No Trouble

I'm a Guest Designer for April at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and if this is your first visit here--hello and welcome!

This week's challenge is Rain and/or Flowers and I'm super excited to feature one of the new Tim Holtz stamps for 2016 called Sideshow. 

According to Tim's blog (CHA 2016 Stampers Anonymous Sneak Peak), he discovered some mixed-media art, fell in love with the designs and purchased them to turn into stamps.

I too, fell in love and knew this set was a "must-have." This is my first time using them and since the man with umbrella/raindrops is perfect for this challenge, I had no trouble completing it!

I stamped the image on a dark blue page from Tim's new paper stash called Dapper using ColorBox Frost White pigment ink and Ranger's super-fine white embossing powder.

I used Ranger's Red Geranium archival ink to stamp text in different directions along the left hand side to fill-in the background.

I pasted on vintage postage stamps using Perfect Paper Adhesive (great product), stamped some numbers (which also came with the set) using Ranger's Cobalt archival ink and used Gelly Roll Souffle pens to emphasize and add color to the lines and text on the paper.

The pens work well for adding accents because they write on most surfaces (even acrylic paint/mediums) and provide a nice, dimensional quality.

I felt the man was a little too bright so I dimmed down the white embossing by applying a transparent layer of color using Old Paper ink from a Distress marker mixed with PPA which can also be used as a medium.

The ink helped with my values and also brought out an interesting texture in the embossing that was a side-benefit I hadn't planned on.

I look forward to using this stamp set for other projects--the design and style just invite creativity and I think they will prove to be very versatile. And I'm happy to have a stamp that's a little different from the standard fare!

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I really hope you'll join us for this week's challenge.

I want to see what inspires you!

And when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!

Here is a list of the products I used this week which can be purchased at Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 12 x 12 Paper Stash DAPPER	Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2016 SIDESHOW	Sakura GELLY ROLL SOUFFLE 10 Pen Set	US Artquest MATTE Perfect Paper Adhesive	Tim Holtz Distress Markers OLD PAPER
Ranger Archival Red Geranium Ink Pad	Clearsnap ColorBox Frost White Ink pad	Ranger embossing powder White	Archival Ink - Cobalt

Today

I've been invited to be a Guest Designer for April at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and if this is your first visit here--hello and welcome!

Our challenge this week is to use a resist technique and I chose embossing powder which works great with watercolor but I also wanted to alter the fine lines of my stamping. So here's the twist...

I cut a tag shape from Arches watercolor paper then stamped my flower shapes (Tim's Flower Garden Stamp Set) with ColorBox white pigment ink and sprinkled on Ranger's Ultra-Thick Embossing Powder.

Since this powder has chunky bits, I embraced this feature and encouraged some to fall off with extra tapping before it was heat-set to create a distressed appearance.

For a quick way to make a mask, I used wax paper and a graphite pencil to make a rubbing of the embossed surface.

I trimmed the mask along the edge outline and it was used to cover the flowers so I could stamp some background text (Tim's Ledger Script) with Ranger archival ink.

I applied water over the entire tag surface and let it soak in a bit before adding paint. This way, the colors run together creating natural blends and it prevents hard edges. The embossed lines make it easy to control and contain the paint.

It's optional, but I prefer to iron-off the embossing as a final step to even-out the surface and get rid of the shine. I use an old iron (dedicated to crafting) to re-melt the embossing while it is covered with newsprint (it has the best absorption). Pull the paper off immediately after applying heat because once it's cool the paper might stick.

My stash of bee stamps is limited (what?) so I clipped an image from a newspaper advertisement and since the paper is flimsy I pasted it to some strong tissue, encased it with acrylic medium then cut it out.

I made some adjustments to the paint colors (added some stems and a bit more green), stitched tinted Lace Trimming along the side, added dots of dimensional paint and a Small Talk sticker.

The tag edges were darkened and I splattered watered-down white paint over the surface with finger flicks.

I'm happy with the mottled appearance and would recommend this resist technique if you want to give your stamped images a new vibe--distressed or otherwise.

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I really hope you'll join us for this week's challenge.

There are many resist techniques and I want to see what inspires you!

And when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!

Here's a list of the products I used for this challenge which can be ordered from Simon:

Arches 140# Cold Press	Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Powder	Colorbox - Frost White	Ranger Archival Watering Can Ink Pad	Tim Holtz Idea-ology LACE Trimmings TH93216
Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps FLOWER GARDEN CMS215	Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps Ledger Script CMS241	Tim Holtz Small Talk Stickers

La Cucina

(Per Schiassi e Scarpelli)

My cooking skills have improved with practice over the years but in the early days of my marriage I felt like a child in the kitchen. My husband is Italian and no one cooks like his Mama!

The stamp used for this tag was found at a garage sale and seems very old (I think it may date back to the 1970's) and while I wasn't sure I'd ever use it, I was drawn to the image (perhaps because of my history?) and the price was right so I bought it.

With this week's theme of Food and/or Drink at Simon's Monday blog challenge I thought now would be a great time to use it.

I began with a page from an old cookbook which is now hard to see due to the many layers of distressing I used to make the walls look like old plaster. The floor, window and sign were hand-drawn, the bird was stamped and I placed a bit of washi along the sides of the window for trim.

Buon appetito!

Hold On

At the bottom center of this photo are the words "Bird's Nest" (click to enlarge) and it was pure coincidence. The star, cut from the index pages of a very, very old cookbook was made before I even thought of using a bird (Thrift-shop Ephemera) to carry it and even then, I didn't make the connection until it was pasted down.

The stamped background was made using Tim's Dots & Floral stamp set with red and grey archival ink then tinted with colored pencils after applying a light white wash. A bit of machine stitching, gelly roll dots, Chit-Chat stickers and washi were used to complete it.

I'm linking to this week's Monday blog challenge at Simon where, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, the prompt is Use Some Lucky Stars.

Dreamer

This tag began as a happy accident. I received a new stencil (Tim's Blossom) and it was tossed on my tabletop. Later, I noticed that an unused cut-out of this lady had landed on top. Somehow, they seemed to go together and so I ran with it.

I used paint to stamp tiny text over a tinted background then applied blue, grays and greens through the stencil. The lady was put into place and I stamped then overpainted a few birds (Tim's Birds on a Wire). A few of his Big Chit-Chat stickers seemed right to explain the scene.

I'm linking up to Simon's Make Your Own Background challenge.

Foyles

Foyles Bookstores is a rather famous London landmark that has a colorful history and I've used a photo by Wolf Suschitzky of a man standing in front of it for this tag.

I began with a pile of scrap papers that were cut and pasted to form a background then laser printed a reversed version of the photo and used polymer medium to transfer the image.

Except for the very blackest areas, image transfers are transparent so I made a tracing of the man's face, book and hands to line up with the tag so I could paint the background white in those areas. This way, the parts would stand out better and not be obscured.

I liked the results but wanted a contrast to better emphasize the man so I used paint to simplify the background and found an image of books (actually wallpaper by Muriva) then cut it to fit before doing another image transfer.

The final result includes the addition of some Remnant Rubs and a bit of sanding to distress and bring out the uneven thickness of the original paper background.

The intense contrast of black and white in the original photo is what attracted me to it and the sidewalk shadow is a favorite part of this tag. Of course, the gentlemen is also terrific and I am happy that the glare in his eyeglasses came through.

The book (like a vintage smart phone) makes me wonder what he was reading and why it couldn't wait until he got home?

I'm linking to the Monday blog challenge at SSS where this week's theme is Make Your Own Background.

Simplicity

Tim's March tag inspired me to "remix" a layer of cardboard along with texture paste and paint splatters.

I used a stencil called Mini-Tatting by Rebekah Meier (TCW), Tim's Chit-Chat stickers and his new Ledger Script stamp (buried underneath the layers), along with some butterflies cut from Graphic 45 paper (Botanicabella).

Since the butterfly antennae are impossible to cut because they're so tiny I clipped a few strands from a black paintbrush and pasted them on instead.