Is this my "blue period"?

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "blue".  This was somewhat of a challenge for me, because as I thought about it I realised that I really don't use blue very much as a general rule.  I wouldn't go so far as to say I don't like it, it's just that I tend to reach for warmer colours as a first choice.  That's probably why I found it quite refreshing this week, a real trip outside of my comfort zone!  Why don't you dig out your blue stash and make an entry for this week's $50 prize challenge? :)

I have most (if not all) of the Promarker colours so I thought I'd take the opportunity of really giving the blue shades a good workout this week.  For that reason, all of the stamping was done with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, the best choice for using with Promarkers.

This man from the Paris Memoir set is one of my new favourite images, so I was determined to put him front and centre on this piece.  The image to the left is a section of the David head from the Artful Artifacts set and the numbers on the right are from The Countdown set.

I find that when I apply some kind of restriction to what I'm doing, in this case limiting myself to using only blues, it forces me to think a little differently about what I'm doing and that's nearly always a good thing! :)

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Happy New Year!

Once again this is a "no challenge" week over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.  Instead, we're celebrating the new year by looking to the past and celebrating old favourites from our crafting stash!

I had to think long and hard about this one, there are so many things that I could have nominated as an old favourite - certainly this man from the Winged Things 2 stamp set is one of them.  In the end though, I decided that my #1 old favourite has to be the Distress Ink colour palette, they're still my go-to product for adding vintage-style colour to my projects.

I started out by applying Distress Paint directly to my background card panels, dragging the dabber tops in a straight line to simulate wood grain.  I used some of Tim Holtz's layering stencils to add the background designs with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint, applied with an ink blending tool.

Flighty man was stamped, painted with Distress Ink pad and a water brush, cut out and fixed in place.  Finally I added the computer-printed text, mounted on black card.

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday season and that 2014 will be an even better year for you than 2013.  Happy New Year!



Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Of course, the great thing about an online retailer like Simon Says Stamp is is that their store is open 24/7, 365 days a year, so why not head over there and treat yourself to a little holiday gift?

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Well, it's just after midnight here in the UK, so that means that it's Christmas Day! :)  I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you for visiting my blog through the year and to wish a very happy holiday to you and your nearest and dearest!  Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia or nothing at all, I hope you're all cosily ensconced with those that you love most.

A friend took these lovely photos of my home dressed in all it's festive finery, aren't they great?  I thought this was the perfect time to share some of them :)