{"id":954,"date":"2014-02-03T00:01:18","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T05:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=954"},"modified":"2014-02-03T00:07:30","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T05:07:30","slug":"challenge-love-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simonsaysstampblog.com\/mondaychallenge\/?p=954","title":{"rendered":"Challenge: Love Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Valentine\u2019s Day just around the corner I\u2019ve got love letters on my mind. Will you make a card with heart? Create a journal entry about someone (or something) you love? Perhaps use vintage postage as your latest inspiration\u2026 whatever inspires you – we can\u2019t wait to see your love notes!<\/p>\n

Suzz<\/a> saw letters and thought of children’s blocks with letters on the sides.<\/p>\n

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I saw love letters and thought how fun would it be to create a series of blocks with letters and valentine images to create love notes. I started with a series of blocks which were covered with the Authentique Smitten<\/a> papers. I used the Kelly Purkey Plain Jane Alphabet<\/a> stamps to create a series of blocks with letters to create my valentine messages. I added a series of images from the Smitten<\/a>, Lovely<\/a>, Memory Box Love & Hearts<\/a>, and Hero Arts Watch Gears<\/a>. The blocks will be a fun interactive Valentine’s decor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meihsia<\/a> altered a burlap canvas with some sweet love notes on it.<\/p>\n

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This 6″ X 6″ burlap canvas wall decor was made for my husband for Valentine’s Day. I created the background with an embossed<\/a> die<\/a> cut heart, a pink ink pad and red shades of PITT Big Brush Artist Pens<\/a>. All the sentiments on Simon Says Clear Stamps Chalkboard Love Set<\/a> are sweet so I picked three of them to make my love notes. I had so much fun creating this piece and I hope he will like it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma<\/a> adores creating her own shadowboxes and used the letters L.O.V.E. as her inspiration to make this shadow box with a romantic theme.<\/p>\n

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I love to create my own shadowboxes from chipboard and then fill them with little trinkets full of memories and for this particular box, I used the Sizzix Alterations Postage Stamp Frame die by Tim Holtz<\/a>. Once the box was constructed, I gave it a coat of Gesso before painting it with various colours of Distress Paints<\/a> to give the effect of limed wood. To fill my box, I used die cut hearts, painted with Distress Paints and covered with Festive Berries Distress Glitter<\/a>, added various Idea-Ology<\/a> pieces including Corked Vials and stamped a “Love” ticket.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michelle<\/a> added a modern twist to a classic Valentines Day icon.<\/p>\n

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The symbolic folk art image of a heart in a hand has been around for centuries. I updated my version by adding the sweet letters found in the Simon Exclusive, Card Exchanging Friends<\/a> stamp set. A heavily distressed Book Cover <\/a>embossing folder kept the project true to it’s primitive origins, and the cheery Hemptique Candy Lane Twine <\/a>was just too cute to pass up.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sandra Mouwen<\/a> went for the color of love with her card
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I made this card for a dear friend of mine. She is such a sweetheart and wanted to share some love for her birthday. I started this card collageing pieces of the Printery Paper Pad<\/a> with Multi Medium Matte<\/a>. I’m really into the Gelatos at the moment and used the reds and the pinks from the Designing Kit<\/a>. To add a little shading I used the Big Pitt Pens<\/a>. In the background I used the She Art Print Texture<\/a> stamp to create more dimension.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anna-Karin<\/a> played around with heart stencils, stamps and dies.<\/p>\n

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I really like the Simon Says Stamp exclusive Valentine 2014 collection <\/a>and used different products from it to make two heart postcards and a journal page. The Mosaic Heart stencil <\/a>is fabulous, and certainly not only for Valentine’s since hearts can be used all year around. The Heart Parade <\/a>die cuts a row of intricate hearts, perfect for a border, and I also used a heart background stamp<\/a>. The sentiment comes from the Beautiful Words set<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

With love in his heart and postage in his mind Dan<\/a> crafted this framed piece for a friend.<\/p>\n

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This piece marks my debut with Tim Holtz’s Postage Stamp Frame<\/a>, so much fun to take something out of it’s wrapper and try it out for the first time. I used a whole heap of stamp sets on this one, including Floral Tattoo<\/a>, Odds and Ends<\/a>, Around the Edge,<\/a> Valentine Blueprint<\/a> and Calendar 1<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Being a self-proclaimed literary nerd, Andrea<\/a> filled her mini love letter with a quote from Longfellow.<\/p>\n

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It’s that wonderful time of the year when I won’t look quite so cheesy for randomly quoting a Shakespeare sonnet! Or maybe I still will, but that’s okay because it is the season for poetry and sigh-worthy words of love. I made this love letter using the gorgeous Postcards from Paris mini craft bags<\/a>, a flower made with a fun new Avery Elle die<\/a>, and some delicious Maggie Holmes paper<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mona<\/a> was inspired to create a shabby chic Valentine’s Day:<\/p>\n

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I combined pretty Melissa Frances<\/a> patterned paper with a sentiment from Tim Holtz’s Simple Sayings<\/a>. My focal point is a beautiful die cut heart<\/a> that I embellished with a Crinkle Ribbon<\/a> bow and a Bitty Blossom<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tracy<\/a> stepped outside her comfort zone this week, getting in touch with her feminine side with tones of pink.<\/p>\n

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I love using hearts in my artwork and they seem to combine beautifully with Tim Holtz Wallpaper and Wood<\/a> background stamp. Magenta Hue Archival Ink<\/a> gives that wow pop of colour and Wendy Vecchi’s White Embossing Paste<\/a> coupled with Picked Raspberry Distress Paint<\/a> add the perfect touch of texture and dimension.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ashli <\/a>took this week’s challenge literally, comprising a home decor piece of her little girls’ initials…<\/p>\n

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With the arrival of our fourth girl in just a matter of weeks, we are getting things ready around here. And that includes her name too, of course. While it remains a secret until her arrival, it will start with an “O,” which combined with the initials of her sisters we have four little ladies that spell “LOVE.” Using some muslin, I used some Amy Tangerine Stamps<\/a>, a Kelly Purkey stencil<\/a>, a few of my favorite Color Shine Mists<\/a>, and decorated with some fussy cut Dear Lizzy Project Life Cards<\/a> to craft up these sweet little hearts to comprise this fun home decor piece.<\/em><\/p>\n

I (May<\/a>) am writing notes to myself this week.<\/p>\n

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With my trusty Dylusions art journal<\/a>, some gelatos<\/a>, and a few other supplies I write notes to myself, then do art! Gesso<\/a> covers up my words so they can remain private – and I find this to be such a therapeutic and positive use of my creative time.<\/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\u00a09th 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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