Making A Plan ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend and welcome to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! This week, we challenge you to "Make A Plan"!

As you all know, planners are all the rage these days and we'd love to see your crafty planner pages! But this challenge can be taken many more ways and you can share a project about plans you've made, you could get a jump on holiday crafting, art journal a dream or hope for the future ~ whatever you decide we hope you'll play along!

For my project this week, I decided it was time that this stationery addict (who owns more Filofaxes, diaries and notebooks than I care to admit) to make my own planner and that's exactly what I did using one of Tim Holtz's worn covers as my base!

To begin with, I took the worn cover and started my decorating the inside ~ it's easier to do this now, before you've added any embellishments to the cover or attached the ring binder in the centre.

I started by applying Broken China Distress Ink through the Honeycomb Layering Stencil and adding it to random areas of my inside covers. I then added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink through the Splatters Layering stencil to give a more worn and vintage appearance. Finally, I watered down some Gesso and flicked this across the cover. Heat dry or let the paint dry naturally before moving onto the next stage.

To decorate the left hand side of the cover, I applied some torn Tissue Tape, an Industrious border and some Remnant Rubs. Finally, I used a Pen Nib and dipped the nib into Black Soot Distress Paint before attaching it to a BBQ skewer which I painted with Distress Paint. I wrapped some twine around the join and then stuck the completed pen onto the cover.

To attach the ring binder into place, I dyed some crinkle ribbon using Stormy Sky and Antique Linen Distress Stain and threaded the ribbon through the holes in the binder, tying it into a tight bow down the spine on the outside and securing the ring binder in place.

Now to decorate the front and for this, I chose some paper from the Correspondence paper stash and cut it to fit the front of my worn cover. I machine stitched the paper, distressed and tore around the outside edge and then inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink before attaching my paper centrally onto the cover.

I then took one of the decorative frames from the Industrious Sticker pack and cut an oval of a co-ordinating paper from the stash and cut this slightly larger than the aperture of the frame. I attached the oval of paper to the back of the frame and then using foam pads, mounted the frame onto the cover.

I crackled one of the glass vials using a coat of Glue N' Seal, allowing that to dry and then applying a coat of Rock Candy Crackle Paint. Once the crackles have appeared, I tied some twine around the bottle neck and added a vial label to the bottle and used a Remnant Rub for the wording ~ "words".

I created some handmade paper blooms using the Tiny Tattered Florals die and each flower was coloured with a spritzing of Fossilised Amber Distress Spray Stain. Heat dry the flowers before attaching them to stamens and placing them into the crackled glass bottle, with some dried grass.

Attach the bottle of flowers to the centre of the frame using Glossy Accents which holds it securely into place.

Next, I painted the "Seen & Noted" Alpha Part using Stormy Sky and Picket Fence Distress Paint, allowing the paint to dry between coats and then placed this underneath the bottle.

Finally, I added a Faucet Knob to the cover....

...and used a Philosophy Tag, together with a Tim Holtz word stick from my stash and attached them to the bow using a swivel clasp.

Now all that's left is for me to fill my planner with pages and I started by using some of Tim's Pocket Cards, inserted into page pockets and will gradually add more, including a diary, photos and a note section, building up my custom made planner!

I really hope you've enjoyed this project and love the finished planner!

As always, if you need any further inspiration for this challenge, then you need look no further than our 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:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Dies: Tiny Tattered Florals

Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Stormy Sky, Black Soot

Distress Spray Stain: Fossilized Amber

Distress Stain: Stormy Sky, Antique Linen

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Vintage Photo

Mediums: Gesso, Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, Glue N Seal, Glossy Accents

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Honeycomb, Splatters

Idea-ology: Tissue Tape, Pocket Cards, Industrious Frames and Trims, Ring Binder, Worn Cover, Faucet Knob, Alpha Parts, Corked Vials, Vial Labels, Page Pockets, Philosophy Tag, Pen Nib, Crinkle Ribbon, Swivel Clasps, Remnant Rubs

Surfaces: Correspondence Paper Stash

Hemptique Twine

Ranger Craft Sheet

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Big Shot