It's a Guy Thing!

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "One for the Guys", so why not get creative and give this week's challenge a try?

I decided to make a journal cover using Ten Seconds Studio copper-effect metal.  I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the clockworks embossing folder and fixed it to some chipboard.  I then rubbed it with blending solution on an alcohol ink tool to remove the copper glaze from the raised parts, which revealed the silver beneath.  I rubbed on some black paint and then buffed it away in some areas and finally distressed it with a sanding block.

The text plate was created with layered strips of card which were then covered in copper metal and treated the same as the main cover.  Finally I stamped the text, cut it out and fixed it in place.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Beach Hut Bonanza

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Summer Holiday", so why not get creative and give this week's challenge a try?

My piece this week was inspired by beach huts I remember seeing at the seaside when I was a child.  You can still see them today in some towns, mainly those that were popular seaside resorts in Victorian times.

The 3 background panels were all stamped with versamark ink and then inked over, to give a paler texture where the stamped image was.  The mat behind the panels was taken from the Destinations card stack.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Famous for 15 Minutes

 

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Anything Goes", so why not get creative and give this week's challenge a try?

My piece this week was inspired to some extent by the work of Andy Warhol, particularly his images in the style of this one of Marilyn Monroe. Needless to say mine is a little more grungy than his very graphic style! :)  Oh, that's also why I paraphrased his quote "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" as the title!

The two panels on the left use tissue tape as background, both taken from the Commute pack.  The lower background was coloured with distress inks applied with an ink blending tool and you can see that the colour is very subtle, tissue tape doesn't hold much colour that way.  The top panel was coloured with a distress marker which was then wiped with a wet wipe and you can see that much more of the colour has stayed visible.

The two panels on the right were stamped with Versamark ink and images from the new Tim Holtz set "Mixed Media".  I dried them with a heat gun and then applied distress inks on top, which is resisted by the Versamark, giving a ghosted image of the stamp.

Moving in a clockwise circle from top left, the men (Wendy Vecchi's stamp "Well Dressed") were coloured as follows:

1. Distress stains, which I didn't dry between colours, so that they would run together.
2. Uncoloured, with added white star brads.
3. Stamped in black then over stamped in red and yellow, offsetting the image each time.
4. Stamped and coloured with promarkers.

I think that of all the pieces I've made in recent weeks this one is by far my favourite - I hope you feel the same way too! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Playing Favourites

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "your favourite stamp".  Tim Holtz's "David" stamp has always been one of my favourites - it's a great size (ie big!) and there are so many things you can do to change it.  I think I was channelling Magnum P.I. when I made this distinctly 70s inspired card! :)  Further down in this post I've added some pics of other times I've used the David stamp.

I stamped him 3 times, once on kraft, once on brown and once on white and then cut parts from the brown and white and stuck them onto the kraft image.  The background was made from slim wedges taken from Tim's Destinations card stack and some lilac card that I stamped with a letters stamp.  The moustache was cut freehand from brown card and then stamped twice with a notepaper stamp.  Add some promarker and Walnut Stain shading and bob's yer uncle! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Flying South for the Winter

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "a kaleidoscope of colour".  I was lucky enough to get to try out some art materials by Faber-Castell on this piece. 

They do a "big brush stamper pen" which is a large, brush-tipped india ink marker which can be coloured right onto a stamp.  I used a red (geranium) and a blue to stamp the birds and damask border and they work a treat! :)  They also make a crayon-y kind of thing called gelatos, which are great because they can be blended with water.  I used 4 colours on my background, spritzed it and then blended them with my finger.  I used the chocolate gelato to antique the compasses I used too.  I can see me using both the gelatos and the stamper's pens in the future! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

There's No Word Like "Home"

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Favourite Word".  Now, my favourite word is probably "aubergine", particularly the way that French people say it, but I don't have any stamps of aubergines and I didn't fancy making something purple!  Consequently, for the purposes of this week's challenge, my favourite word is "home".

I used Tim Holtz's Destinations and Lost and Found card stacks to cover the house, taking photographs from one of the pages and sticking them to the back of some Tim's fragments.  The grunge board letters were coloured with Distress Markers and stamped with an image from the Road Trip stamp set.  The roof was edged with tissue tape and I added a word key to each side.  To finish it off, I added a placquette to the front, and there you have it! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

The Road to Distressville

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Anything Goes".  I signed up for Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 class recently (though I haven't yet had the time to work through the classes) and one of the things he talks about is using Distress Markers to outline the edge of stencilled designs.  As I'm really enjoying using stencils at the moment, I thought I'd try that technique out on this piece.  I used a star stencil with Barn Door distress ink applied with an ink blending tool and edged the stars with Aged Mahogany Distress Marker.  I really like the crisp definition it's given to the stars and will be doing more of this in the future! :)

I used a piece from the Kraft Resist pad as the background and stamped the blue rays first, then stencilled the stars on top.  I love how the glazed letters and words on the cardstock aren't affected by the ink and show through strongly.  I stamped the tire tread from Tim's Road Trip stamp set onto white card with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and then stamped the words on top in black.  I cut it out and mounted it onto black card.  The route 66 shield was stamped on white card and cut out, then I applied walnut stain ink to the main panel to create a shadow where the shield was going to go and stuck it in place.  I edged the whole panel with walnut stain and matted it onto black card.  Finally I fixed the route 66 in place.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Who? Me? Wrinkle-free?

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "A Tim Holtz Technique".  I used the wrinkle-free distress technique along with some pale spring colours to make a gift box that my niece needed for a necklace she'd made.  I stamped with Picket Fence distress stain, it gives a great subtle effect! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

I've been interviewed!

Over on Sarah's blog, I've been the subject of her monthly interview, "My Featured Artist".  She really shone the spotlight in my eyes and gave me a good grilling!  (I'm still not sure if she was good cop or bad cop lol).  Check it out here.

Facing up to Studio 490!

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Inspiration Studio 490".  Wendy Vecchi releases some fantastic stamps under her Studio 490 label, and I particularly love these faces and the distressed lines background that I used.  The background was coloured with Old Paper distress stain, and everything else was coloured with Promarkers.  As ever with Promarkers, I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, to avoid the stamped image bleeding when it was coloured.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)