Simon Says - Easter/Spring

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...

EASTER/SPRING

I made Easter Cards and Gift Bags with a spring garden theme using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Bunny Stitch Thinlits, the sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Hipster Bunny and added interest and colour to the backgrounds using Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Focus and Stitched Mini Layering Stencils.

I coloured A2 panels of Distress Watercolor card with Fossilized Amber and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide inks by smooshing the ink pads on to a piece of plastic, spritzing with water and pressing on to the card panels.

I added stencilled details using Mini Layering Stencils, Focus from Set 52 and Stitched from Set 33 with Spiced Marmalade and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide inks applied with mini round blending tools.

I stamped the sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Hipster Bunny inked with Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint Distress Archival inks.

I die-cut the bunnies from Distress Watercolor card and Sizzix Neutral, Black and Pink cardstock using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Bunny Stitch Thinlits. I fixed the neutral die-cut on to the Distress Watercolor card die-cut and added shading using Ground Espresso Distress Oxide ink and a mini round blending tool. I fixed to the panels with foam squares to create dimension and added the black and pink details on the eyes, nose and ears.

I

I die-cut the stitches from Distress Watercolor card and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium.

I die-cut the carrots from Sizzix Cardstock, decorated with stitches and tucked in place under the bunny arms.

I added hearts die-cut from Sizzix Neutral card, shaded to match the bunnies and added the top layer die-cut from the same card as the carrots.

I matted the panels on to A2 Distress Kraft HeavyStock card blanks.

I removed the handles from white gift bags, sprayed them with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide Spray, reattached when dry and fixed the extra panels to the front of each bag. I filled the bags with Easter treats and added shedded paper cut with the help of my new best friend, the amazing Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Rotary Media Trimmer (details about the trimmer from an earlier post HERE).

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

Tim Holtz/Tonic Rotary Media Trimmer

Hi my friends, I was super excited when the brand new amazing Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios 12.5" Rotary Media Trimmer arrived in the cubbyhole and couldn't wait to put it through it's paces. It has a small footprint so can fit easily on my workdesk, is very lightweight, the extending ruler arms allow for easy cutting of 12 x 12 card and papers, the geared blade sharpens itself using friction and the blade carriage moves effortlessly along the aluminium rod to cut, either from the top down or the bottom up.

For more information about the Rotary Media Trimmer, I wouild recommend you watch Tim's You Tube Live launch HERE where he answers all of the questions you might have. I love my Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Guillotine Trimmers but there are certain surfaces that require a bit of muscle to cut and others that are a definite "no way can I cut that - so I'm slamming the brakes on" decision. 

I gathered lots of substrates and it's time to share my fun "OK, let's see what you can do" adventure. I started off with my favourite substrates, Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor/Kraft/Black/White and Mixed Media HeavyStock which I bulk buy in 8.5" x 11" sheets and trim down to make A2 panels to stock up my grab and go box but it can be a bit tedious cutting one sheet at a time. Now this cutting wizard has arrived, I sliced through 3 sheets at a time, each cut perfectly clean and super smooth, definitely a time saving game changer. A couple of cuts in and I'm already addicted to the sharp, crisp noise it makes as it effortlessly slices all in it's path.

The adventure continued with Sizzix Matboard, previously a big challenge, Sizzix Texture Roll and Sculpting Foam, Idea-ology Textured Surfaces and Grunge Board (long since retired), die storage Magnet Sheets (backed with card for stability), Burlap Paper and it sliced through them all like a hot knife through butter.

The 24 million dollar question was - would it cut 12" x 12" sheets of HeavyWeight Acetate which is very thick and sturdy enough to make acetate card blanks and the camera doesn't lie my friends. It made short work of trimming the sheet in half and then once scored and folded, trimmed the double thickness to create a 5.1/2" square acetate card. I'm mightly relieved that the struggle to cut Heavyweight Acetate is over.

It's not intended to cut thin substrates but, you know me, anything that saves me time. I needed some shredded paper to put in my Easter Treat Bags which I'll be sharing later on Simon Says Monday Challenge, so I folded tissue paper multiple times and trimmed the thinest slivers to create my own.

The Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Rotary Media Trimmer does exactly what it says on the tin, is a great addition to my Tonic Studios Trimmer family, me and this new resident are definitely going to be best friends. I'll be back soon to share my DT project for Simon Says Monday Challenge.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Just For You

Hi my friends, I'm sharing an Easter Treat Bag I decorated with the Bunny Egg Stencil and Easter Blessings die from Simon Says Stamp latest release - Just For You. You can check out all the fabulous new products from the release HERE.

I removed the handles from the Kraft Gift Bags and trimmed the top with Tim Holtz/Tonic Deckle Edge Trimmer to be a better fit for A2 panels.

I coloured A2 panels of Distress Watercolor card with Scattered Straw Distress Oxide by smooshing the ink pad on to my Glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and dragged the panel through the ink. I added Speckled Egg Distress Oxide ink through Simon Says Berries and Leaves Stencil from a previous release using a mini round blending tool and added splatters of Scattered Straw and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide inks.

I stencilled the bunny from Simon Says Bunny Egg Stencil on to Distress Watercolor using Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink and a mini round blending tool and fussy cut leaving a border around the edges.

I fixed the bunny to the panel with Simon Says Foam Squares and added flowers and leaves die-cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix BrushStroke Flowers Mini Thinlits.

I die-cut the shadow for Simon Says Easter Blessings from vellum, the words from Distress Watercolor card coloured with Scattered Straw Distress Oxide ink, layered to create dimension and fixed to the panel. I distressed the edges of the panel and fixed to the treat bag with Distress Collage Medium.

I coloured Ideaology Crinkle Ribbon from my precious hoarded stash with Scattered Straw Distress Oxide Spray, spritzed with water, scrunched up in my hand and dried.

I filled the bag with Easter Treats, punched holes and closed using the Crinkle Ribbon tied in a double bow. I finished by fixing Trinity Stamps Creamy Vanilla Heart Sprinkles for the bunny's nose and to decorate the ears.

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Whatever The Weather

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...

WHATEVER THE WEATHER

I created a card with a rainy day background using Tim Holtz/Ranger Dura Lar Clear Transparent Sheets with Alcohol Inks and Alcohol Lift-Ink, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Distinguished and Dapper stamp sets and decorated with Tim Holtz/Sizzix BrushStroke Flowers Mini Thinlits.

I added drops of Pitch Black, Cobalt and Moss Alcohol Inks, Blending Solution and Isopropyl on to my Glass Media Mat and dragged a panel of Dura Lar through the inks, added more drops of the inks to the panel and moved the inks around with the Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Air Blower and dried.

I stamped the umbrella from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Distinguished on the panel, inked with Versamark, sprinkled with Simon Says White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set. The Dura Lar is heat tolerant but I kept my heat gun moving not concentrating on any one spot for too long.

I stamped the numbers image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dapper, inked with Alcohol Lift-Ink on to the panel and dabbed repeatedly with kitchen towel to remove the excess alcohol ink.

At this stage, I decided that the white embossing was a bit too bright and shiny, so I gently sanded the umbrellas to remove some of the shine using a Tim Holtz Sanding Disk which is a perfect fit for a mini round blending tool. I inked the banner image from Distinguished with Distress Black Soot Archival, sprinkled with Ranger Black Embossing Powder and heat set.

I coloured a die-cut circle of Distress Watercolor card with Mowed Lawn and BluePrint Sketch Distress Oxide inks, added some flicks of water and dried. I stamped the sentiment from a very old Tim Holtz Clear Stamp Set from my stash (Virtual Artistry - Purely Random CSS 27843) inked with Black Soot Distress Archival and heat embossed with Ranger Black Embossing Powder as before.

I fixed the circle in place with foam squares and added Tim Holtz/Sizzix BrushStroke Flowers Mini Thinlits flowers die-cut from Distress Watercolor card and shaded lightly with Mowed Lawn and BluePrint Sketch Distress Oxides.

I flicked on small drops of Distress Resist Spray, sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set. To finish I trimmed the panel to 4" x 5.1/4", added Distress Collage Medium behind the die-cut circle and the embossed umbrellas and fixed to an A2 white card blank.

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