Inky Envies

Got Ink?
That's the theme this week for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  INK...It's so fun to see how people use their favorite inks.  There are so many wonderful inks available.

These gift cards envies will be nice to have around when I want to say, “Thank You!”  The sweetly scalloped Melissa Frances Paper Bags and Tags are a timesaver, since they are pre-made and ready to embellish.  Did you know that you can paint with Distress Inks? I decorated my bags with a fun and funky watercolor band.



Creating a watercolor background was so much fun.  Brush on a bit of color.  Let it dry.  And add some more.  It's that simple.  To finish off my Inky Envies, I added some vintage ephemera and wrapped a bit of twine garland.

Show us your project with ink at the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge and you could win a $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.  Your project could also be featured as one of our weekly designer spotlights.

 

 

 

Want to create something similar? Here's what you'll need: 

InLinkz.com

All Stars

We are celebrating STAMPtember® at Simon Says Stamp!

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge we are sharing our "Stamping All-Stars" this week.  We admit it.  Stampers play favorites. :)  Whether it's an ink that you can't live without, or a stamp that's always within reach, we want to see your "All Star" favorites.

My "All Star" favorite is Ranger's Vintage Photo Distress ink.  I love to use it in place of ordinary black for everyday stamping, but I mostly use it to ink the edges of...well, everything!

So, in celebration of STAMPtember®, I created this little paper quilt using a few of my "All Star" stamping supplies.  The entire project was completed using only Vintage Photo ink.  How cool is that?  This was so easy to construct, that I almost didn't post it.  I used primarily all vintage papers, or ephemera for this piece, with the exception of a few squares that I created from the Neenah Cardstock.  (I love that color.  All Star?  You bet!)   If my paper only had a design on one side, I just stamped on the plain side of the paper. All of the stamped images were from the Avery Elle Texture Tiles set.  Another All Star favorite of mine.  I love the versatile patterns! Have you seen the Craft Cuts Quilt circles die?  Be sure to order yours now. You'll want to use it for an upcoming challenge we're having in November. ;) It makes cutting and scoring SO easy!

 Simon Says Stamp was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn’t take long until we realized we couldn’t stop there. During the past 11 years we celebrate rubber stamping in its full glory by giving access to people around the world to a one stop shop. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business and we are celebrating by hosting a STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media, life documenting, art journaling, and many forms of altering and expressing art.

Help us celebrate! Show off your stamping "All Star" by entering it in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and you could be the randomly selected winner of a $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.  Your project could also be chosen for our designer spotlight. 

 Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Inspiration

Today is Mother's Day!  I had to go to work for awhile today, but I still found time to play. I was inspired by a gorgeous stamped scene that Shari Carroll made with these Claudine Hellmuth stamps.  I first saw it about a year ago. She did an entire street scene in watercolor. I only did a few elements, but I really enjoyed playing with different watercolor mediums.  I found that I like water coloring with the Ranger distress inks the best.  They're sooo easy to use. (note lesson #1:  Shari Carroll is much better with watercolor than I am!)

I am linking this to the Simon Says Stamp and Show "Inspired by" challenge.  Thanks for the inspiration Shari! I am also linking this to the Moxie Fab World "The Wonder of Watercolor Challenge".  As well as the Twisted Tuesday Free for All.

 

 

Šablóna Challenge

As I mentioned earlier, last week was Winterfest at Two Peas in a Bucket.  One of the challenges was a stencil challenge.  (Šablóna is the slovak word for stencil.) The challenge was hosted by Anne Gaal.  Anne created a lovely video on using distress stains and stencils to create a  patterned background.  You can view that video here.

For this card, I used the inks, rather than the stains. First I inked up some paper with "squeezed lemonade" (yellow) distress ink. Then I used a dylusions 5x8 "Number Jumble" stencil from ranger and inked it with "wild honey" ink. Then I shifted the stencil slightly up and to the left and inked it again with "vintage photo" (brown). This gave the off-set look. Then the background looked blah so I lightly inked the triangular design on the edge of the stencil over the top. But in hindsight, I wish that I had done that step first. The quote came from a Tim Hotz Stampers Anonymous "Life's Possibilites" clear set. And I used a Martha Stewart corner punch to get that "arch" on the sentiment mat. I like mixing Tim Holtz and Martha Stewart products because they seem such complete opposites. I would love to see them actually work together. I imagine Martha saying, "Tim, don't you think that you've used enough of that grunge stuff? Eww"!