{"id":1568,"date":"2014-06-23T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2014-06-04T22:59:11","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T02:59:11","slug":"challenge-i-ought-to-use-this-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=1568","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: I ought to use this more!"},"content":{"rendered":"

You have them (we all do) – those products that don\u2019t get used nearly enough. Perhaps it is a stamp or maybe it is a particular ink color. Whatever your particular product or technique is – this is your chance to get it used and share!<\/p>\n

Sandra Mouwen<\/a> had much fun looking through her stash looking for rarely used items
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\nI often use my favorite products and this challenge really got me to go a bit outside of my comfort zone. I rarely use Black tags<\/a> and about 6 months ago I got myself the Ink Spray Pad<\/a> with the White Linen Dylusion Spray<\/a>. It was time to put them both to use along with the Wallpaper<\/a> background stamp. Love that you can stamp with sprays this way! What works perfectly on a dark background is Perfect Pearls<\/a>, also something I need to use more!<\/em><\/p>\n

A rarely used butterfly was Ashli’s<\/a> starting point this week.<\/p>\n

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This gorgeous Devonshire Butterfly Die Cut Exclusive by Simon Says<\/a> has only been used once! It is so beautiful and delicate, I must put it to use more. Using a tone on tone effect, along with Gesso<\/a> and Mist<\/a>, these butterflies created a lovely background for this sweet page!<\/em><\/p>\n

Mona<\/a> was inspired to create a tag using neglected fabric.<\/p>\n

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Fellow DT member Ashli was my source of inspiration to create my fabric<\/a> based tag. Admittedly, I hoard fabric like I do cardstock! After creating the background with ripped strips of fabric<\/a>, I embellished with an embossed<\/a> foil flower<\/a>and butterfly<\/a>. I love the added texture and homespun feel that the fabric gave to my project.<\/em><\/p>\n

Suzz<\/a> decided that she ought to be creating scrapbook pages with her family photos.<\/p>\n

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I am always inspired by my fellow team member’s scrapbooking layouts and decided that I ought to be capturing more memories. I started with a sweet photo of my dad with my youngest at one of his annual sledding outings. Because of the yellow sweatshirt my dad is wearing I pulled out my yellow Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists Sun Sisters <\/a>to create a back splash. To create a swirling motion to reflect the snowflakes the Tim Holtz Doily Stencil<\/a> with a touch of black dye ink<\/a> was stenciled randomly in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma<\/a> loved using a technique and colour that she doesn’t use often enough.<\/p>\n

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Purple is a colour that I really should use a lot more of in my work and with this in mind, and inspired by Tim Holtz’s Distress Damask Stamp set<\/a>, I used the colour purple and a faux batik technique, that I haven’t used in a while to create this week’s card project. I added a die cut heart<\/a> chipboard covered with Distress Glitter<\/a> and crinkle ribbon dyed with Picked Raspberry<\/a> and Dusty Concord Distress Stains<\/a> to complete my card.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tracy<\/a> paid homage to her fury friend Mitzi this week in a rustic wall hanging.<\/p>\n

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I have many items in my crafting arsenal that are a little neglected at the moment, but this week was a simple decision, I opted to use Tim Holtz Traveling Friends<\/a> stamp. Over the last 8 weeks I have been reorganising my craft space and this stamp kept catching my eye and this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to use it. As a dog owner, I think I was drawn to the image in that my fury friend is also my best friend, and this image reflects that perfectly for me. Combined with a backdrop of Walnut Stain Distress Paint<\/a> and Wendy Vecchi’s White Embossing Paste<\/a> to add the all important texture, I feel I have captured just exactly how I feel about my little dog Mitzi!<\/em><\/p>\n

Meihsia<\/a> altered a configurations shadow box that she always loves but has never created any project with it before.
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\n I have collected many different sized Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Configurations Shadow Boxes<\/a> and they are perfect for storing and sorting my craft embellishments and jewelry accessories. This week, I decided to alter one of the boxes, and create some textures using Modeling Paste<\/a> and colors using Distress Paints<\/a> on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anna-Karin<\/a> made a mixed-media canvas panel using two products she should reach for more often.
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I sometimes neglect the wonderful pads of patterned papers that I have, and decided to remedy that in this piece, using Prima Cartographer<\/a> and Vintage Vanity <\/a>pads both to create the background and for transfers. Even though I love stencils and use them all the time, my 12 x 12 stencils don’t see as much action as the smaller sizes. Embossing paste <\/a>was smeared through two large Prima stencils <\/a>to create the flowers, sentiments and dot texture. I had fun building up many layers of papers, paint<\/a>, paste and stamps<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michelle<\/a> has been distracted by shiny things.<\/p>\n

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I’ve been drawn to metallic lately. Gold, Bronze, Silver…all of them are wonderful! With my Metallic Pan Pastels<\/a>, I can add a touch of sparkle and shine everywhere with a simple swipe! What a great way to add a glow to the raised pattern in the darling Maggie Holmes embossing Folder<\/a>! These easy-to-use chalky pans even added deeper color and radiance to the Fresh Cut Poms Poms<\/a>. Now everything can shimmer on my vintage inspired tag. I ought to use those PanPastels more often!<\/em><\/p>\n

The product that Dan<\/a> feels he should really use more is his art journal.<\/p>\n

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I love my Dylusions Art Journal<\/a>, it’s the perfect size, has a beautifully decorated front cover (if I say so myself) and it has a handy envelope to hold elements for works in progress. My mission to use it more starts today, with a page devoted to some of my favourite stamps. Among the stamps I used were Winged Things 2<\/a>, The Big Top<\/a> and Snapshot in Time<\/a>, the perfect Polaroid stamp.<\/em><\/p>\n

I (May<\/a>) really ought to create ombre die cuts more often.<\/p>\n

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This Simon exclusive hello die <\/a>is the perfect thing to do it too! All you need is some ink<\/a>, a foam tool<\/a>, and get tapping! You can create shading, ombre effects, or just fun color variations and it is both fun and easy. I love how this butterfly filled tag turned out – and I’m off to find my next die cut to color!<\/p>\n

Andrea<\/a> remembered how much she loves to use Glossy Accents when she made this trio of house pendants.<\/p>\n

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Glossy Accents<\/a> is such a versatile substance, yet I don’t use it nearly as often as I should. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in fancy new products that I forget the reliable stand-bys. I love how Glossy Accents can serve as a faux resin for jewelry. Pour this magical liquid over some fabulous paper, like this Finnabair collection <\/a> or Sunrise Sunset<\/a> and you’ve got the perfect base for all sorts of whimsical pendants.<\/p>\n

For more inspiration click on our design team’s blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects. Leave them a little comment love while you’re there so they know how they’ve inspired you too, if you’re so inclined.<\/p>\n

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As always, Simon Says Stamp<\/a> is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by random generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday June 29th Eastern time. We will also be choosing some of our entries to put in the spotlight – a special honor where we talk about why we loved that entry in particular and award a special badge too! For the full rules, read the “challenge rules” posted in the side-bar here on our blog.<\/p>\n

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