{"id":853,"date":"2014-01-06T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=853"},"modified":"2014-01-05T19:23:53","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T00:23:53","slug":"challenge-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=853","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re back and ready to kick off 2014 with our first challenge of the year!<\/p>\n

Do you have the post holiday blues? Is it rainy and dreary where you live? Perhaps you\u2019ve escaped to Blue Hawaii for a tropical fix! Or, perhaps you\u2019re like DT member Tracy and just adore the color blue. Whether you take the word blue to mean a color of state of mind \u2013 this week we\u2019re all about all things blue.<\/p>\n

Teal and aqua are Sandra Mouwen’s<\/a> favorite shades of blue.
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\nThat’s true, I really like aqua and teal. Perfect fit for this blues challenge. I cut a #8 tag shape out of corrugated cardboard and peeled some of the top layer off with the Retractable Pick<\/a> to show some of the corrugation. To give it a bit of a white wash effect I used some Gesso<\/a> and gave it a blue hue with the Aqua Paint Dabber<\/a>. Before cutting out the Mini Rosette I covered the cardstock with Scattered Dots<\/a> washi tape. Love the shabby chic look of corrugated cardboard!<\/em><\/p>\n

Blue isn’t a color that Dan<\/a> uses very often so he relished getting a little outside his comfort zone this week.<\/p>\n

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Blue, blue, blue. What is it with me and blue? I seem to avoid it as a general rule and not for any particular reason that I can put my finger on. This week’s theme was a lot of fun for that reason, the change of colour palette was a breath of fresh air. I decided I would go monochrome and really push the blueness (blueocity? blueaciousness?) of my piece right to the limit. I used Tim Holtz’s Paris Memoir<\/a>, Artful Artifacts<\/a> and The Countdown<\/a> stamp sets and more shades of blue Promarker<\/a> than you could shake a stick at!<\/em><\/p>\n

Andrea<\/a> explored the darker side of blue with her introspective collage.<\/p>\n

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I usually go bright with my projects, but January really does kind of bum me out sometimes. So I decided to try a different look with this drippy dark collage made with Dylusions sprays in London Blue<\/a>, Black Marble<\/a>, and Calypso Teal<\/a>. It was actually quite therapeutic and I hope the message reminds me that it’s always better to keep the faith, no matter how gloomy and gray things get.<\/em><\/p>\n

Winter has Ashli<\/a> longing for some warmer weather. And, when she thinks of warm weather, she thinks of flowers!<\/p>\n

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I don’t do cold well. I really do like the heat, and the sunshine, and most certainly the flowers! For this week’s challenge, I was inspired to create a blue and wintery canvas containing some of those lovely flowers I long for. Using lots of beautiful Heidi Swapp Mists<\/a> and Watercolors<\/a>, I layered on my background. I then added some Dear Lizzy Die Cuts<\/a> and completed the piece with some handmade tissue flowers. Luckily, since I live in the south, warmer weather will be here in no time!<\/em><\/p>\n

Suzz<\/a> shares Tracy’s love of the blue hues and enjoyed mixing up a variety of them in her project.<\/p>\n

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After I started playing with the blue tones I couldn’t stop creating projects using the blue hues. I ended up creating a masculine and feminine card from the same background. I used a mix of glimmer mists<\/a>, chalkboard mists<\/a>, and Dylusion sprays<\/a> to create my projects. The Traveler <\/a> was the focal point of my masculine card. To see the feminine card you will have to hop over and take a peek.<\/em><\/p>\n

Candy<\/a> is overcoming the after holiday blues with this “enlightened” project.<\/p>\n

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I love soft shades of blue and I have used them to create this glowing frosty Tim Holtz Luminary<\/a>. Colored with a mix of Mermaid<\/a> and Snowflake Fresco Finish Paints<\/a> and accented with Silver Stickles<\/a> and Paint Dabber<\/a>, I think this piece captures the look of glistening, freshly fallen snow. Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecones<\/a> and greenery adorn the peaked top.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mona<\/a> has the winter blues and is longing for a beach vacation with blue skies and crystal blue water.<\/p>\n

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Inspired by the thought of a beach vacation, I created a page in my art journal using an assortment of blue colored mediums including the following products: Broken China Distress Paint<\/a>, African Jade Acrylic Glaze<\/a>, Denim Color Wash<\/a>, and Tropicana Teal Spritz<\/a>. Once I was satisfied with the multi-layered background, I added a trio of die cut mini butterflies<\/a> and a variety of Remnant<\/a> and Words Rubs<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Texture was the order of the day in Tracy’s<\/a> design this week.<\/p>\n

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This week I just wanted to enjoy the creative process, no set plan in my mind. I had the Crafter’s Workshop Mini Whimsical Vines Template<\/a> on my desk and decided to just play for the fun of it! I used a couple of blues in my creation using PaperArtsy Inky Pool Fresco Finish Paint<\/a> and Broken China Distress Ink<\/a>. I love using blue in my artwork, it really adds that fresh feel to any design!<\/em><\/p>\n

Meihsia<\/a> always enjoys playing mixed media elements. This week she was inspired to create a burlap canvas wall d\u00e9cor with blue color scheme.<\/p>\n

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I had so much fun creating this wall d\u00e9cor since blue is one of my favorite colors. The background of this canvas was covered with Gesso <\/a>and some modeling paste<\/a> for the textures. Gelatos<\/a>, Color Shine<\/a> and Distress Stain<\/a> were used to create this beautiful blue color scheme.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blue is one of Anna-Karin’s <\/a>favorite colours and this week she made a blue art journal page.<\/p>\n

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This is a blue page about not feeling blue and I thought Wendy Vecchi’s happy sentiment stamp <\/a>was perfect to express this and a great way to start the new year. I felt like adding a photo and used a teenage one of myself. For the background, I played around with gesso<\/a>, blue Distress Paints<\/a>, and Wendy Vecchi stencils <\/a>and stamps<\/a>. The stunning washi tape<\/a> is by Kelly Purkey and I also added some Tim Holtz border stickers<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The color blue reminds Michelle <\/a>of her Mother.<\/p>\n

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The Persimmon <\/a>line by BasicGrey is loaded with beautiful blues. Since blue is my Mother’s favorite color, it seemed fitting to use the papers to create a layout in her honor. The Tim Holtz Sizzix Book Covers <\/a>embossing folder created a lovely “frame” for the photo. By adding Kelly Purkey metallic gold sequins<\/a>, I was able to add a bit of sparkle.<\/em><\/p>\n

I (May<\/a>) was inspired by Simon’s new blue exclusives.<\/p>\n

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On my desk happened to be Simon’s new Island Blue and Sea Glass ink pads and cardstock<\/a>. A sign? Surely it must be! So those ink and cardstock colors inspired this layout from last year’s trip to Hawaii. Though I must admit – I’m feeling a bit of the winter blues now seeing this tropical setting!<\/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 January 12th Eastern 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.<\/p>\n

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