Hey friends, it’s Nina-Marie here with you today bringing you a video featuring the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons and how to do some fun watercoloring techniques with this unique medium! This video also features the super cute and BRAND NEW Crazy Dogs stamp set from Tim Holtz… lots of Tim Holtz inspiration to be had today! ;)

The Distress Crayons are one of the newest additions to the Distress line that was revealed by Tim Holtz and Ranger in early 2016. What makes the crayons unique from the other Distress mediums is that they become permanent once they’ve reacted with water. Whereas a Distress ink, stain or spray can be reactivated with water over and over, once Distress Crayons are activated the first time, you cannot reactivate them again.

In today’s video, I’ll be showing you how you can watercolor with the Distress Crayons on both watercolor paper and media board (canvas-covered chipboard). I chose both surfaces because they each have a bit of “tooth”; in other words, they are more rough in texture. If you want a watercolor paper that is more smooth, try Strathmore Bristol paper.

The watercolor paper I will be using today is the Canson XL paper and the canvas media boards are ones I picked up from my local craft store. However, I will link to a Dina Wakley media board assortment we have in the Simon store that is pretty much the exact same thing as what I used in today’s video. Do keep in mind that you will want to prep the canvas media board with gesso before applying your Distress Crayons over top because the coating on the media board is a bit slick; I’ll talk about this in the video as well and show you how I applied some Dina Wakley gesso over the canvas before watercoloring.

One of the things I love most about using a paper or canvas that has more of a rougher texture, is that it allows the texture of the crayons to show up better. The natural texture of the Distress Crayons adds a lot of interest to your project, and you can use this to your advantage when creating with this medium. In today’s video, I’ll show you how I enhanced the texture of the Distress Crayons when I applied the dot background to my mini canvas to create a bit more visual interest.

So to see these crayons in action and learn some tips and tricks for how to best use them in your watercoloring, be sure to check out the video below! If you enjoy the video, please give it a big thumbs up and subscribe to our YouTube channel and blog so that you do not miss any of our weekly posts and videos!

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Remember to tag your awesome projects with #simonsaysstamp on Instagram… We LOVE to see what you are creating!

This week on the  Wednesday Challenge the theme is ‘Let’s Go Wild’  Whether you choose to go wild with animals, flowers or wild and funky colors we will be looking forward to seeing your wild side!

We are showcasing Wplus9 Products this week. You don’t have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used

Once you have made your creation just go ahead and upload it into the linky on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

As always, we’re offering a chance to win a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp!  All YOU need to do is join in with the challenge!

Below are three projects created by the design team, that showcase this weeks theme! You can visit the challenge blog  to get all the details and see the amazing cards and projects that the design team has created this week. If you click on each designers name, you’ll be taken directly to their blog where you’ll get more details about their project! Be sure to give these talented ladies some comments!

Lin Brandyberry went wild with animals:

 Lin used:

Gayatri Murali went wild with flowers and colors:

Gayatri used:

Teresa Kline went wild with a funky zebra background:

Teresa used:

So n ow it’s YOUR turn to show us your wild thing!

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too !

Blog Candy Alert!! Follow our blog via email and comment on this post for a chance to win a special blog candy!

It’s time for another edition of Spotted here on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Seeing all of the amazing cards and projects featuring the Simon Say Stamp brand that are created by you, our awesome customers, is super fun for us! We love seeing what you are creating. ‘Spotted!’ is a monthly feature on this blog that highlights the talents of all of you! Thank your for bringing our products to life with your creativity and energy! It’s really a treat to share your projects!

Today we are happy to introduce you to 5 designers who shared their work and caught our eye for the August 2016 edition of our ‘Spotted’ post!  We send each of them a little something special for being “spotted.” Be sure to use the hashtag #simonsayssstamp on your social media accounts so we can spot YOU! We find cards on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, in our Simon Galleries, and craft blogs.

Our first card for today is this fun and happy bear hugz card by Rosali. This card was spotted on Rosali’s Instagram page. We just adore her cute water colored bears and the creativity shown by adding the pretty florals in the background. Rosali used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive stamp sets called Abby’s Spring Showers and Artful Flowers! Please visit Rosali on her Instagram page to see more of her beautiful creations.

Next up is this awesome garden card made by Raluca! Her no line coloring technique pretty much blew us away! And we love her color scheme and card layout too. It looks like she had fun making this card. Raluca used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Cups and Succulents stamp set to perfection. To see more of Raluca’s cards, visit her on her blog, or on her Instagram page.

The pure beauty and simplicity of this next card by Leanne was spotted right away on Instagram. The lovely blue card base perfectly sets off the colored roses. Sometimes less is more, and this is definitely one of those times. The message says it all. Leanne used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Stamp set Roses for You. You can check out more creations from Leanne on her Instagram page, or her YouTube channel.

Next up is a gorgeous floral extravaganza made by Kim. Her color choices and card design wowed us right away. And that lovely  black and white banner is a great finishing touch. This birthday card is a present all by itself! Kim used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Spring Flowers Stamp set and the matching Floral Shapes Dies. You can find more of Kim’s work on her blog, or her Instagram page.

Finally today is this adorable and happy card by Maaike! This one made us smile! How clever to put the animals around the circle die – genius! We also love how she colored the birthday circle die with different colors. This makes a very happy birthday card indeed! Maaike used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Baby Party Animals Stamp Set and our Exclusive Birthday Circle die. Check out Maaike’s work on her blog!

Wasn’t that spectacular!? Would you like to be SPOTTED using Simon Says Stamp product? Post your creations to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (with hashtag #simonsaysstamp), your blog and/or the Simon Says Stamp online galleries (in the sidebar) and we’ll choose cards or projects to feature each month! We also have a Simon Says Stamp Flickr group here and we would love for you to join us! So many ways for you to play along with us. We can’t wait to see what you are creating!!

Before we go today, we have one other fun announcement to make! We ran a contest on Instagram recently to have you show us your #sssmycrafthaul! Well, we loved seeing your excitement and loved your photos of your crafty goodies from the SSS Store. There were over 200 photos entered! The lucky winner, randomly selected, is BreAnn Loveland! YAHOO! Congratulations BreAnn! You will receive a $50 shopping spree from Simon Says Stamp! Please email [email protected] to provide your address! Thank you to everyone who participated.

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