{"id":2439,"date":"2015-02-16T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T05:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=2439"},"modified":"2015-02-13T23:44:19","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T04:44:19","slug":"challenge-a-piece-of-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=2439","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: A Piece of Paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m dreaming of sandy beaches and the sound of ocean waves, of sitting down to read a whole book and of quiet relaxation. Whether you\u2019re inspired by a tropical shore, exotic travels, or simply want to play around with a new technique and be in a crafter\u2019s paradise this week we invite you to share your creations and be inspired from a blissful place. Your personal happy place and paradise awaits\u2026<\/p>\n

Michelle<\/a> is dreaming of a warm and sunny paradise vacation.<\/p>\n

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Frosty February days have me dreaming of warm, exotic vacations. Of course there would be letters sent home, like this this mail art envelope with a stamped flamingo<\/a> with Zig Kuretake watercolor<\/a>. Exotic postage and Airmail Labels<\/a> lend a touch of realism to this mail from my paradise fantasy.
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Andrea<\/a> turned a bread tin beachy to bring paradise closer to home.<\/p>\n

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There is nothing that rejuvenates my soul as much as a trip to the coast. I decided to pay homage to the beach, and to starfish in particular, with this bread tin. The tin was rusty and sad when I found it in a thrift store, but I gave it a new beachy life with paper from Webster’s Pages Hall Pass<\/a> collection, a Tim Holtz sand dollar die<\/a>, and Technique Tuesday’s DIY flair die<\/a> set.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meihsia<\/a> was dreaming of the sunny beach and inspired to create an ocean themed art journal page.<\/p>\n

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The beach on a sunny day is always my paradise since I grew up in Tawian, a beautiful island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. I watercolored the background of this art journal page with Clearsnap Izink inks<\/a>, and stenciled the patterns with Heidi Swapp Color Shine<\/a> and ColorBox Art Screens<\/a>. The images were stamped with Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints Nautical Stamps<\/a>. I really enjoy the beautiful sunshine and the blue ocean on this journal page.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sandra<\/a> was inspired by the botanic part of paradise for her tag
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\nMaybe someday in the future I will go to a piece of paradise on holiday, but for now let’s talk about the tag. When I think of paradise I don’t only think of sandy beaches, I actually think about the palm trees and other botanical beauty. So I used Crackle Paste<\/a> that I colored green with a Lettuce Dabber<\/a> and the Palm Fronts<\/a> stencil. For more dimension I added Simon Says Stamp Clustered Leaves<\/a> I’ve cut out.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anna-Karin<\/a> used a favourite quote on a mixed media canvas.<\/p>\n

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\n I was thinking of finding your own piece of paradise and it made me think of this quote about butterflies by Hans Christian Andersen. On the canvas, I also used tropical colours. The butterflies<\/a> were stamped on watercolour cardstock and Clearly For Art Modeling Film<\/a> and I made layered flowers with Tim Holtz Sizzix Tattered Flower Garland<\/a> die. The Found Relative<\/a> girls got some extra colour with Distress Inks.<\/em><\/p>\n

Barbara’s<\/a> piece of paradise is definitely the time she spends at her desk making art!<\/p>\n

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Especially when I work on my Art journal<\/a>, I feel really free and relaxed as on a beautiful beach!\u00a0The colors I used on this page remember sunsets: yellow, orange and purple are perfect to represent the theme of this challenge. For even more fun, I used different types of colors: Distress paints<\/a>, Gelatos<\/a>, Archival Ink, Distress ink pad and I mixed together to create my background! I hope you understand from my page, the happiness I feel when I can spend my time in my piece of paradise.<\/em><\/p>\n

Suzz<\/a> decided to create a layout in remembrance of their family pet who has moved on to his own paradise.<\/p>\n

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I have been wanting to create a layout celebrating our older dog Harry who left us this summer and when I saw the word Paradise I thought of him. When I saw the Simon Says Stamp Furever in our Hearts<\/a> and the Pawprints stencils<\/a> I knew they would be perfect in capturing my thoughts for the layout. I used the Hero Arts Snow white chalk ink<\/a> with the stencils to create paw print clouds in the background. My family was pleased to have a memento that we can frame and set out.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ashli<\/a> was inspired by beach houses this week…<\/p>\n

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I must confess, I am still trying to find my mixed media footing and this piece took me on quite the adventure! Drawing inspiration from little beach houses and colors of the sea, I used lots of my favorite supplies… Watercolors<\/a>, Gelatos<\/a>, Watercolor Crayons<\/a>, and Pitt Pens<\/a>, to doodle, paint, collage, cut, and glue. After lots of playing and reworking, I ended up with a little 8×8 mixed media piece that I really like!<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma<\/a> was in her own little paradise when creating this home decor panel.<\/p>\n

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I had so much fun making this box canvas playing with Peacock Feathers<\/a>, Tumbled Glass<\/a> and Picket Fence<\/a> Distress Paints to create the perfect coloured backdrop for my die cut seahorse and starfish<\/a>, collaged ephemera<\/a> and trinkets, which surround the beautiful vintage Found Relative<\/a> photo.<\/em><\/p>\n

I (May<\/a>) got to thinking about tropical flowers, beaches and sunsets.<\/p>\n

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I ended up being inspired by the colors of these things and went exploring with my newest stencil<\/a>, a favorite stamp<\/a>, and plenty of gel medium <\/a>too. On a cold and rainy day it is easy to be transported to paradise by sipping some hot tea and playing with such vibrant colors! I love how this tag turned out and it was such fun to make. Paradise for me often is thinking of a tropical place – but more often I find it right here playing with patterns and colors in my studio!<\/p>\n

Mona’s<\/a> piece of paradise may be found under the sea.<\/p>\n

\"paradise_mona\"<\/p>\n

I’m longing to go for a deep sea diving trip to explore the beautiful under water world. With the pretty colors of the ocean in my thoughts, I created a tag mimicking that color palette by combining the following Distress Spray Stains<\/a>: salty ocean<\/a>, peacock feathers<\/a>, tumbled glass<\/a> and broken china<\/a>. The background is full of Bubble<\/a> texture<\/a> and embellished with a resin seahorse<\/a> and a couple of starfish<\/a>.<\/em><\/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 February 22nd 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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