Simon Says - It's Up In The Air

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...

UP IN THE AIR

The UK is getting ready to celebrate our glorious Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. The normally reserved and stiff upper lip Brits do love a good party and nobody does pomp and ceremony quite like we do. I've made invitations for my Jubilee party guests using Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous London Sights, sentiment and balloon from Simon Says Happiest Wishes decorated with Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to 3.3/4" x 5". I coloured the different sections of the Union Jack image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous with Zig Clean Color Markers, spritzed lightly with water and stamped on to the panel.

I stamped the Big Ben image from the London Sights stamp set and the sentiment from Simon Says Happiest Wishes stamp set from the June Card Kit, inked with Black Soot Distress Archival.

I inked around the edge of the panel with Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink using a mini round blending tool, flicked on water droplets and dried. I masked off the bear on the image from Simon Says Happiest Wishes and stamped the balloon with Black Soot Distress Archival.

I die-cut the letters ER from Idea-ology Black and Gold Metallic KraftStock using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanuameric Bold Thinlits and fixed inside the balloon, slightly offset to create a drop shadow, with Distress Collage Medium.

|I applied Ranger Glossy Accents over the balloon and set aside to dry.

I matted the panel on to Idea-ology Black KraftStock trimmed to 4" x 5.1/4" and fixed to an A2 white card blank.

How adorable are these Corgi Cookies from M&S

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 as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend online at Simon Says Stamp

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

Yes - It's Brushed Flowers Again

Hi my friends, I'm back to share another 2 cards made using the Brushed Flowers stamp set from Simon Says May Card Kit along with the matching dies and the Arches Stencil from the recent Yay You release.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to 4"x 5.1/4", applied Saltwater Taffy and Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide inks through the Simon Says Arches Stencil and Saltwater Taffy around the edges and to fill in the white gaps using Mini Round Blending Tools.

I stamped the sentiments from Brushed Flowers with Simon Says Intense Black ink and added splatters of Black Soot Distress Paint.

I stamped the flower and leaf images from Brushed Flowers, inked with Saltwater Taffy and Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide inks. I used a black Zig Brush Marker to colour the flower centres and die-cut using the matching Brushed Flower dies.

I fixed the die-cuts to the panel using foam adhesive to create dimension.

I matted the panel on to Simon Says Black cardstock, trimmed 1/8" larger than the panel and fixed to an A2 white card blank.

On the second card, I decided to use the Brushed Flowers dies to create an aperture for a shaker card.

I smooshed Saltwater Taffy and Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide inks on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and laid a 4" x 5.1/4" panel of Distress Watercolor card into the inks. I dried and tapped the panel back on to the inks to pick up the remaining droplets. I tapped the Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide ink pad on to the Arches Stencil, spritzed with water and pressed on to the panel to create a monoprint effect.

I arranged the Brushed Flowers dies on the panel and die-cut. I stamped the flower, leaf stem and sentiment on to scraps of Distress Watercolor card using Saltwater Taffy and Salvaged Patina Distress Oxides and Simon Says Intense Black ink.

Using the die-cut panel as a template, I fixed the stamped images to another panel of Distress Watercolor card trimmed to be the same size and added acetate and foam adhesive to the back of the die-cut panel.

I added Sizzix Sequins and fixed the stamped panel on top, with my fingers crossed that everything would line up through the aperture.

To finish I matted the panel on to an A2 Black card blank.

Have a great weekend whatever you have planned and I'll be back on Monday to share my DT project for Simon Says Monday Challenge. In the meantime, Happy Crafting.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Sending Hugs

Hi my friends, I bet you didn't know that this was going to be "Brushed Flowers" week - yes I'm back with another card made with this gorgeous stamp set from Simon Says May Card Kit, this time using just one image, one sentiment from the stamp set, the Prima Painted Florals papers from the kit, the Arches Stencil from the recent Yay You release with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Texture Paste.

I began by trimming one of the Prima Painted Florals papers to 3.3/4" x 5", die-cut a circle from one of the other papers, fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium and stamped the sentiment from Brushed Flowers inked with Simon Says Intense Black ink. I applied Distress Texture Paste Crackle through the Arches Stencil and stamped the foliage image from the stamp set twice, inked with Simon Says Intense Black ink. I added faux stitching around the circle using a Sakura Black Micron Pen but you'll see from the finished card, I changed my mind and changed it to a solid line.

I fussy cut the butterfly from one of the Painted Florals papers to leave a small white border and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium, only applying the adhesive to the body to create dimension.

I stamped the XOXO from the stamp set with Simon Says Intense Black ink but smeared the ink before it had dried, yes silly billy. I re-stamped the sentiment on to Idea-ology Plain Collage Paper and fixed over the top with Distress Collage Medium. I added splatters of White Gesso, fixed the panel to Simon Says Black Cardstock, trimmed to be 1/8" smaller than A2 and fixed to a white card blank.

I hope you'll bear with me because I'll be back tomorrow to share another 2 cards made with the May Card Kit and then, I promise I'll be moving on to pastures new. Have fun with whatever you are creating.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - More Brushed Flowers

Hi my friends, I'm back with two "even simpler to make" cards made using Simon Says Brushed Flowers from the May Card Kit and a fun very easy faux watercolour technique with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to make 2 - 3.3/4" x 5" panels, stamped the flowers and leaves using Bundled Sage, Pine Needles, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold and Carved Pumpkin Distress inks. I spritzed the images with water which made the inks wick out and dried. I stamped the sentiments with Simon Says Intense Black ink.

I used a fine liner black pen to sketch loosely around the petals and leaves and added splatters of Black Soot Distress Paint.

To finish I matted the panels on to Simon Says Black card trimmed to be 1/8" smaller than A2 and fixed to top-folding white card blanks.

They do say that variety is the spice of life, so why not mix up the flower colours and sentiments to make a great stocking filler set of 6 to gift to a friend. Have fun with whatever you are creating

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Brushed Flowers

Hi my friends, it's confession time. I'm more than a little bit besotted with the Brushed Flowers stamp set included in Simon Says May Card Kit and although I don't mind fussy cutting, the matching die set  definitely speeds things up when you're on a mission to make a bunch of quick and easy cards. 

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to make 3 - 4" x 5.1/4" panels and working on the textured side of the card, spritzed Kitsch Flamingo, Twisted Citron and Fossilized Amber Distress Spray Stains through Simon Says 4" x 9" Arches Stencil from the recent Yay You release. I spritzed the panels with water, dried and used the ink left on the back of the stencil to create a monoprint effect.

On the first card, I stamped the flower and leaf images from the Brushed Flower stamp set, inked with Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide inks and added Rusty Hinge, Ground Espresso and Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxides to the stamps using a Distress Blending Brush to create shading, re-stamped and die-cut using the matching die set.

I fixed the die-cuts in place using foam adhesive to create dimension and stamped the sentiment, inked with Simon Says Intense Black ink.

On the second card, I stamped the sentiment panel, inked Simon Says Intense Black ink, on to the panel to use as a guide for placement of the foliage. I stamped the foliage inked with Rustic Wilderness and the flowers inked with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide inks.

I re-stamped the sentiment panel and flowers on to scraps of Distress Watercolor card, die-cut and fixed to the panel with foam adhesive.

On the third card,I stamped the foliage, inked with Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide ink, 3 times on to the panel.

I inked the flower image with Wild Honey Distress Oxide, coloured the centre with a black marker, stamped on to Distress Watercolor card, die-cut and fixed to the panel using foam adhesive.  I stamped the sentiment and small flower image, inked with Simon Says Intense Black ink.

To finish I matted the panels on to Simon Says Black Cardstock trimmed to be 1/8" larger and fixed to A2 top folding white card blanks.

I'll be back tomorrow to share another two "even simpler" Brushed Flower cards, in the meantime, have fun with whatever you are making.

Hugs Kath xxx