Simon Says Stamp Blog - Monday / Wednesday Challenge

This week's challenge is: 

A Bit of Sparkle 

Showcasing:

 Simon Says Stamp products

  If you love cute stamps with animals, this one is for you. This set by Simon Says Stamp is amazing! It's great for a variety of occasions and can be used interchangeably with so many different floral and background stamps. I love being able to color and shade with alcohol marker and this stamp set lets you do just that.  I chose to layer it on plaid cardstock by Lawn Fawn and embellish with sequins and heart shaped glitter from Martha Stewart Crafts. The background clouds are dry embossed; the folder is by Darice. This set will be perfect for baby announcements, congratulations and children's birthday cards. Love it!

I love the Crazy Birds stamp and die set by Tim Holtz. Last week I created a card with this week's theme: Stamping Bella products. I decided to use a Crazy Birds stamp for this card since I feel it was similar in technique to creating my Stamping Bella one last week. I love the fact that the die cuts out each of the birds perfectly so you can layer them over a colored background. I used an ink smooshing technique for applying distress ink and finished the card with a few sequins and iridescent heart-shaped glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts. 

This week's monday challenge is: 

It's a Frame Up. 

  Will all of the cool weather we've been having I couldn't resist a throwback to fall. I love the colors of autumn - reds, oranges, browns and burnt earthtones. Distress Markers are a great way to add water blendable color to detailed areas. The markers provide a bold color while being completely blendable with a waterbrush. When using distress markers you'll want to use a permanent, water resistant ink. I like Ranger Archival or Versafine by Tsukineko.

The distress MicroGlaze is a great medium for applying over water soluble inks and stains to create a resist. Without using this resist medium, brushing color over the image would blend all the colors together. It's a great product to use, to avoid smearing, when combining  a lot of distress products together in one image .

This Weeks Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is: 

A Hint Of Pink

with Hero Arts Products

  I love this image by Stamping Bella. It's great for painting or coloring with watercolor, Distress ink, or alcohol markers. Because it's a rubber stamp it gives it a crisp, clean, detailed image. This great portrait stamp has so many tiny flowers, leaves and flourishes the color options are truly endIess. 
  I framed the stamp with a border punch from Martha Stewart Crafts which I shaded and blended with Hero Arts Fuchsia Layering Ink Cubes. I finished the card with a little sparkle using Spectrum Noir's glitter pen and Simon Says Stamp clear sequins. 
  I love the Hero Arts ink cube sets.  The pad sizes are perfect for building a collection of colors and the shades compliment each other perfectly. 

I love these glitter pens. They add a little bit of subtle sparkle and work nicely over alcohol inks or watercolors.

This week's Wednesday Challenge is:

Showers and/or Flowers

I chose to create a Beauty and the Beast inspired card using the Simon Says Stamp set "More Spring Flowers" for this challenge. These line of dotted - outlined stamps are A-mazing! So much fun for coloring with alcohol markers. 

This Monday's Challenge is:

Splash It On

  I love coloring my stamped images. Give me a Copic, Bic, Spectrum Noir or even a Sharpie and I'll be immersed for hours. I tend to be a little intense when it comes to coloring with alcohol markers. Usually, I find the paper completely saturated through and through. I'm surprised I don't go through an entire marker on one image! It's just so hypnotic, I can get completely lost in the process. 

  I learned quickly that I get best results going from light to dark. I'm definitely one of those colorers. This technique gives me the best results and gives a much better blend. It took me a while to master the art of control. Beginning with the lightest color available definitely helps my image from becoming too intense. 

  Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. This stamp set by Stampendous is really great for use with alcohol markers. It gives you a great image outline and allows you to shade through your coloring. I had a great time on this challenge practicing my techniques for shading water through glass. I also got to use my punch, by Martha Stewart Crafts, for creating a simple die cut background. 

This week the Simon Says Stamp Challenge is:

Spring Color Inspiration

This week's challenge was to create a card inspired by spring, particularly using the colors featured in the image above. I really wanted to create a card with a cherry blossom but couldn't find a stamp that I absolutely loved. I found a great image online and was inspired to draw something similar. I sketched the one on this card and used alcohol markers to fill it in with subtle color. I used a rhinestones as accents over ink smooshed color. The stitched border die is from Lawn fawn.

I can't seem to remember who made this awesome script sentiments stamp set. If anyone recognizes it I would love for them comment so I can give credit. Does anyone recognize it?

This week's challenge is Fabulous Florals 

featuring Hero Arts Stamps

  Although the challenge was titled "Fabulous Floral" I thought succulents would fit nicely into that genre. Modern succulents have some of the most interesting colors and shapes they often appear more vibrant than classic florals. In this card I used a great stamp by Hero Arts that can be used in a variety of ways including terrarium gardens  or simple planters.  I also added a few irridescent sequins to add a little shimmer to the card and contrast the minimal earthtone coloring.

  I found this tool used in jewelry crafts to place rhinestones perfect for precisely placing the sequins. The smaller heart shaped "glitter" by Martha Stewart Crafts  adds a variety of shape to the sequin design. The frame layer is an adhesive backed cork cardstock.

This week's challenge was Flora and Fauna

  I created a fun card using a new die I purchased from Tim Holtz and Sizzix. Can I tell you how amazing it is. It's amazing! I love how you can use both positive and negative cut outs from the die to create a huge variety of words and sentiments. The font is  modern with nice kerning between letters while not being overly condensed. What I love even more is the fact that it's a "thin" die. These types of dies are great for their ease of use, versatility and quick storage.

  I wanted to create a simple card to get a feel for how the die can be used. I ended up elevating the sentiment slightly with dimensional foam adhesive. I also had the opportunity to use a stencil that I purchased years ago but never really used.

  This card was so fun to make. I'm entering it  on Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge. The theme was "animal magic." I loved these two kissing fish as soon as I saw them and knew they would be perfect for this challenge.

  I incorporated this Whipper Snapper stamp with an Avery Elle  stitched die cut card base to create a simple design. I used Copic and Spectrum Noir markers to color in the stamped image. I also used sequins and iridescent glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts for embellishments. The stamped sentiments stamp is by Your Next Stamp.

  I hope you enjoy and maybe find a little inspiration in it.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge 

Art Impressions Stamp 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge 7/11/16 Red,White & Blue

If you have any questions about the supplies I used making this weeks card I'd be more than happy to provide the details. Simply post a question in the comment section below and I'll be sure to reply!