Best of 2013: Simon Says Stamp + stamp out the year challenge

First off, I want to take a quick minute and name Simon Says Stamp as one of my “best of 2013” craft companies. Not only do they have fantastic customer service and an unmatched product selection, but they also now have monthly kits and exclusive products from amazing designers too! It has been my honor working with them for the past 18 months – and I hope to work with them for many years to come!

I took a two week break from the challenges due to health issues – but you know I had to pop back in and “stamp out” 2013 with the Monday Challenge blog team!!

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supplies used:

This card was super fun to make! Stamping, coloring, and of course stickles for glittering! I used two favorite stamps as well as two favorite stamp techniques: embossing with white powder and stamping + coloring with distress markers.

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50dollar_voucher_600px Simon is, as always, offering a generous $50 voucher that will be randomly drawn from the eligible entries each week. Join us in stamping a project this week – and for your chance to win a $50 voucher you should hop on over and join in the challenge here.

Gotta have a little Christmas in July…

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Here’s a card I made for Stamper’s Anonymous featuring some new Tim Holtz Blueprint stamps.

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I wanted to ‘ruin’ the gingerbread man. First I colored him all nice, then I crackled him, then I painted over that with matte finish adhesive so it wasn’t so shiny. I totally love the effect.

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And a big thanks to Tim Holtz for letting me have some Christmas creative time in July with his newest stamps! I do love my Christmas crafting – even when it’s 105 outside.

Challenge: Stripes!

It’s stripes week over at Simon Says Stamp & Show! A super fun one if you asked me – I love the directions that the design team ran in. Also – we have a new member and she’s got some rockin’ scrapbook inspiration to share. So be sure to visit the blog to see all of the other creations and to enter. This week’s prize (as always) is a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp! The winner is randomly drawn – you can enter by posting to your blog, flickr, or other site too. See the blog for entry details and rules as usual.

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I went ‘stars & stripes’ with my inspiration..

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How-to:

1. Ink flag stamp with red and blue distress ink carefully, stamp onto center of card. Coat with clear embossing powder and heat set.

2. On a separate sheet of paper, stamp USA with any ink (embossing or distress), then coat with black embossing powder, heat set, and cut out the letters.

3. Rub the background with some gathered twigs distress ink and let it dry for a minute. Then stamp with perfect medium (star stamp) several times, and brush sunflower sparkle perfect pearls over to add a subtle sparkle!

4. Finish the card by edging with blue ink, adding the “USA” with foam adhesive, and sticking the stars and words onto the card.

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Supplies Used:

Kraft challenge!

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Today I’ve got a video tutorial up over at www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com for the “kraft” challenge. In that video I explain how I use embossing + distress paint to make colors show up beautifully on a kraft tag.

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As promised in that video – here is a second project using the same technique.

Supplies used: 


I hope you’re inspired to get KRAFTY and post it to enter the challenge this week. It’s WIDE open – be sure to visit the blog to see all of the other creations and to enter. This week’s prize (as always) is a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp! The winner is randomly drawn – you can enter by posting to your blog, flickr, or other site too. See the blog for entry details and rules as usual.