Log Cabin

This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog, the theme is Patchwork.  This theme can be interpreted in many ways.  A patch of color, a mish-mash of products, or how about an "I'm Sorry" card to patch up a friendship? I took a more literal approach and am using my patterned papers to create a paper quilt. Quilts hold a special place in my heart.  They have patterns and designs that have been around for hundreds of years.  The "Log Cabin" was a quite trendy pattern during the Civil War era. During those times, sewing was often the only creative outlet that a woman was allowed to pursue. So as a tribute to my creative ancestors, I created a paper quilt using the centuries old, Log Quilt pattern.

Quilts are actually quite easy.  To begin this quilt I covered my papers in two colors of distress ink. The ink gave the papers a more cohesive look.  I had a lighter pile and a darker pile of inked papers. I cut those papers into 1" strips. Then I cut 4 pieces of cardboard 5" square. The squares were the bases for the four quilt blocks. I found the center of the cardboard by drawing pencil lines.  A 1" dark paper square was glued to the center.  A light square was glued to the top.  Then going clockwise, I added additional strips around the block while maintaining a square shape.

When the four blocks are combined, they create a geometric pattern. I embellished the quilt with additional stamping and tidbits of patterned paper and book text.  A layer of matte medium covered the top.  Voila!  A quilt!

And I never had to thread a needle! :)

Create a project using the "Patch" theme and upload it to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.  Your project could also be chosen to be featured as one of our Spotlight designers. 

Happy Stamping!

  

 

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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!

Quilt Stripes

The Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week is "Stripes".  It's amazing how many ways that Stripes can be interpreted.  This is my take on the theme.

 

I created a 6x6 paper quilt block using some of my favorite Artistic Outpost stamps.  Inky fun!  I stamped various scrap papers and cut them into strips (or stripes!). I like that some of my strips came out a bit wonky.  It makes it look more like fabric.  The yellow circles were made by using the Ranger distress paints.  Which are very, very cool!  I only bought three colors to try them and I am going to have to buy more.  I loved them!  

 

 



I've been playing around with the quilt concept for quite sometime.  I created a different quilt square here awhile back.  Who knows?  Maybe someday I will create more and attach them all together....

Scrappy Paper Quilt

Be sure to check out  The Rubber Cafe blog to view my Scrappy Quilt tutorial that was posted today.  I LOVED making this.  It was so fun. :)