Mood Board Inspiration - Guest Designing for Simon Says Stamp

Hello all!  I'm delighted to be back in the Designer Spotlight for the second of my October guest posts for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  I was so inspired by the fabulous Mood Board which forms this week's challenge theme prompt... and I love where that inspiration took me!  There will be a YouTube Few Minutes of Fun video later this week with the full process for these altered candle lanterns but, for today, I hope you'll enjoy taking a look at the finished results here.

This week we're inspired by a gorgeous autumnal moodboard - and we hope you will be too.  Do check out all the incredible projects over on the main challenge blog - as always, the team have created some glorious makes to get your creative juices flowing!

My project is a three dimensional one, inspired by the candles, the autumn leaves and fir branches, the black-framed umbrella with those wonderful raindrops... well, almost everything really.

Here's that mood board so that you can see for yourselves what I'm talking about from here on in!  As soon as I saw the candlelight and those vintage spectacles, my brain went straight to candle lanterns.  I've altered a lot of old jars to create candle holders over the years... but you can never have too many candles, right?!

As I mentioned, there'll be a video where you can follow along the whole process coming out this Saturday (I'll add links to that here once it's live), but for now, here's a quick outline of what I did.  First I made sure my jar was nice and clean.  And then I glued on some of the gorgeous Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween Collage Paper using some matte medium.

I have to say, I don't find this paper particularly spooky - it's simply beautiful with its mixture of text, music, organic natural elements and decorative ironwork.

I love the ornate iron gates.  And the imagery includes some greenery which works well to echo the shadowy fir branches in the left-hand picture in the mood board.

I wanted some shimmering autumnal leaves too, of course.  Those glowing leaves on the left of the mood board were the second thing to catch my eye after the candlelight...

I always have a big batch of them cut at this time of year, so I had some ready to go.  (You can watch a YouTube video for those too, right here.)  As well as the Bigz Layered Leaf die, these are a mixture of the Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits sets Fall Foliage and Leaf Fragments layered up together.

There's Distress Mica Stain - Jack O'Lantern and Flickering Candle - in amongst the Distress Spray Stains - Vintage Photo, Crackling Campfire and Rusty Hinge, as well as many more.  With all the shimmer on the leaves, with either the sunlight or the candlelight catching them, they even have that glow that you see on the mood board.  (This is the large Layered Leaf Bigz die, which comes with its own embossing folder to create the texture.)

I added some Idea-ology Design Tape from the Elementary collection around the tops of the jars.  

Not only did that give me a nice neat finish around the screw top part of the jar, but it also echoes the gold frames of the spectacles... especially when seen from above!

The black metal spokes of the umbrella inspired me to create some wire handles out of simple garden wire, and I thought I'd like some raindrops too, like the ones shimmering on the clear plastic of that umbrella.

So I dug some round droplets (flat-backed) out of my stash and used Glossy Accents to stick them onto the jars, in fairly random places.

I love the additional texture they add but even more than that I love the way they catch the light as the jars move, and as the candles flicker.

Because, of course, that's the magic moment with these jars. They look good in bright sunlight when they seem most solid...

They look good when the light is behind them and you can really appreciate the translucence of the collage paper...

But maybe they look best of all when those tealights are lit and flickering away inside!

I'll be sharing a Reel of the daylight and nighttime looks over on Instagram, but you can also see the candles lit in the YouTube video from Saturday onwards.

I hope you'll be able to take advantage of at least one of those options to see these candle lanterns in action, moving from day to night...

I hope that's given you a kick start of inspiration for the beautiful challenge Mood Board this week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  As always, the incredible team regulars have offered up a wealth of wonderful projects, so do make sure you hop over to check those out. 

 

As ever, they'll be spotlighting some of your creations at the end of the week, and of course there's the usual Simon Says Stamp voucher to be won in a random draw, so that you can treat yourself to a little shopping spree!

I can't wait to hear what you think of these lanterns - I think they're some of my favourite candle jars that I've made - and I hope you'll join us this week in creating something inspired by this beautiful autumnal Mood Board. 

And just to tempt you even further to visit the YouTube Few Minutes of Fun episode on Saturday... you'll see more than just these two lit up at the end!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy crafting, all!

If we are to have any hope for the future, those who have lanterns must pass them on to others.

Plato

I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.

Emily Dickinson

If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way.

Nichiren

Patterned Paper - Guest Designing for Simon Says Stamp

I'm thrilled to be back in the Designer Spotlight for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this month. It's always an honour to be invited, and to create alongside the amazing design team.  I had a wonderful time creating this collage quartet with Patterned Paper.

Yes, for this week's challenge, my first in the spotlight, the theme is Patterned Paper, with a focus on Stamperia products.  As always, the designers in the regular team have created wonders, so do check out their work.

I had a glorious time creating this quartet of panels with Stamperia rice papers in the background and lots of Tim Holtz goodies layered over the top.

The colours in the rice papers - which come from Stamperia's Around the World A6 Rice Paper Pack - really dictated everything that came afterwards, but since blues and browns are probably my favourite place to play that was fine by me!  I love the vintage style and distressed detailing on the rice papers. 

I glued them onto a piece of A4 card (all four papers fitted on one sheet), cut them into their individual panels and added a bit more distressing around the edges with the blade of my scissors.

I can never resist Tim Holtz's Idea-ology Paper Dolls when I'm collaging - they have such character and so many stories to tell.  And combined with the maps imagery in the rice papers, the gentlemen who started to gather on my desk turned out to be a determined and adventurous lot.

Each of the chaps has a photographic frame to perch or lean on - they're from the Idea-ology Photo Studio collection of frames and panels - and some Paper Strips provide additional structure or architecture for the rest of the collage elements. I love how they spill over the edges of the panels, creating a dynamic energy of expansion and exploration.

I've always loved the Gauge Dials - whether you put them in the metal frames designed for them or keep them just as they are, as I've done here.  There are compasses and speedometers and altimeters... all perfect to measure distance, direction, speed, height, and fuel reserves throughout the journeys these adventurers are going to be undertaking.

And of course the Postmarked postage stamps reflect the letters and telegrams they will be sending back to their nearest and dearest to assure them they are still alive and well, and enjoying their travels.

The other ephemera include some of my much loved Snippets Number Strips (always on my desk along with the Curator labels, as I have to have them near at hand!).

There are additional elements from the Memoir Ephemera Pack on a couple of the panels.  And where would I be without the wonderful Small Talk word stickers to let my Paper Dolls speak for themselves?!

Do hop over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge post to see the fabulous Patterned Paper offerings from the team, and for all the details about how to enter your own Patterned Paper projects.

Remember, as always, there's a randomly drawn $25 voucher to be won so that you can go shopping at Simon Says Stamp, as well as the honour of potentially being spotlit by one of the design team, with the special badge to go along with that spotlight moment.

I hope my adventurous gentlemen will inspire you to have a play.  We can't wait to see what you create... have a fabulous papery patterned week, everyone!

I look forward to seeing you next Monday for some more Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge fun. Thanks so much for stopping by today and happy crafting, all!

I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.
Susan Sontag

A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Lao Tzu

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves, in finding themselves.
André Gide