{"id":904,"date":"2014-01-20T00:01:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T05:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=904"},"modified":"2014-01-20T20:32:45","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T01:32:45","slug":"904","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=904","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: A is for…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dan\u2019s favorite book A is for Alibi (a great read I myself enjoyed!) reminded me perhaps we should challenge ourselves this year to a few alphabet inspired challenges. Will you use product from American Crafts? Create a whole album? An Assemblage? Use Adhesives in a special way? Whatever your take – this week we are all about the letter A.<\/p>\n

Dan<\/a> was inspired by a song by a favourite singer of his.<\/p>\n

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One of my favourite movies is Francis Ford Coppola’s version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The song that plays during the closing credits is Love Song for a Vampire by Annie Lennox and it’s long been a recurring track on my playlist, so I decided to make Annie Lennox my “A” for this challenge. I used a line from the song as my main inspiration and brought it to life using the Classics #9 stamp set<\/a>, the Stars layering stencil<\/a> and some Gold Leaf sheets<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tracy<\/a> was inspired to create an artsy canvas incorporating many layers of interest.<\/p>\n

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The letter ‘A’ instantly had me thinking about ART and how I could incorporate the letter ‘A’ in my artsy canvas. PaperArtsy Very Berry Fresco Finish Paint<\/a> was my starting point, accompanied with the Tim Holtz Harlequin Layering Stencil<\/a>. This piece uses the letter ‘A’ in abundance!<\/em><\/p>\n

When Sandra Mouwen<\/a> heard the letter A she immediately thought of her art journal
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\nI really love to be all artsy in my art journal. And sometimes need a reminder to be bold and not be affraid to make a mess. I got myself the Designing with Gelatos Kit<\/a> and couldn’t wait to get started playing for the first time and get all messy with them. I first covered the pages with Gesso<\/a> so the gelatos can move and easily be removed. That’s what I did with the Dot Fade<\/a> stencil and a baby wipe. The letters ART are cut out with my Silhouette Cameo<\/a> after I made a randomly pattern with some washi tape.<\/em><\/p>\n

A is for Apple and that makes Ashli<\/a> think of teachers…<\/p>\n

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This challenge did have my mind wandering to school days. Since we homeschool, I took this opportunity to work up a spread in my Art Journal, turned calendar, where I could reflect on what we have done in our homeschool thus far, and to think about how to rework and renew things to come. Using a fun combination of Color Shine<\/a>, Watercolor<\/a>, Washi<\/a>, and a Prima Stencil<\/a>, this interactive spread was done in no time!<\/em><\/p>\n

Suzz<\/a> was inspired to alter a series of arches to create a Valentine decoration.<\/p>\n

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A is for altered, arches, and Authentique. I had the beautiful Smitten<\/a> collection sitting on my desktop and decided that it would be the background for my arches. After I covered the arches with the papers I looked for images and found that the Graphic 45 Sweet Sentiment <\/a> papers had the perfect cupids to adorn my arches. I created a folding arch with hinges <\/a>on the reverse side of the arches. This Valentine decoration is ready just in time as the holiday decorations have been taken down and the house is looking a little empty.<\/em><\/p>\n

A lot of fun with new dies was my (May<\/a>) take on the challenge.<\/p>\n

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From alcohol inks to acrylic paint there are so many choices for the letter A. I decided to run with “A” few new supplies in my stash and create a card with some of the new Simon Valentine’s exclusives<\/a>! While I wouldn’t have guessed it before I started this card, my Hero Arts Pale Tomato ink pad <\/a>is in fact the perfect color for my Valentine. I had a really good time with this one – and I hope you’re going to join in the fun this week too!<\/p>\n

A is for Air Brush. Meihsia<\/a> was inspired to create a scrapbook layout using the Air Brush.<\/p>\n

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I had so much fun when the first time I played with Copic Marker Air Brush System<\/a> last year in the Copic Certification class. Since then I love to use it to create the grafitti effect on my art journal pages. This week I decided to use the Air Brush System, Copic Markers<\/a>, and Heidi Swapp Heart Cluster Stencil<\/a> to create the background pattern for my scrapbook layout.<\/em><\/p>\n

A is for Airplane. Michelle<\/a> created a fun new way for mail to arrive.<\/p>\n

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I love postal themed projects. A mixed-media papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 airplane seemed just the thing to deliver mail art. BasicGrey’s new Freshcut 12×12 Papers <\/a>were used to create a fun pinwheel propeller. Flowers from the coordinating Hero Arts Sunshine Clear Stamp Set <\/a>were stamped on tissue and applied to the airplane. The bird and label was created using the BasicGrey Fresh Cut Waterfall Theme Pack<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anna-Karin<\/a> made an Altered Artsy Almanac, by altering an old planner.<\/p>\n

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I remembered an old planner that I never used, and made a little book about 2014. Pages were glued together until I had a page spread for each month of the year, altering them with gesso and Gelatos<\/a>. The cover was altered with foil tape<\/a>, dry embossing <\/a>and Patina Inks<\/a>. I also used Prima metallic embellishments<\/a>, Sizzix Vintage Market <\/a>die and Stampendous Aged Silver Embossing Enamel<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A is for Alphabet, which Andrea<\/a> used as her theme for this clever fabric cuff bracelet.<\/p>\n

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If you’ve spent any time at all in the human world, you’ve probably been pestered by a bored child at some point. Kids can be endlessly entertained by jewelry, but who wants their opal necklace drooled on? So I decided to make a piece of jewelry that is comfy and whimsical for the wearer, but doubles as an entertaining distraction for the little ones. This fabric cuff bracelet unwraps into a visual “alphabet strip” that little kids adore. It was fun to create using items like Farmgirl Tin Pins<\/a>, a rain stencil<\/a> and a mustache stamp<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mona <\/a>was inspired to alter an art journal cover.<\/p>\n

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When I think of the letter “A” the word “Art” immediately comes to mind so I pulled out an art journal cover that was waiting to get be altered. I adhered fun French Industrial<\/a> paper to the cover, randomly stamped various Bitty Grunge<\/a> images, applied various mediums including the following: Bolivian Blue Acrylic Glaze<\/a>, Gesso<\/a>, Black Archival Ink<\/a>, Stream Color Wash<\/a> and Metallic Distress Acrylic Paint<\/a>. For the focal image, I featured one of the fun Creative Collages <\/a>then embellished with a variety of metal trinkets and flowers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0You’ll want to tune in Wednesday as we announce A new design team member!<\/h4>\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 January 26th 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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