Monday, April 29, 2013

Challenge: Passport to fun

    Whether you have two tickets to paradise or you really just want a reason to create something with your Tim Holtz travel blueprint stamps this is the week for you! We invite you to join us in creating something travel themed in some way. Perhaps a card inspired by the colors of the tropics? Going to use that postmark stamp you never seem to find on your projects? Want to wish someone bon voyage or decorate a notebook for your next road trip?
 
You’re cleared for take-off on this week’s challenge!


Trace would love to get a few more destination stamps put in her passport!

Travel and maps hold a special place in my heart! I almost went to post secondary school to become a cartographer instead of a nurse. I love to travel, but my desire is to always go to a different location; hence the saying of this board. I love how this Studio Calico Circle Graph Mask resembles the world globe, and I just sprayed it with Mr. Huey's Opaque White Color Mist .To finish off the board I found the perfect embellishments in these Studio Calico Wood Veneer accents.

Tracy decorated a canvas board this week with a journey to Paris.
Full on texture from me this week using Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste accompanied with the Fleur de Lis and Eiffel Tower die cuts. I took myself off to the romantic city of PARIS this week, well in my creative head anyway, with lots of help from Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean Distress Paints, with touches of Pitch Black Paint Dabber.  I just need to stop dreaming now and move on!

Suzz  has been planning the family vacation and thought a travel log would be the perfect project to hold all the mementos gathered along the way.
 
I am excited about a family road trip we will be taking later this summer and thought it would be perfect to create a flip travel log with pages to capture all the bits and pieces along the way.  I had a great selection of travel inspired stamps including the Stampers Anonymous Tiny Things and the new Hero Arts - Postcard Collage.  To create a background for the cover I wanted some texture and I used the Hero Arts - Friends Collage.   To allow for multiple pages to be added I used the Tim Holtz Large Ring Binder and cardboard to create a back for my project.  For a touch of whimsy I added a few different charms with a chain. Now my book is ready for all the photos and mementos after our trip.

Candy decided that her Passport To Fun would involve a Tim Holtz inspired vintage pocket folder that could be used as a travel journal to hold photographs, journaling or other memorabilia.
 Follow along with my instructions to create your own four pocket travel folder out of a plain manila folder. Tim Holtz' products create the magic! Shown here are the front and back covers. The entire folder is covered in various papers from Tim Holtz' Lost and Found Paper Stash.  The distressed Picture Wheels not only embellish the cover but create a very cool vintage closure for the folder. The vintage gentleman from Paris Memoir and the stacked suitcases from Time Travelers beckon you to come along for the ride!  Tim's Elements Tissue Tape colorized hands are placed on a piece of Sticky Back Canvas to create a decorative vintage binding.

 
London was really calling to Anita last week as she was smack dab in the middle of the bustling city!
I had a brilliant time in London Town, and took in all it had to offer, even the rain and cold! The group I was with let nothing get in the way of our fun- my kind of people. I made these ATC Pamphlets for them, complete with pocket envelopes that they can even keep a few more mementos in.
These very brightly colored keepsakes, started as manila and were colored with Distress Paints, Distress Inks, and Dylusions Ink Sprays. They are filled with a plethora of images depicting the great city from three London Artistic Outpost sets, and from Tim's new Stamper's Anonymous Paris to London Stamp Set. The embossed portion on the pocket envelope is from the new Sizzix Texture Fade from Tim called London Icons.

I (May) decided to use this challenge to get motivated to scrapbook more travel photos.
I mixed some of Tim's rub-ons, metal bits, and my favorite travel blueprint stamps to pull this Hawaiian Luau layout together in a snap. I love using this stamp under titles on my scrapbook layout, and I think it worked great here with some black embossing powder. Travel scrapbooks are always my favorites because I get to re-live the adventures and fun that we've had on trips in the past, so this challenge was a blast for me!   
 
 
Sandra Mouwen has the biggest crush on Paris. Uhh, Paris the city of course!
It's so true, I  really love Paris. And guess what? I'm going to Paris again late next week! I had some old pictures from another trip, and those needed a pretty place to stay. So I used this Maya Road Canvas Pocket Binder and spruced it up. On the cover I used the Prima Marketing Camera Stencil with some Modeling Paste. I sprayed some Color Shine Tropicana Teal on the whole canvas cover to give it some color and a light shimmer. Then gone wild with embellishments such as Wooden Stars, Film Ribbon, Philosophy tag and some Kaiser Craft Collectibles.
 

Ashli's annual family beach trip is just a few weeks away. She decided to get in the mood for all of the adventures that await by crafting a travel journal to keep her memories in!
We look forward to our family time at the beach every spring! I typically do some sort of crafting and creative play while away. However, I haven't kept my daily adventures and memories in one place before. So, this year... I am going to do just that! To get started with my handmade travel journal, I adhered a piece of paper from the Studio Calico Darling Dear collection onto some Sticky Back Canvas. This gave me a nice durable surface to play with Paints and Mists. Once I was happy with my cover, I grabbed some pages from my SMASH 365 journal and some Studio Calico paper scraps. Some simple holes punched with a few binder rings hold all of this goodness together. And finally, some of my favorite Crate Paper On Trend Alphas and a bit of Glitter Ribbon complete the front. A perfect place to jot down memories while away!

When travelling, Sarah is always delving into the depths of her bag in search of her passport so she decided to create a bright and sunny stitched passport holder...
It's true, I can never find anything in my bag at the best of times so I thought some bright Distress Paints, funky Wendy flowers and stitching were called for. I love combining paints, fabrics and stitching - they are all favourites of mine. I used artists canvas, prepped with gesso, to create my holder and really enjoyed playing with washes of colour. I've used the fabulous versatile Sticky Back Canvas from Claudine Hellmuth for my flowers and added touches of wording all over with great Hero Arts peg stamps. Hopefully, I won't have too look far on my next journey...

This week, Dan packed up his car and headed off on a little road trip.
I know that many of you will be creating entries for this week's challenge that will whisk us to all corners of the globe, so I thought that I'd forgo any exotic air or sea travel this week and head off on a little road trip.  I dunno about you but I think the road trips I took as a child were a little more exciting than they seem to be these days.  On this virtual road trip, I filled my mind with giant balls of string, beards of bees and tic-tac-toe playing chickens at the side of every road - much more fun!  Among the products I used here were Claudine Hellmuth white gesso, the Road Trip, Mixed Media and Spills & Splatters stamp sets and Tim Holtz's sanding block.  Oh, and my handy thumb stamp.

Anna-Karin took an imaginary trip to Paris this week with an inky pop up-card:
I have never been to Paris, so it was fun to take a trip there with stamps, inks and dies. I wanted to use my new Tim Holtz Paris Memoir and Paris to London sets and thought the Eiffel Tower would look great on a pop-up. The background is inked with Distress Inks and misted with Biscotti Perfect Pearls. I also added a lot of stamping, some platinum embossing and a few die cut tickets and postage stamps. On the front of the card you will see the very cool dimensional hot air balloon that I flew to Paris with.

 
There are so many ways to be inspired by this challenge, and so many directions to run with it! For more inspiration click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects.
 
As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday May 5th EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.
 
 




Friday, April 26, 2013

Winners: Background challenge

I'd like to thank Simon Says Stamp for another great chance to win a $50 voucher!!

The lucky (randomly drawn) winner for the background challenge is...

28 Isha 

Please claim your prize within the next two weeks by emailing May . Now let's talk about the top 3 projects as chosen by the Stamp & Show design team. We had another great week, and this week the honors go to:

7  Kaz
95 Rebecca Hoot
127 Diana

Be sure to visit their blogs and check out their amazing entries. So inspiring! Congratulations to each of you on a challenge well done! Please email May for the Top 3 Blinkie.
 
I'd like to thank everyone who took part in the challenge. It is always a joy to see what you create. I'd also like to say thank you again to Simon Says Stamp for their generosity - each week we give away a $50 gift voucher to the shop that you can use to buy all kinds of fabulous stamps, inks, and paper crafting supplies. Remember - you just need to enter the challenge each week to be entered into the drawing!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Challenge: Color

    From colored pencils to copic markers, distress paints to alcohol inks, all color mediums have one thing in common: they allow you to truly customize your creations. This week we celebrate all things color - and share tips and tutorials with you on our blogs as well! From Faber-Castel Gelatos to Dylusions Ink Sprays - we’ve got color!
 
Your challenge this week is simple - use any color medium (ink, pen, mist, paint, etc) on your project this week and share with us.
 
I (May) first created a lack of color with gesso so that I could really play with color on this springtime wall hanging.
I can't tell you how much fun this piece was to make, and it is the first time I've ever done anything like it! The challenge got me thinking about creating a white base filled with texture, then using Dylusions ink sprays to color the metal Prima accents as well as the wood and chipboard bits. The real key with a piece like this is to think texture (not color), and to let it dry overnight before you attempt coloring it.


Ashli couldn't wait to dive into her stash of Gelatos, Paints, and Mists for this week's challenge!
Gelatos are so much fun! And, there are so many ways to use them. I must say, I haven't experimented with them enough. Time to change that! To start my canvas, I began drawing a sun ray of sorts with all of my different Gelato colors. Then, using my paint brush and a bit of water, I just started playing! One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was misting, splashing, and blending all over this little guy. To add some dimension, I melted some Beeswax and embedded a smaller canvas right into it. So much creative play! I hope you are inspired to spread your wings and let your color soar this week too!

Trace loves to use bright colours in her projects
I could not wait to play with my newly acquired Tim Holtz Distress Paints! I grabbed one of my favorite colour combos: wild honey, spun sugar, mustard seed, and picked raspberry and easily applied them with my Ranger craft scraper tool! My graphic background was calling out for a modern feel accent. The flowers from these two Hero Arts clear stamp sets Lauderdale Floral and To From Petals were the perfect match.I love how white and black added to a project really make colours pop!

When  Suzz   thinks of color she thinks of the beautiful ink sprays and mists.
I started with a piece of white cardstock and started spraying different colors to get a lovely mix of colors for my background.  My background is a mix of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Chalkboard - Teal High Heel, Inchworm, and Heidi Swapp Color Shine - Mustard.  I added a fun effect with the artist tools stamped in the background using Ranger Archival Ink. I think it adds a pattern similar to bark on a tree.

Sandra Mouwen went all out with lots of color

I do love lots of color, but I'm not always comfortable going all out there with them. So this was a great time to go all crazy with the Distress Paints. I wanted to do the swipe technique, but an art journal is not so much 'swipable'. So I used a transparency sheet and applied the paints on with some water, and started swiping away. To create a bit more interest, I used the Letter Jumble and Chequered Dots stencils and even made my own letter stencil with my Silhouette Cameo.


If there was a 12 step program to help with Art color medium hoarding, Anita would need it. 
 
I wouldn't call my art color medium stash medium sized, more like extra large! However, at the current time I am obsessed with using three together, which forms a resist on base surfaces when the latter is sprayed on. Those three mediums are: Wendy Vecchi's Embossing Paste from Dreamweaver Stencils, Tim Holtz's Distress Paints from Ranger, and Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Ink Sprays from Ranger.

Dan looked to classic paintings from the past for his color inspiration.
When I sat down to think about this piece I thought back to art classes in school and how we used to look at classic paintings to learn about composition, lighting and colour, so I thought I'd revisit that and take my inspiration this week from 4 classic paintings.  Of course, colour doesn't necessarily mean colourful - the colours in the splatter piece here are just as key as the bright colours in the Mona portrait.  Those of you who visit my blog regularly will know that I'm a big fan of Promarkers and use them all the time for adding colour to stamped images.  Two of these pieces are Promarkered and the other two use paints and inks.  Do you recognise where I've taken my inspirations from?  I'll leave you scratching your head on that for a little while longer!  Among the stamp sets I've used here are Mona's Sketchbook, Spring Sprung, Psychedelic Grunge and Spills and Splatters.



Anna-Karin enjoys using different colouring mediums and decided to play with a whole bunch of them here to show how you can colour the same image in different ways.
I stamped the gorgeous Darkroom Door Country Cottage stamp on different surfaces and coloured it with six different mediums (watercolour paint, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, alcohol inks, dye inks and Distress Markers). I made eight cards, so this is just one of them. On this card, I stamped the image on glossy cardstock and used the fabulous Colorbox Stylus Tool to colour it. For the backgrounds I used kraft-core cardstock and different texture fades. Sentiments from Tim Holtz Simple Sayings were stamped on tattered banners die cut from 7Gypsies ledger paper.

 
Sarah felt it had been far too long without a little playtime in her Art Journal. The pages were feeling very lonely and naked so she plundered all her sprays, pens and paints to create some colourful expression...
 My pages are all about reality and learning to love it. Mummy duty and domestic life takes priority these days but I want to learn to embrace the everyday and all it has to offer! Everyday is full of challenges and blessings. I seem to have a thing for circles in my journal as they keep appearing! I went to town with Dylusions Sprays, Color Wash, Distress Paints, Stains and gesso, not to mention stitching, newspaper scraps and journalling pens.

 


A mixed media canvas held Tracy's attention this week, using sprays, kitchen towel, charcoal pencil and more.
There are so many colour mediums to use but Dylusions Inks Sprays were my colour choice this week. Looks can be deceiving, there are many layers to this project adding into the mix Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste, PaperArtsy Beach Hut Fresco Finish Paint, silver Paint Dabber and a charcoal pencil. When creating these type of pieces I always find it as easy to make two as I do one piece of art, so I have created an extra little piece to give away to inspire our readers too.

 
Candy is really showing her love of vibrant color this week with this pocket art journal page and four very artsy and colorful tags.
I am in love with Tim Holtz' new Distress Paints! I love the fluidity of these acrylic paints; how they react with water and how they can run and move within the other colors yet retaining their own bright color! For this Art Journal page, I combined Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry and Broken China Distress Paints to create not only this four pocket journal page but also the four tags. The big #10 Manila Tag is embellished with a combination of images from Dyan Reaveley's wonderful Dylusions Stamps
 

 Before you join in with your color medium(s) of choice - be sure to visit our design team member's blogs for tips, tricks, how-to, and more! You will also find more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects too.

As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday April 28th EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.
 
 




Friday, April 19, 2013

Winner: Fly challenge

Time sure is flying by - and it is just about time to reveal which entries flew away with the prizes for last week...

I'd like to thank Simon Says Stamp for another great chance to win a $50 voucher!!

The lucky (randomly drawn) winner for the fly  challenge is...
 
145 Natali Yarkova

Please claim your prize within the next two weeks by emailing May . Now let's talk about the top 3 projects as chosen by the Stamp & Show design team. Another tough week filled with amazing + inspiring entries! I know the whole team has enjoyed looking at and commenting on your work - seriously fantastic stuff everyone! This week the honors go to:

95 laurart
108 paper yum
117 Lynn Stevens
 Congratulations to each of you on a challenge well done! Please email May for the Top 3 Blinkie.
 
I'd like to thank everyone who took part in the challenge. It is always a joy to see what you create. I'd also like to say thank you again to Simon Says Stamp for their generosity - each week we give away a $50 gift voucher to the shop that you can use to buy all kinds of fabulous stamps, inks, and paper crafting supplies. Remember - you just need to enter the challenge each week to be entered into the drawing, and there is still time to join in this week's challenge.  

Monday, April 15, 2013

Challenge: Background

It is no secret that I am an avid collector, lover, and user of background stamps. Beyond using them for backgrounds, I use parts of them to edge projects, with paint to add some texture and contrast to my mixed media pieces, to decorate punched or die cut shapes, to add some interest and perhaps embossing onto alphabet stickers - and so very much more.

Your challenge this week is to use a background stamp in some way, shape, or form on a project. You could also use any stamp you’ve got to create a clever background design as well - the possibilities are endless!
 
Anna-Karin loves background stamps because they are so very versatile.
I wanted to use lots of background stamps on my card and ended up using twenty different stamps, most from Hero Arts. Small squares were die cut from a variety of inked and watercoloured scrap papers. I stamped each one with a different background stamp using a slightly darker Distress Ink, for a tone-on-tone effect. Maya Road canvas butterflies flutter over the card and I used the Simon Says Stamp exclusive Mini Hearts Set to die cut the tiny hearts. The sentiment was stamped with Simon Says Stamp Music 2 My Ears set.
 
 
Sarah was in a freestyle mood and thought it was the ideal time to experiment with her new Distress Paints...
I love playing around with using just sections of my larger stamps to create new images and today I did that with both Tim's Classic #5 and Grunge Alphabet sets. I love how the eyes just fade away... I had great fun playing with the Distress Paints, letting them run and swirl on Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper - yet still retaining such vivid colours! You will love them! I experimented with the Alphabet stamp on scrap paper first to determine now much I needed for contrast in the background. I was tempted to go for more stamping but I liked the watery detail in the paints and decided it was a butterfly I was missing for that extra dimension and focus.

Candy really enjoyed creating different stamped backgrounds for her vintage journal/album.
Creating my own design for this vintage album/journal was so much fun. The interior pages are all made with Tim Holtz' new set of Cabinet Cards. I love Tim Holtz' new Picture Wheel die cut and I think it worked perfectly with his Distress Doily On The Edge die.  I used Tim Holtz' larger Fabulous Flourish stamp to create my first stamped background behind the very vintage looking Picture Wheel.  The second background stamped is the striped album cover using Vermillion Archival Ink on cream cardstock and Wendy Vecchi's fabulous stripe background stamp from her new Busy Making Art stamp set. Just wait until you see the finished vintage cover now hidden behind the flap!

Background stamps make up the majority of Trace's stamp stash!
I could not live without my background stamps! This Impression-Obsession CC027 Flourishes rubber cling stamp is probably one of the most used stamps in my possession. It is so versatile, I use it on so many different projects of mine. What I really like about this flourish stamp is that although it is very pretty, it is also strong enough to be paired with other elements such these pretty Simon Says Stamp Fresh Daisies dies; and a busy handmade background like the one I created with watercolour paper, water, and Rangers Alcohol inks.

Tracy dusted off the wallpaper background stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Wallpaper and Wood stamp set to create a wonderful backdrop to showcase all her sewing ephemera.
I have so many stamps in my stamp collection that this wallpaper background stamp has been neglected for some time, however, it took the leading role in this sewing themed piece, embossed with clear embossing powder and coloured with barn door Distress Ink. The Sewing Blueprint stamp set and the Mini Blueprints 3 accessorize my accordion perfectly along with sewing embellishments from Maya Road.


Ashli decided to use one of her new favorite stamp sets to create a custom background for her page.
I am so in love with the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Plenty of Hearts Stamp and Die Cut set! Instead of using each little heart individually, I decided to just leave them on their packaging, ink them up, and create my background. Custom stamp = custom paper. Love that. Once all my stamping was done, I put those die cuts to good use to create some embellishments. A Crate Paper Heart Chipboard Piece adds the perfect spot of pink while some Amy Tangerine Yes Please Stickers help to pull it all together. To finish things off, I simply journaled with my beloved Signo Pen and added some Maggie Holmes Thickers. A page full of custom patterns, embellishments, and heart? Captivating!
 

Dan decided to re-examine a well-known saying from the past while also indulging his love of background stamps...
I love this guy, don't you think he looks just like a detective from the Pinkerton Detective Agency? When I started on this tag, I was going aiming for a representation of "behind every great man is a great woman" but as I worked I got to thinking that was a bit sexist and old fashioned, after all, why should she be in the background if she's as great as he's supposed to be? My first thought was to make it "Behind every great woman..." but that still kinda gave him more of the credit than I wanted to give him. Finally I came up with it - can you guess how I finished off my amended saying? I used the Darkroom Door Woodgrain stamp but it was almost the Corrugated Iron, I love that one too!

It is for sure no secret that Anita loves stamps, and using them in wild ways!
This was such a fun challenge, and I am so glad that there was a certain friend having a birthday, who would love and appreciate this wild western themed card! I salvaged this kraft portfolio card from an invitation that had expired, and I took it down to it's bare bones and began patterning a whole background that would leave this card needing nothing else but a fastener. I used Tim's whole Wild West Stamp Set from Stamper's Anonymous, along with Unity Stamp's Brave Boots as the main images of the background, and Wendy's Art For You background.

I (May) used my stamp set to make a few background details on this card.
I love finding ways to make the most of a stamp set, and with this set by Tim Holtz I managed to make two different backgrounds. My favorite part about this card (aside from the short supply list) is how I used the flag as a background with distress stain, but in fact the stamped "London" was the first thing done on that piece. It reminds me to play more with my stamps, and that sometimes the background can be the last thing you work on.

 
Suzz loves using the background stamps to create texture behind her main image.
One of my favorite things to do is to add background stamps behind other images. I love the effect of the text behind other images which adds a depth to the project. I used the Hero Arts Old French Writing to the background with white embossing powder.  I then brought in the beautiful blossoms from Hero Arts on the right side to bring the eye up and across the background.  I finished the design with the lovely Stampendous butterfly as the main focal image.  

Although Sandra Mouwen loves the background stamps she has, she wanted to make her own.
I wanted to try something different and made my own background stamp. It's so easy, fast, and you only need three things to do it. Darice Foam Sheet, an object you want the imprint of, in my case I used the Gears Embossing Folder and a Heat tool. To bring the Remnants Hot Air Balloon stamp to the foreground, I masked it before I stamped with my own background stamp. I so love the new Label Letters, I can use them on any project! The big letters are from the Word Play die, also a favorite of mine.

 
There are so many ways to be inspired by this challenge, and so many directions to run with it! For more inspiration click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects.
 
As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday  April 21st EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.