Simon Says - Not A Card

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

NOT A CARD

You may or may not be surprised to know that I love Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencils and also that I am a bit of a geek when it comes to storage. I find it handiest, for me, to store my stencils in a tag-type book but the books I already have are all bursting at the seams. So it was time to create another for the new 2020 stencils.

I began by cutting 2 covers from Sizzix MatBoard using the layering stencil cover sheet as a template. I covered one side of the tag covers using Tim Holtz Idea-ology Memoranda paper fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium and trimmed off the excess. Being a thrifty Scot and self-confessed hoarder of my favourite paper ever, I didn't want to cut into another 12" x 12" sheet to cover the back sides so I used what was left from the sheet and used scraps from my Memoranda scrap box to fill in the gaps. I punched holes in the tag covers and added Tim Holtz Idea-ology Field Notes Ephemera on the front cover only.

I stamped the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Flower Shop and Faded Type inked with Black Soot Distress Archival ink. 

I've been itching to try out the Embossing Glaze/Distress Crayon technique Tim shared in a recent Facebook Live but was a little worried I might mess it up so decided to have a trial run on the back cover. If you missed the technique, which creates a beautiful pitted enamel look, you can get the lowdown from our adorable Professor HERE around 1hour 27 mins but I would suggest you make yourself a cuppa, find a comfy sofa, watch the whole thing and enjoy all the hints, tips and amazing ways you can use Distress Crayons.

Tim demo'd the technique on a plain Mixed Media Heavystock tag resulting in a much lighter effect with more contrast between the embossing glaze and Distress Crayon areas but I was rather chuffed with the result

and bit the bullet to repeat on the all-important front cover. I used the Distress Embossing Dabber to add ink randomly on the background, sprinkled with Weathered Wood Distress Embossing Glaze, flicked with purpose on the back of the tag to remove any excess and heat set.

I scribbled over the embossing with a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, rubbing it into the detail with my finger and blending it out on to the rest of the background. I buffed the crayon off the embossing glaze with kitchen towel and removed some of the crayon from the background with a slightly damp baby wipe.

I finished off by adding Idea-ology Specimen Remnant Rubs.

and this organising geek is happy to have ticked another task off the list of never ending things to do.

As you may know, Simon Says Stamp are accepting new orders, but have longer shipping times for the moment due to the coronavirus. With this in mind we have made the difficult decision to suspend the $50 voucher for this challenge.

We know that many people are staying safe at home and we would love it if you would continue to enter the challenges and have fun! We are all in this together!

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and our Designer In The Spotlight. As always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in...

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

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