffee and chocolate!

I'VE ADDED A VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM, SO BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Starting off by scoring and folding the tags and cutting out snippets with my Simon scissors. The light tag becomes a holder for the pencil.

Stamperia has stencils that match their papers. I'm using Simon's Pawsitively Saturated Mocha ink, and one of their small blending brushes for my stenciling.

I added papers from Stamperia's Coffee and Chocolate line to the tag books, along with stenciled buts.

Outside papers...

Stenciling a tag for the front ...

....adding some hand dyed ribbon ( using the Mocha ink and seam binding), and creating a focal point for the cover. Add a stack of sticky notes inside the tag book.

Thread through more hand dyed ribbon to close the sticky note tag book.

For the second tag book, you cut a section of the tag off and into two pieces. Roll these and attach on opposite sides for the pencil.

I decided to do lots of stenciling on this one, and used both the Chocolate and Coffee stencils from Stamperia.

I added a few paper cut out embellishments from the line.

Also, I've distressed the edges of all papers and tags with the Mocha ink/

Inside with another "Latte tag" Adhere the sticky notes to the right hand side.

I added a bit of the hand dyed ribbon to the cover, and this one is held closed by the pencil.

The third book I made is a matchbook sticky note holder. I had to stencil doppio on the back, since that is my husband's favorite coffee.

Here are the backs of each of the three tag books.

Covers...

COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE TIME!

and...I've even put together a little video to take you through the tag books! 

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

Supplies:

Stamperia  Coffee and Chocolate Plates stencil

Stamperia Coffee and Chocolate Cappuccino stencil

Stamperia Coffee and Chocolate 8x8x paper

Stamperia Coffee and Chocolate Paper Cut Outs

Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Mocha ink

Simon Says Stamp Everyday Scissors 

Simon Says Stamp Small Blending Brush

Simon Says Stamp Place and Score Embellishment Wand

TIm Holtz Paper Trimmer

Bearly Art Precision Glue

3M Tape Glider

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Simon Says Stamp T Square Ruler

Variety of Tags - Black#10, Manila #10 tag, Kraft Medium size

Hand dyed ribbon

Sticky Notes

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 .

The VIEW, or Artful Adventures with Nathalie Kalbach!

I recently had the HONOR of being a guest teacher in Nathalie Kalbach's Artful Adventures/Stroll Through the Hood class! I created a collage in my art journal and made my first real video! YES! I am pretty proud of myself for figuring it out :)

If you want to see how I created it step by step, check out my video. I would love to get some feedback from you, so please leave a comment!

It's all based on Nat's new book, which I have read cover to cover.

If you haven't yet read it, here are my thoughts on it, which I shared on Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book for ideas, explanation of techniques, an insight into the artist and inspiration!

ByMaura Hibbittson May 27, 2017

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

Nathalie Kalbach has created a wonderful book that any mixed media artist would love to have in their library. She includes a thorough description of materials she uses along with an abundance of ideas and techniques sure to jumpstart your art or take you to the next level. Many ideas are shared on ways to explore and observe both where you live and places you visit around the globe, and then translate that into your own personal art. The book is filled with practical hands-on ideas, quotes and visuals which I found inspiring. Nathalie has an easy way of explaining things, for example relating colors to friends which gave me an "aha" moment as I read it. She shares many personal life experiences and insights that have helped shape her as an artist, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make Your Own Stamps!

Would you like an easy way to make your own stamps? These are simple to do and very inexpensive. The first part of the video is the how to make them, and the second part is where I share the ones I have made so far.

Enjoy!

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