Thankful

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

This week the challenge is: THANKS/THANKSGIVING

The fall colors this year inspired me to created this art journal page. I am thankful for autumn and fall and my time to enjoy it even more now that I am retired. I love watching the trees change from greens to yellows, oranges, reds, and rust. There is a distinctive odor in fall that just makes me stop and take it in. I am thankful for my time to enjoy fall.

I began by laying the stencil on the page and going around it with the inks to create a frame. Once I had the general dimensions, I took the stencil away and blended some more to get a soft edge. I used the Tim Holtz mini round ink blender for this step.

I 

Next, I laid the Autumn Cascade stencil (one with the large openings) onto the page and blended a variety of fall colored inks into the design. I would lift it carefully to check underneath, trying to make sure I covered the entire design. I also decided to blend a bit more ink into the frame corners for a round effect.

I matched the second stencil in the set over the first layer, and added detail with the purple ink. It's surprising how much purple you can see in the fall when you look for it.

To frame the design a bit more, I stamped stitching into two corners with purple and the Stitches stamps.

Here is where we are at so far...

Next, I used a set of alphabet stamps to add the word thankful. I wanted to follow the curve of the design, but I think it reads a bit wonky.

I dug through some older paper dolls I had in my stash and found these two cuties. I rubbed a bit of purple ink onto them. For me, they represent my sisters and my girlfriends who I am very thankful for.

Closeup detail of the stenciling...

THANKFUL

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

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp  Autumn Cascade stencils

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stitches stamps

Ranger Dylusions 8x8 Creative Journal

Tim Holtz Paper Dolls (similar)

Tim Holtz Mini Round Ink Blender Tool

Simon Says Stamp Small Blending Brushes

Tim Holtzr Distress Sprayer

Bearly Art Precision Glue

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks - spiced marmalade, seedless preserves, fired brick, crushed olive, mustard seed, wild honey

Alphabet stamp set

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 .