What a joy to be in the Designer Spotlight for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this month. Thank you to the whole team for having me. I had a glorious time with all the challenge themes, but I think this last one may have ended up being my favourite of the lot... see what you think!
This week's challenge theme is Stencil It! I grab my stencils all the time, so this one was definitely up my street.
If you head over to the main challenge website, you'll see all the amazing stencilled projects from the SSS design team... with all the inspiration you could possibly need to join in this week.
Some paint, a Pumice Stone Distress Crayon and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide all add to the distressed look of the bricks. (I recently did a whole YouTube video on creating similar kinds of brick and stone backgrounds, so if you're interested in more details, take a look at that Few Minutes of Fun episode here.)
And over the top, what else could I choose but my very own berry stamps from the PaperArtsy Fodder Berry Edition? These are the hawthorn berries, a lovely sprig, full of movement and twisty stems.
And these are actually Porcelain Berries but I decided to make them into unspecified red berries, to celebrate the autumn colour palette. (Take a look at what colour they usually are here!)
I used my Tim Holtz stamping platform, so that I could re-stamp for perfect detailing after "painting" the berries.
I think they look really luscious, painted with the Distress Watercolor Pencils. It's so easy with the pencils to get a really detailed botanical look to your painting.
The leaves are die-cut from papers smooshed in Distress Inks, Oxides, Spritzes and Mica Stains, using the Fall Foliage and Leaf Fragments Thinlits dies.
(Again, there are YouTube videos available on my Words and Pictures channel, both of the background-making, and of the die-cutting of all these leaves.)
And the berries nestle amongst real twigs and flax seedheads from my garden. It took a bit of juggling to get the arrangements to work to my satisfaction.
It can also be tricky to identify where you need to put your glue so that the twigs make contact with the wall and the berries make contact with the twigs.
But I think it's completely worth it to create these dimensional collage clusters full of movement and energy.
A few Snippets Ephemera - Curator labels and Number Strips add detail to the background.
I don't know where I would be without these brilliant tiny vintage labels... you can find them on almost everything I make these days.
And the words are from the Clippings Stickers. I'm always amazed how somehow I always seem to find the perfect combination of phrases or ideas to fire off a story in my brain!
Sometimes, I have to be patient, because I do like to find ones which have a similar font and page colour to go across a pair of tags. But in the end, so far, it has always worked out.
Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for all the details of how to join in with this week's Stencil It! challenge, as well as to see the amazing projects from the Design Team. I know you're going to love them.
So I hope you like these tags as much as I do. I think there are newer followers of mine over on Instagram and YouTube who didn't believe me when I told them my colour palette would be changing in the autumn... I know you long-time blog followers know better, but if you ever doubted it, I think these tags are pretty definite proof! It's autumn!!
Remember, you could win a randomly-drawn voucher prize for a Simon Says Stamp shopping spree, or you might get picked by the Design Team for a moment in the spotlight.
It's been a real joy to play alongside the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge inspiration team for October. I hope you've enjoyed seeing the projects even half as much as I enjoyed making them. And what a good way to get me posting a little more regularly here again!
Watch out tomorrow for a really exciting post (yes, two posts in two days... it's almost like the good old days!). Happy crafting, all!
Watch out tomorrow for a really exciting post (yes, two posts in two days... it's almost like the good old days!). Happy crafting, all!
On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads...
Charles Dickens
Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.
Wendell Berry
WOW!!! Alison!! these are absolutely STUNNING!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE them!! Thank you so much for agreeing to join us this month! We've really enjoyed having you along with us, all of your makes have been absolutely wonderful! :-) 🌟
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week!
luv
Lols XXX
So detailed and sweet. Not my thing to make, but I can enjoy all the steps going into it. So cute!
ReplyDeleteHappy autumn!
Such beautiful tags, Alison! I love the brick background with its textures. Your berry clusters and leaves are perfect for fall, and I love how some of your leaves are done on text. Have a great week! Maura
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