Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Art Journal!

I am so honored to be a guest in the Designer Spotlight for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for the month of February! Thank you to the Blog Team!

This week's challenge is "Art Journal"! A randomly selected entry will receive a $25 gift card to Simon Says Stamp! You have 1 week to enter the challenge, go to the blog and get all the details!

I'll be honest with you, when I received this challenge, I felt, well, challenged. The Dylusions art journal is filled with 

8.5" x 11"mixed media pages but they are BLANK. I sat and stared at the page for several minutes. I looked on Pinterest and YouTube. I tried several things that were just not me. And in the end, I did a larger version of a card I would probably make. I'm actually happy it's in this bound journal, now I can keep it for myself!

Here are my steps, not the best photos but a good look into my process. I first splattered and dipped my page into Distress Inks in Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen and a few drips of Ground Espresso. I diecut the smaller bird from the  Tim Holtz Feathered Friends set from already inked red and brown scraps. I always have lots of inked Distress Heavystock on hand.

The bird needed a little greenery behind it, so I took the Tim Holtz Glorious Bouquet stamp and randomly stamped some of the leafy sections in Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress inks. Originally I was going to add another of the same birds but decided it needed a larger image, so I added the cardinal. This die was a Simon Says Stamp Diecember 2020 gwp and is no longer available.

Here is a cardinal I made awhile ago using the larger bird in Feathered Friends and some creative cutting to make a cardinal. I try to think up new ways to use my dies.

I stamped the sentiment from the Tim Holtz stamp set called Observations in black Ranger Archival ink. (The No. 365,302 is from the Tim Holtz Field Notes stamp set and the script stamp is from the Dearly Departed set).

I diecut inked Distress Heavystock with the Tim Holtz Garden Greens dies and added a few Idea-ology Bouquet flowers and Thrift Shop ephemera.

Supply List with clickable links to Simon Says Stamp!

Thanks so much for visiting! Please stop by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and see what the talented designers have created, you'll be inspired to pull out your art journal! 

I can also be found on Instagram @Susanbcards

Have a great week!

Susan

 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Food and Drink!

YES! I am fortunate to be a guest in the Designer Spotlight for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! It's a wonderful honor, I can't thank the Blog Team enough!

This week the challenge is "Food and Drink". You have 1 week to create something using the prompt (you can enter up to 5x). A randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 gift card to Simon Says Stamp!  Please visit the blog for all the details and to enter!

I love a good challenge, I don't have many food or drink dies and always admired Sizzix's Cafe designed by Tim Holtz, so, I decided to buy it. Part of a challenge is thinking of something new, you don't have to buy something new. I thought of making a box to put some candy (food) in or making a wine tag (drink) but in the end decided to splurge. 

I always have inked Distress Mixed Media Heavystock paper on hand, so I diecut the teacups and the word 'Friends'.

Did you see my card for last week's challenge? I used Simon Says Stamp's Blossom Field embossing folder again this week but in a different way. I happen to have a piece of white cardstock already embossed with that folder on my desk. I used some purple Distress Oxides for last week's card and had leftover ink on the blending brush. I rubbed it all over the cardstock, no waste. I took a smaller blending brush and applied Villainous Potion Distress Oxide over the flowers, Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide over the leaves.

Last week's card

I cut a piece of vellum the height of my letters but didn't bother cutting the width of the vellum. I trimmed it after gluing on "Friends". It's easier to center the piece of vellum on the card front rather than trying to center the letters onto a small piece of vellum. I folded the excess vellum and attached it to the back of the panel.

I clipped 2 flowers off the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Bouquet and colored them with Distress Ink, dried and glued them onto the teacups. The "True Friend" sticker is from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Clippings Sticker Book. 

That's it, a lovely card to send to a good friend!

Supply List with links to Simon Says Stamp!

Thank you for visiting, I hope you stop by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and see what the talented designers created and leave them a kind comment!

Thank you!

Susan

Susanbcards @Instagram

 

 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Love is in the Air

I am so honored and excited to have been asked to be a guest in the Designer Spotlight for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! Thank you to the Blog Team!

This week's challenge is "Love is in the Air" using Simon Says Stamp products (but you can use whatever you have). A randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 gift card to Simon Says Stamp! You have 1 week to enter the challenge-Go to the blog to read all the details and rules.
A randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp! Good luck!

    

Love is in the Air with Valentine's Day a week away! For my Valentine, I embossed a piece of acetate(4.25" x  5.5") with Simon Says Stamp's "Blossom Field" embossing folder. Next I painted the backside of the acetate, where the leaves and flowers are recessed using a small tipped paintbrush and gold acrylic paint. I painted this with 2 coats so the brushstrokes wouldn't show through.

 

I blended 3 shades of purple Distress Oxide Ink on cardstock, from light to dark in "Victorian Velvet", "Seedless Preserves" and "Villainous Potion" and carefully glued the edges of acetate to the cardstock.

I used gold metallic cardstock and diecut the XOXO from CZ Designs' "Trio of Love", the Simon Says Stamp, "Wreath of Love" and a frame the size of the card panel. I carefully took the heart diecut and embossed it with the same "Blossom Field" folder. I took another piece of cardstock the size of the "Wreath of Love" heart and ink blended this in reverse order, dark to light in the same Distress Oxides and diecut the heart. I glued just the metallic outline of the heart on top of this ink blended heart and glued it onto the acetate. The 2 layers give the heart some dimension. I centered the XOXO in the heart and attached the gold frame. This acetate card front was glued onto a regular 4.25" x 5.5" white card. I used Distress Collage Medium in the bottle to attach the acetate. It works great and dries clear.

Supply list with links to Simon Says Stamp!

Thanks so much for visiting! Please go visit the Simon Says Stamp Blog  and see what the talented designers created and leave a message of love, it is almost Valentine's Day!

Gratefully,

Susan 

Susanbcards @Instagram

Snowflake Card with Warm Distress Oxide Colors

I rarely know what card will be well liked on Instagram, this is one of those cards. Maybe it's the colors or maybe I just hit the Instagram algorithm correctly but this one was liked and had some questions about how I made it. I didn't take photos as I was making it so I just remade a few of the main elements here (I used a different embossing folder in the pics but I'll list the original folder here.)

Here's a photo of the supplies I used: 

Distress Oxide Inks in Fossilized Amber, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon

Simon Says Stamp "Snowflake Visions" embossing folder

Simon Says Stamp "Harmony Snowflakes" (used only the large one)

Poppystamps "Seed Snowflake Outline" (it's an old die)

Darice vellum

I blended the 3 Distress Oxides onto the white cardstock cut to 4.25" x 5.5".

I cut a piece of vellum 6.5" long, which is longer than the cardstock so I could fold it over and attach it to the back after I run it through the Big Shot. (Please note, this is a different embossing folder but same process.) The adhesive shows through the vellum which is why I attach it to the back. The width of the vellum is the same as the cardstock 4.25", there's no adhesive on the sides.

I diecut the snowflakes out 3x each, glued them together for dimension. The larger snowflake has Stickles on it for shine. The smaller snowflake has the Distress Oxide blended onto it. I mounted this panel onto a 4.25" x 5.5" standard card. That way you can't see where I attached the vellum to the back.

That's it! Thanks for looking.

I'm also on Instagram @susanbcards

 

Tim Holtz Roses Embossing Folder

After the holidays I hit a wall. I was making Christmas cards and gifts until the end of December. 

I actually sent cards out to everyone I needed to and donated some and made some gift sets! Then Jan 2 came and I couldn't think of anything to make. At all. So I started watching YouTube, my favorite place to find new ideas or retry some old ones.

I really enjoy mixed media, so I re-watched Tim Holtz's demos. He suggested making technique tags, similar to swatches, so you'd remind yourself how something is done. I have the worst memory. I always think I'm going to remember how I did something and then someone asks me and I draw a blank.

I'm going to try harder to blog more too, I've seen that many more people have been looking here, probably wondering what colors I used or how I made something. I'll do my best but I get lost in the making and often forget to take pictures or take notes. 

I made this vintage card and received lots of DM on my Instagram account asking how, what, where. I really didn't think many people would like this card much less ask about it. So, I'll do my best to remember.

I took a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock and spritzed and sprayed the paper with Distress Oxides in Crushed Olive, Rustic Wilderness, and the Distress Mica Sprays in Tree Lot and Holly Branch, adding only a little of the dark shades. I also added a bit of Snow Flurries Mica Stain Spray (ugh, I'm almost out of this limited release!) I let it dry.

I then used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Roses embossing folder, I didn't spritz my paper, just ran it through the Big Shot. This is where the Tim Holtz demo came in, I watched the one on Distress Crayons and saw how you could paint with them. You scribble a bit on your craft mat, spritz it with water and with a paintbrush paint it on. It's a pretty cool look, very pigmented. I used Peppermint Stick and Picked Raspberry, the Peppermint has mica in it so it sparkles. 

After it was dry, I couldn't see any of the lines in the flowers or leaves so I used a small blending tool and Espresso Distress Ink and blended the ink onto the raised areas of the flowers and leaves ON THE FOLDER and immediately reran the paper so the ink would be pressed into the paper. 

I could have just taken a thin paintbrush and painted these lines but after getting the rose and leaves wet, they kind of deflated and rerunning the folder with the paper pops it back up.

I was happy with the result so I took Black Soot Archival ink and the script stamp from Dearly Departed and lightly stamped a few areas that needed "something". I took just a bit of the Distress Mica Spray in Flickering Candlestick and dropped a bit in a few areas for highlights and spritzed a little water to make it blend. The sentiment is from SA Tiny Text.

I hope this helps anyone wondering. Thanks for stopping by, I post several times a week @susanbcards on Instagram.

I'm entering this on the Funkie Junkie Blog Challenge called "Out with the old, in with the new", since it's an old folder using some of the new holiday Distress Mica Stains and Crayons.

You can find the challenge here:

http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com/

YAY! LOOK WHO WON! Thanks to the Funkie Junkie Blog!