SIMON SAYS ANYTHING BUT A CARD

I love SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE this week because it is so open...any subject, any medium, just NOT A CARD!  Check out the blog to see the wonderful ideas that my Design Team buddies have come up with for you.  What a wide range of fantastic!!

I wanted to just be simply artsy this week, so I did something that is easy to do but I think the results are pretty cool. If you're snowbound this week or just wanting to take little time for yourself to "play", try out this simple background technique.  I think you'll like it. 

I used a #8 Manila Tag to create this fun piece.  I love Distress Inks!  I also love the Ink Blending Tools for applying the Distress Inks.  Usually I use a circular motion and "walk" the color onto my project.  But, for this tag, I wanted to create an entirely different background.  So, instead of using the Ink Blending Tool to blend the inks, I used it essentially as a stamp.

I inked up the pad and then pressed it down on to the tag in a random pattern.  The Distress Ink colors I used were:  Wild Honey, Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed and Black Soot (around the edges).  When I finished stamping the entire tag with color, I lightly spritzed it with water from my Mister Bottle and let the colors blur just a bit.  That gave it more of a watercolor look rather than clear, deliberate edges.  Then I heat set the colors using my Ranger Heat It Craft Tool.  

This tag features one of my favorite stamp sets from the very talented Wendy Vecchi.  All of the eyes are from Wendy's appropriately named An Eye For Art stamp set.  All are stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I started at the top right then the bottom left then the center.  I loved the eyes in the circular and square "frames" as well but they wouldn't all fit on the tag.  So, I decided to stamp those two eyes on a separate piece of manila cardstock that was also colorized using the Distress Inks.  Then I cut them out leaving just a little of an edge around the stamp.  I ran a black cats eye ink pad around the edge and it really finished out the circle or square images.  I later pop dotted them on top of the tag.  I really liked the extra dimension they added.

Next I stamped the sentiment, "Art Begins With A Vision".  Boy, isn't that the truth?  Finally I found some little flourishes that would work perfectly on the tag to fill up those blank areas.  They are from Wendy Vecchi's Art Parts stamp set.  I didn't attach them to a block.  I just inked them up and partially stamped them onto the tag, rolling them off of my fingers.

 

Then I did something I've never done before.  I used a White Opaque Pen to add highlights to the tag.  I highlighted the eyes, filled in circles, drew in circles, shadowed letters, added short lines, followed the curves of the flourishes and even added in a zig zag pattern around the square frame.  It was really fun and I can't believe the difference just that little bit of white made!  Finally, I distressed the edge of the tag with just a bit of Black Soot to really bring out the vibrant color and pop the black eyes even more.

I'm anxious to see what you come up with for this week's challenge.  The sky is the limit, as long as it's NOT A CARD!  So, create your piece and add it to the SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE.  You could be the lucky winner of our random weekly drawing 

for a ...

$50.00 gift voucher to our fabulous store!  And...if your design is picked as one of the TOP THREE, you will receive our BLINKE to proudly display on your blog!  So...have fun with this challenge!  Make your project and enter today.  GOOD LUCK!!!