Winter Stamping ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome to another week and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! Can you believe how fast the past week has flown? It seems only a minute ago I was writing up last week's blog post ~ crazy!!

Anyway, this week's challenge is all about Winter Stamping! With the holidays well behind us and spring seeming so far away, let's focus on the season at hand. Will you stamp a snowy scene? Try a new use for a snowflake stamp? Perhaps be inspired by the colours of winter in your ink choice ~ however you decide to get stamping, we can't wait for you to share and join us!

For my project, I was inspired by the movie, Frozen! I watched it for the first time over the Christmas period, (yes, I know I'm a little behind and that is very remiss of me being such a huge Disney fan) ~ and I loved it but was most inspired by the beautiful soft blue colour palette, the icy, frosty feel of the movie and of course, Olaf and that's why I created this tag! As always, I hope you love it!

To begin with, I created the tag background and for this I used a Giant Manila tag and applied Picket Fence Distress Paint over the entire surface, heat dried it and then spritzed the tag with Brushed Pewter and Faded Jeans Distress Spray Stain to give a marbled effect.

After having a think about the design, I decided to turn the tag upside down and die cut the bottom edge (which is now the top) using the Torn Notebook On The Edge Die before mounting it onto white corrugated card stock.

I then started work on the background for my scene and began by using a piece of white stamping card and stamping the entire card with the Holiday Knits stamp by Tim Holtz inked with clear embossing ink. I then applied white embossing powder over the top and heat embossed to create a resist for the next stage. I then used Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans Distress Ink over the top of the embossed surface and gently buffed up the white embossed area with a dry cloth to remove any stray ink.

After mounting the background onto a piece of blue Gauze Paper, I distressed the edges and then layered it over some cheesecloth and attached it to my tag background.

Now to create the scene and for this I stamped the Blueprint Snowman, stamped onto white card and coloured the image with Distress Marker Pens before cutting around the snowman.

For the snowman's eyes, I used small black pearls.

I then added the stamped image to a backdrop of Holiday Greens die cut from card coloured with Iced Spruce and Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stains.

The snowflakes are die cut from acetate covered with Frosted Film, which I then coloured by blending the surfaces with Cornflower Archival Ink. I set the ink with a heat gun and then add small amounts of Picket Fence Distress Paint to give a snowy appearance and a sequin in the centre of each.

I attached the snowflakes to my scene, together with some more torn cheesecloth and some Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers before adding a Flash Card attached to a Memo Pin.

Finally, I coloured some Crinkle Ribbon with Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress Stain and tied it into a big bow at the bottom of my tag, adding two small skates and an antique button, both stained with Picket Fence Distress Paint to complete the project.

I really hope you've been inspired by my winter stamping project and can't wait to see what you create!

Don't forget that if you're looking for some more great ideas and inspiration for this challenge, then you need to look no further than the blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. Good luck....

Thank you so much for all your visits today and hope you all have a great week ahead

See you again soon...love Emma xx

Products used:

Stamps: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Blueprint Snowman, Holiday Knits

Distress Paint: Picket Fence

Distress Stain: Broken China, Tumbled Glass

Distress Spray Stains: Iced Spruce, Brushed Pewter, Faded Jeans

Inks: Jet Black Archival Ink, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Clear Embossing Ink, Cornflower Blue Ink

Distress Marker Pens

Sizzix Dies: Holiday Greens, Torn Notebook

Idea-Ology ~ Memo Pin, Crinkle Ribbon, Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers, Holiday Flash Cards, Skate Adornments

Embellishments: SSS Sparkle and Shine Sequins

Surfaces: DCWV Gauze Paper, Ranger Speciality Stamping Card, White Card, Manila Tag, Frosted Film

Ranger Super Fine White Embossing Powder

Ranger Craft Sheet

Hot Glue Gun, Foam Pads

Blending Tool

Tim Holtz Detailer Water Brush

Corrugated card, antique button and acetate from my own collection