Love it but never use it!

Hello to you all! Guess what? Yes, Monday has knocked on the door and walked right on in yet again so here I am with my creation for the new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp & Show! Now, let's start with a little confession which is good for the soul, even on a Monday! How many loved but uninked stamps are lying dormant in your crafty zone???? You know what I mean... You see it, fall in love, have to have it and yet years later, there it is all alone and naked, without a smidgen of ink for clothing...

At Simon Says Stamp & Show, we want to challenge you to pluck out those stamps from obscurity and get your ink on! Come on, you know which stamp I mean already!

I knew without a doubt I had to unearth Missy Mona. I have only used her once on a tag although I love the stamp a lot. My Mona is on a wooden block which always feels good in the hand.

As the image is so complete with the collaged background I didn't want to take anything away from it. Whilst walking by a shop last week I saw a Pop Art poster and I suddenly thought it would work on a card too.

I used four Distress Inks and started by roughly sponging some background colour onto manilla cardstock before stamping Mona in the same colour. I wanted to add my own twist to the Andy Warhol style so I decided on a stronger block of colour followed by a few flicks of water.

I just used some scrap card and sponged along the edge working on one half of the block, then flipped it over, did the other side meeting in the middle, in case a post-it or tape would damage the image.

I liked the four blocks but it still needed a little something extra so I went for some ChitChat words, which are turning out to be very handy little things indeed.

 A bit of inky Pop Art, a long awaited well-inked stamp and a two happy ladies... Mona and Sarah! Which stamp is calling your name and yearning to see an ink pad? We'd love to see what emerges from your stash... Blow off the dust, join in and also make a play for this generous $50 shopping voucher from Simon Says Stamp.
Well, time to be signing off again as every second counts...There's a hyperactive chimpanzee in my house disguised as an 8 month old baby...
Thanks for calling by!
Sarah.

*Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp MONA COLLAGE Stampers Anonymous P1-1087	*Tim Holtz SUMMER SEASONAL DISTRESS INK Pads 3 Pack Set Ranger	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD MUSTARD SEED Yellow Ranger	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEACOCK FEATHERS Ranger SPRING
*Ranger Inkssentials GLOSS PAPER WHITE 12 X 12 Glossy	*Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING FOAM REFILLS Applicator Tool Refill IBT23623	*Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL Applicator Foam IBT23616	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology 1088 CHITCHAT STICKERS TH92998

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Metal-ology!

Good morning! Good morning! Dah dah dah dah dah...or however that song goes. It could well be the middle of the night in some places with many a Blogger, but in any case I will wish you a good one. Welcome to La De Dah and my new creation for Simon Says Stamp & Show. Be it shiny, rusty, foil, paint, embellies or but a pin and a button, we are into our crafty metal stuff this week...

 Metal and I have always been good buddies so I was in the mood for this weeks theme. I had an idea with a Mr. Tim watch bubbling for months but on the day I couldn't quite get it to come together. Plan B then...

 I love old tins of all shapes and sizes and think they make great substrates for art. Sometimes I use the actual tin, but I'm just as nuts about the lids too and that it is where my plan B came in. I started with a rusty lid, lined it with white-washed and stitched Kraft resist paper, stamped with a few of those rather well known flutterbys...

Then I started to plan the inside. I wanted the watch to be the main focal point and thought the girls rule face was perfect in size and mood. I also wanted a flurry of flowers so I started to play around with all my Idea-ology bits and pieces. Once I had that planned out, all the flowers, leaves, watch, swivel clasp and key were given a good dose of Alcohol ink, followed by a coat of Distress Embossing Powder. I heat until it smokes (!), add a few extra drops of Alcohol ink (fizzzzz!), heat again until it darkens and then leave WELL, WELL ALONE until cool!

Then it was a case of working on more details and the composition. I wanted to stay with the aged look and feel so I used lots of lace scraps to create contrast, texture and also a 'bed' for the metalwork. I used lots of matt medium to set everything in place.

I have often said I like to create lines that cross at right angles to give balance to a piece and lead the eye so I used a piece of vintage tape measure and a wrap of gold thread to do this. I then just needed to select a few simple stamped words and add a rusty wire hanger to finish off.

It's definitely a Sarah-style creation, but I never get tired of metal or rusty tones. They seem to be my 'go-to'... But seeing as metal comes in SO many crafty forms, styles and sizes, you can pick the one that's right up your street and have fun your way.

Want to see oodles of metal inspiration? Then take a look at the all the really wonderful ideas from the Design Team here!
We can't wait to see what you will come up with this week. We'll be choosing our Top Three Artists and there is also this great $50 shopping voucher to be won.
Right my dears, I must love you and leave you for a while. Thanks for being here. Until the next time...Sarah.

*Tim Holtz Idea-ology POCKET WATCH TH92910	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology FOLIAGE Flowers Leaves Hardware Metal	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology SWIVEL CLASPS Hardware Metal Jewelry	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology LOCKET KEYS Metal Hardware Keyhole
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS EMBOSSING POWDER VINTAGE PHOTO Brown Ranger	*Ranger Complete Set 53 Alcohol Inks Adirondack	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps PAPILLON CMS106 2011	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad COFFEE AIP31451
*TIM HOLTZ Idea-ology KRAFT RESIST Paper Stash Cardstock 12 x 12 TH92918	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger	*Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp GIRLS RULE Stampers Anonymous	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps STUFF TO SAY CMS110 2011

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Splish, splash, splodge...

No, that's not the sound of me trudging through the rain but it is the wonderful sound of my messy hands in the craft room! This week at Simon Says Stamp & Show we are getting MESSY!!!!! So come on folks, get your ink, paint, mediums, sprays, powders and anything gloopy you like and join in the tactile creativity! For once I was very glad it wasn't baby food, nappies and other yukky stuff...

 Although I don't do a lot of it I  really like the styles and techniques used in Art Journalling. I am usually very precise and slightly obsessive when creating so this was a chance to just let go and allow the creative mood of the moment to take over... I took an 8 inch chunky canvas and dived in.

 I started with some scraps of Tissue tape, some rough swooshes of gesso and then I randomly stamped some Wendy leaves in black ink. Then more gesso, remembering to always dry between layers. I sprayed some yellow circles using a stencil I had made with my hole punches and then decided to add some scraps of design paper and more gesso. I like to use the gesso to block out anything that is too dominant or water it down when I want it to be translucent - giving a softer effect.

I needed more colour so I went for some pink sprayed through puchinella waste, added texture with more gesso and the Lettuce Dabber painted mini-mums followed by more stamping of the leaves - this time in Vermillion, with some small Wendy dots in Monarch Orange ink. I like to stamp in Archival inks as they don't smudge or move with water. Then just kept playing around with little details... such as the bigger Tim dots stamped in paint, some black pen lines and the inky bottle top rings as I needed some touches of blue.

It is very easy to forget the egdes so as I was working on the front I made sure I continued onto the sides too. I highlighted some of the yellow circles with a white pen as well as a few smaller dots and also stamped a few more  leaves in black as some had gone AWOL! Although I love all the colours and layers I just had to add some wording so I used certain words from my stamps sets along with letter stickers, typing and some Chit Chat words.

I stamped discover onto scrap paper, layered it onto a tag end, whilst possibility is stamped onto a piece of cotton ribbon soaked in gesso. I used a few smudges of paint and ink to help blend them into the canvas surface as I want them to be part of the whole composition - not 'stuck on' words...

And then suddenly I have the feeling, "I'm done". Put your hands in the air lady and back away from the canvas! So there you go - I hope it will brighten up your day. Discover the possibility... of getting very messy, expressive and inky! It will do you the world of good, I promise!

Take a look at all the fabulous creations from the Design Team - they will most definitely inspire you to get dirty! We want to see your inky fingers and art. Don't forget every week we choose our three top artists and there is also this generous $50 voucher to be won.
This is me and my pink fingers signing out! See you all soon, Sarah.  

*Tim Holtz Idea-ology 1088 CHITCHAT STICKERS TH92998	*Ranger DYLUSIONS INK SPRAY SET OF 12 Dyan Reaveley	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology TISSUE TAPE MARKETPLACE ***DISCONTINUED	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger
*Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps IT'S FACE ART Stampers Anonymous	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps STUFF TO SAY CMS110 2011	*Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps SERIOUSLY ART Studio 490 lcs034	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad MONARCH ORANGE AIP31239
*Ranger Adirondack PAINT DABBER LETTUCE Acrylic Green	*Ranger Adirondack PAINT DABBER CLOUDY BLUE Acrylic	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI MUMS 6 x 6 Template	*Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps ALPHABETICALLY ART Stampers Anonymous lcs017
*Ranger Inkssentials WHITE OPAQUE PEN Pigment Ink Stamp	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 MIXED MEDIA cms125	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad VERMILLION AIP30461	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK AIP31468

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