Happy Earth Day!

 

 Hello Monday, my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  Make Your Own Background  Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is: IT'S UP IN THE AIR

HAPPY EARTH DAY!  I've been celebrating Earth Day since the first one in 1970. I was in high school and I remember we had a march through part of the village, and had some special activities.

So many beautiful creatures take to the air...like these dragonflies. Let's protect our Earth and all the wonderful creatures that inhabit the land, water and air.

I began with a quick pencil sketch of the Earth on the round card I cut out. Next, I added watercolor to the land, gave that a quick dry, then painted the water. I tried to vary the color a bit to show depth. Usually I will use my good watercolor brushes, but honestly I got a bit lazy, and used a water brush instead...I think it worked fine. 

I die cut a few of the Whirl Dragonfly dies from Simon Says Stamp, using holographic and Color Blend papers also from Simon. I think the hardest part was figuring out their placement on the card. I always like to use an odd number, so had to overlap these a bit. 

That whirl design is just lovely. 

 I decided to add the orange one for contrast with the blues and greens.

 I glued a dragonfly inside the card and hand lettered "Happy Earth Day! Take care of our ONE planet"

 IT'S UP IN THE AIR...let's take care of the Earth and  all its beautiful flora and fauna, so it will all be around for a good, long time to come. 

Happy Earth Day!

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp Whirl Dragonfly die cut

Simon Says Stamp Color Blend paper pack

Simon Says Stamp Holographic paper

Simon Says Stamp Everyday Scissors

Daniel Smith Watercolor - Sap Green, Green Apatite Genuine,  Phthalo Turquoise, Indanthrone Blue, Yellow Ochre

Canson Watercolor Paper

Ranger Heat It tool

Bearly Art Precision Glue

Big Shot

Water brush

Pencil

Black pen 

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .

Under the Sea Magic

 

 Hello Monday, my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  SPRING F LOWERS Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is:  MAKE YOUR OWN BACKGROUND

I had fun this week creating a bit of undersea magic with jellyfish and mermaids. 

It's all about the background this week, and here is the one I created. I began by brushing water on my watercolor paper, then dropping in a variety of colors in the blue, green and purple range. While the watercolors were still wet, I laid a sheet of bubble wrap over it and let it sit for awhile. Then, I blended in a bit more watercolor and added splatters of gold gouache. I was aiming for a mix of bubbles and larger painted areas. 

Now the fun begins! I stamped and painted mermaid tails and fussy cut them out. 

 I die cut these beautiful jellyfish from watercolor paper, and painted them with watercolors. Once dry, I popped another layer on top of the jellyfish with foam squares. 

Next, I figured out the placement for the mermaid tails and jellyfish. I was aiming for  some undersea magic. 

I worked on the large sheet of watercolor paper, and once I was done, I adhered it to a page in one of my art journals.   

Lots of details.... 

 Final step - I wrote "there is magic under the sea..."

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Memory Box Graceful Jellyfish dies

Daniel Smith watercolors - Sap Green, Green Apatite Genuine, Quinacridone Coral, Quinacridone Violet, Yellow Ochre, Phthalo Green Blue,, Permanent Orange, Quinacridone Purple, Indanthrone Blue

Simon Says Stamp Be A Mermaid stamps

Dylusions 8x8 Creative Journal 

Canson watercolor paper

Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Scissors

Gold Gouache

Simon Says Stamp Foam Squares

Big Shot

Watercolor brushes

Black Pen

Adhesive

Bubblewrap

 

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .

Spring Flowers Meet the Solar Eclipse

 

 Hello Monday, my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  Whatever the Weather  Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

The thought of Spring flowers is so appealing right now! But, around here, I think it is going to be awhile before I see any...we just had another major winter storm. So, for those of you enjoying spring and its beautiful flowers, enjoy them for me too, please! 

This week the challenge is: SPRING FLOWERS

Joy is a flower that blooms when you do... 

Somewhere the flowers are blooming, some bloom at night even...and today is the TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE in the Adirondack region. I am trying to depict flowers blooming during the eclipse on my page. 

No flowers here yet...we keep getting winter storms. I think most of the winter snow has fallen here in the last few weeks. I am so ready to see blooming plants!! 

 I was working with the idea of flowers blooming during the dark of the solar eclipse, so I decided to stamp with white ink on a black background. 

I stamped a few flowers and a bird on watercolor paper, colored and fussy cut them. 

I popped up my little additions and also added some Glossy Accents and Simon's Clear Gems. 

The stamp set I am using is from a company new to me - Katkin Krafts. I love the detail and the beautiful design. I added the stamped quote strip from the stamp set too.

 Since today is the Total Solar Eclipse in my region, I just had to add that in too. To represent it, I cut a black circle, then a bit larger orange one, and finally a wonky yellow circle. I am looking forward to viewing the eclipse this afternoon, and bought viewing glasses that I gave to everyone at Easter. 

Details... 

Spring flowers under a total eclipse... 

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Katkin Krafts  Dance With Dahlias stamp set

Dylusions 8x8 (Black) Creative Journal

Simon Says Stamp White Pigment ink

Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink

Simon Says Stamp Rainbow Splash Rainbow paper

Simon Says Stamp Black cardstock

Canson Watercolor paper

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Scissors

Simon Says Srtamp Dazzling Clear Gems

Ranger Glossy Accents

Simon Says Stamp Foam Squares

Tombow Markers

3M ATG Tape

Ranger Heat It tool

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in .