{"id":63,"date":"2013-07-29T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T04:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=63"},"modified":"2013-07-29T00:12:19","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T04:12:19","slug":"challenge-ode-to-sunshine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=63","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: Ode to Sunshine"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the long days of summer to a beautiful sunset, butter to golden yellow hues, this week\u2019s challenge is an ode to sunshine. Design team member Anna-Karin requested a challenge that embraces the summer season and all things sunshine – so let\u2019s do it!<\/p>\n

Anna-Karin<\/a> decorated a burlap panel <\/a>in memory of beautiful childhood summers.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

A large part of our summers were spent at the sea and at many different lakes. This photo of my sister and me is taken at a lake. I used a Tim Holtz 6 x 8 burlap panel <\/a>as my base and transferred a patterned paper to it with Claudine Hellmuth’s Multi-Medium Matte<\/a>. The flowers were made with the Tattered Flower Garland <\/a>die, and dipped in UTEE <\/a>for a porcelain look. Texture Paste <\/a>was smeared through a Wendy Vecchi heart stencil <\/a>and painted with Distress Paint<\/a>. The branches <\/a>and butterfly<\/a> were die cut from natural sticky-back canvas <\/a>adhered to Clearly for Art Whiteout modeling film<\/a>, for a fun dimensional effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

Andrea<\/a> went to the dark side of light with her Book of Not So Bright Ideas.<\/p>\n

\"sss-sunshine-2\"<\/p>\n

The word sunshine brought to mind my adventurous “I’ll try it once” friend. On a scorching summer day, he saw a somewhat suspicious street vendor selling “amazing” sidewalk-fried eggs. Eating something that was cooked where thousands of feet just stepped did not tempt me, but my friend made the purchase, ate the egg, and, well, was sick for the next two days. Indeed we all make regrettable choices and those choices inspired me to make this Book of Not So Bright Ideas which chronicles me and my friends’ many moments of duh-ness and what we (hopefully) learned from them. To make this book, I used a nifty binder from Bo Bunny’s Miscellaneous Me <\/a>collection, some tickets from My Mind’s Eye’s Find Your Wings and Fly<\/a> paper pack and Heidi Swapp’s Black Velvet Color shine<\/a>. And don’t worry: I filled it with plenty of Bo Bunny’s C’est La Vie dividers<\/a> and binder contents<\/a> to accommodate judgment snafu’s for many years to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sandra Mouwen<\/a> is very glad that the sun finally found his way to her country<\/p>\n

\"img_2763a\"<\/p>\n

Finally the summer has begun here in Holland with lots of sunshine and this card is my tribute to it. Well it officially is a birthday card for my BFF. She always uses the phrase “Hello Sunshine”. With this card I experimented a little to create sunrays. I used four colors of Distress Paints, Wild Honey<\/a>, Mustard Seed<\/a>, Spiced Marmalade<\/a> and Fired Brick<\/a> and the Rays Embossing Folder<\/a>. I applied the paint from dark to light on to the raised areas of the embossing folder, carefully placed a piece of Bazzill Kraft Cardstock<\/a> that I cut to size into the folder and run it through the Vagabond<\/a>. On the raised areas of the card carefully stamped in Coffee Archival Ink<\/a> with the She Art Print Text stamp<\/a> so it looks like the sunrays lay on top.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Mona<\/a> thinks of Summer, she thinks of the beautiful flowers in the garden that require lots of water to survive and thrive under the hot Arizona sun.<\/p>\n

\"ssssjulysunshinecan550-copy\"<\/p>\n

I altered a watering can using Metal Foil Tape Sheets<\/a> that were embossed using Riveted Metal Texture Fade<\/a> embossing folder. Once I had the can covered, I randomly sponged on black soot Distress Ink<\/a> and painted the handle using Silver Metallic acrylic paint<\/a>. I decorated the can with a variety of patterned paper<\/a> die cut flowers including roses<\/a> and bitty blossoms<\/a>. The background detail on the tag was stamped using an image from Urban Tapestry<\/a> and features a die cut mini butterfly<\/a> that was stamped using shabby French<\/a> script.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meihsia<\/a> was inspired by the sunshine in the morning while sitting in the garden with a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Enjoying the sunshine in the garden while reading a book or drinking a cup of coffee is the best way to start off my day. For the project this week, I used a wooden cradle board as the base and covered it with Gesso<\/a> and Faber-Castell Gelatos<\/a>. The Tim Holtz letters were glued on the background, colored with the Ranger Dabbers<\/a> and stamped using a Tim Holtz Purley Random Clear Stmp<\/a> and VersaFine<\/a> ink pad. I also added the Prima wooden pieces, Prima Flowers<\/a> and Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears<\/a>, then sprayed the Color Shine<\/a> on those embellishments to make the colors coordinate the background.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Candy<\/a> thinks of summer, she thinks of colorful flowers, butterflies and times spent at the pool or beach. She has incorporated all of these things in this sweet summery wall hanging.<\/p>\n

\"ode-to-sunshine-fence550-pixels\"<\/p>\n

I love Susan’s Garden Sizzix flowers! They look so real and are fun to make. I used various Pan Pastels<\/a> to color some cardstock and create an assortment of flowers including mini roses<\/a> and a sunflower<\/a>. Don’t they look lovely on this cute section of “fence” painted with Fresco Finish’s Mermaid Paint<\/a>, Crackled with Crackle Glaze and top coated with Snowflake? I also love the added dimension with The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Ledger Stencil<\/a> and Gathered Twigs<\/a> tinted White Embossing Paste<\/a>. The butterfly is probably my favorite die cut at the moment; Memory Box’s Vivienne<\/a>. So dainty and sweet, I have transformed her into a Monarch fluttering about.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dan<\/a> has always loved the Victorian beach huts painted in pastel tones that are a feature of British seaside resorts and included that feel in his summery tag.<\/p>\n

\"ssssunshinecombo\"<\/p>\n

The beaches in Florida might be lined with palm trees and the Greek coast is dotted with vibrant white buildings with blue roofs but here in the UK it’s a little more twee. We have rows of tiny wooden houses that we call beach huts that were built during Victorian times for families to use as a base for their days on the beach. They’re painted in a variety of pastel tones and that was the inspiration for this tag. The Darkroom Door Home Sweet Home stamp set<\/a> provided the houses, the sun was covered in Tissue Tape<\/a> and the dotty sky came courtesy of the Psychedelic Grunge stamp set<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michelle<\/a> thinks that sunshine makes everything brighter- even laundry!<\/p>\n

\"alt-laundry-2\"<\/p>\n

One of life’s simple pleasures is hanging the wash out to dry. Days filled with sunshine make laundry more enjoyable. This was my inspiration. Clouds<\/a> were stamped, cut into squares and layered to add depth. The dress<\/a> was stamped in tiny flowers <\/a>and the paper apron was made from Crate Papers DIY<\/a> papers. Details were stamped with border stamps from Lawn Fawn<\/a>. My sunshine project was loads of fun<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

Suzz <\/a> decided to create her own sunshine even on a rainy day.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

The sunshine challenge triggered me looking around my desk and my eyes fell onto two new stamp sets Life’s Possibility<\/a> and Grunge Cirque<\/a>. The thought of making sunshine when the rain is falling made me mix the stamps together. I used a couple off old newspaper papers with a smear of Claudine Hellmuth – Studio Canvas – White <\/a>across the surface to create my background papers. I stamped the umbrella man from the Life’s Possibility Set<\/a> using black archival ink. I inked up the sunshine stamp from the Grunge Cirque set<\/a> with Ranger Archival Chrome Yellow <\/a>Ink and added Ranger Archival Monarch Orange<\/a> ink on the top half of the stamp. I think this will be a great card for my son as he heads off to college this year.<\/em><\/p>\n

I (May<\/a>) love spending lazy afternoons by the pool.<\/p>\n

\"sim\"<\/p>\n

I decided to scrapbook a photo of my daughter in her new bathing suit. I do so adore the bright colors, and I thought it’d be perfect with my Dylusions mists<\/a>, stencil<\/a>, and stamps<\/a>. I love using pure sunshine spray<\/a> on my summer scrapbook layouts – when I thought about this challenge I knew I had to work that in! One of the best parts of this page is that it let me get creative and play, but it didn’t take a lot of time. After all – when the sun is out it’s hard to stay inside!<\/p>\n

Tracy<\/a> captures a real sunshine feel in her cheery dimensional piece, perfect for Summer.<\/p>\n

\"sssssummerflowers\"<\/p>\n

When I think of summer I often think of time spent in my garden. Spiced Marmalade<\/a>, Picked Raspberry<\/a> and Spun Sugar<\/a> Distress Paints give a wonderful summery feel to my piece and really lift your spirit. Flowers, birds, sunshine and nature all capture summer for me, created here with Wendy Vecchi’s From Nature<\/a>, Bugs and Butterflies<\/a> and Wildflowers<\/a> Art Parts. All capturing the essence of summer in my garden, my own little piece of paradise!<\/em><\/p>\n

Ashli<\/a> was inspired to play with some fun techniques this week and you won’t want to miss her tutorial.<\/p>\n

\"sunshinesneak\"<\/p>\n

Be sure to check back on Wednesday for a step by step how-to using paper piecing and glitter!<\/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

\"50dollar_voucher_600px\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0August\u00a04th\u00a0Eastern time.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

For the full rules, read the “challenge rules” posted in the side-bar here on our blog.
\n[raw]<\/p>\n