THE STAMPS I LOVE AND USED!!

How many of us have all sorts of stamps sitting around that we love and don't use?  I am so guilty of that!  This weeks' Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to use a stamp you love ... but don't use.

Stop by the blog and check out all of the really cool pieces that my design team buddies have waiting for you to see.  It's interesting to see all of the different styles of stamps and how they used them in their projects.

I have to admit...I have cheated just a little bit on this challenge.  I recently purchased Darkroom Door's "Fun and Games" stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  So, I've not had it all that long...but I haven't used them yet!  And I do LOVE LOVE LOVE this stamp set! 

Every stamp in this set is so cool!  Vintage, nostalgic and I wanted to use ALL of them on this piece!  I almost did!

I started with a 5x7 canvas that I brushed with Studio Matte Multi Medium and then covered with 7 Gypsies Life Tissue Paper.  Then I heat set it.

I love teal mixed with browns or sepia tones, so I washed the canvas with Studio's Classic Teal paint mixed with water and heat set it again.

Next, I added a wash of Sable Brown over the canvas to antique it a bit.  Then I heat set it.  Next I rubbed some Graphite then Old Silver and then Copper Inka-Gold randomly around the edges and on the canvas.  It adds so much depth and richness to the canvas.  You will see the different in the next photo.  In the meantime, I had stamped all of my images and sort of laid them out where I thought I would want them to go on my canvas.  In doing that, I noticed a big blank area on my canvas that I didn't like.  What to do?

How about adding some of Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 White Embossing Paste using her Brick Wall Stencil?  LOVE it!  Okay...but now the white is really stark against my finished background.

More Sable Brown paint and a little Copper Inka-Gold rubbed on the textured bricks.  LOVE it!  In the process of putting my design together, I decided to add another smaller 2x2 canvas; covered the same way as my larger canvas to really give dimension to my piece. 

Here is that 2x2 canvas with the word "LIFE" on it.  The letters are from Tim Holtz' Mixed Minis Grungeboard set.  I first painted them with a Pitch Paint Dabber followed by touches of a Gold Paint Dabber.  Then I rubbed some Inka-Gold Old Silver over them.  Next, I glued them in place using Glossy Accents and covered them with Crackle Accents to really lift them off of the canvas.  The different suits of cards are glued behind the 2x2 canvas using Tim Holtz' Memo Pins.  I love the extra dimension and color they provide to that corner of the canvas.

I really wasn't able to capture how cool these look in person. They are dimensional and crackled.  The "i" is dotted with a Bingo piece from the set that has been covered in Crackle Accents as well.

The Bingo cards were stamped onto manila cardstock that was distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  That wonderful vintage red ink color is Archival Vermillion.  I then cut out the cards, distressed the edges with a Tonic Paper Distresser and then inked the edges with Gathered Twigs and touches of Black Soot.  I bent the cards up a bit, added another Bingo piece to one card and layered them onto the canvas.

The joker.  Isn't he great?  I love this stamp!  He was stamped onto manila cardstock that was distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Then I colored in the joker using my Derwent Watercolor Pencils.  I inked the edges in Black Soot and glued him into place.

Underneath the "LIFE" canvas are the words "ENJOY THE GAME".  I stamped them onto manila cardstock using Jet Black Archival Ink.  Then I cut closely around the letters.  The stamp set has those wonderful domino images.  So, I stamped them out using Jet Black Archival onto manila cardstock, cut them out, glued them onto chipboard for more dimension and then inked the edges with Black Soot.  Then I popped the words onto the top of each domino and covered the words with Crackle Accents.  When dry, I staggered them in place on the brick background.

Finally ... the chess pieces and dominoes across the bottom.  Originally, I just had the chess pieces laying across the bottom but they sort of died into the background.  But, when I added the domino strip across the bottom ... POP!  The chess pieces are stamped with Jet Black Archival ink onto manila cardstock and highlighted with the Inka-Gold Old Silver rubbed on their highlighted area.  Then they are pop dotted onto the dominoes.

Here is a different view of the canvas so you can see all of the dimension you can achieve by adding another smaller canvas, bending the Bingo cards, gluing the dominoes to chipboard before gluing them in place and pop dotting the words and chess pieces.

Now it's your turn to pull out that stamp that you love but haven't used!  Create something wonderful and post it to our challenge.  You could be our lucky weekly winner of a ...

$50.00 credit voucher to buy more stamps!!  Or whatever your heart desires!

You could also be selected as one of our TOP THREE entrees for the week...a nice honor!

Good luck and I can't wait to see what stamp you will use and how you will use it!

Here are the products available at Simon Says Stamp used in creating this canvas:

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