Challenge brought to you by the letter S

S is for Simon, stamping, stains, stars, and so much more. This week, however you choose, the idea is to be inspired by the letter S, or simply use a product that starts with an S. Perhaps you could share a technique that is your Specialty. Maybe you are inspired to create something Sassy or title your piece with a word beginning with S. From shabby to stamped, silly to seaside, stencils to summer - there is a lot of inspiration in this letter - let’s see what you’ve got! 

 

From now on Sandra Mouwen will be so much more organized with her new schedule book.

I'm the kind of person that writes everything I have to do onto little notes. I wanted to make something that would be very useful in getting myself a bit more organized. So the S... stands for Schedule and I came up with this book to keep my schedule in. The base is from Chipboard and cut it to the right size I wanted. I covered it with Neenah Dessert Storm cardstock and  started stamping with lots of different stamps, such as Bo Bunny Distressed Textures, Tim Holtz City Central and Prima Marketing Romance Novel 2, to make a background. To decorate the front cover I used  the Mini Rosette die, with I stamped with the Mixed Media stamp. I stacked a lot of things to make it more interesting, like the Washer Border, the Stacked Artful Words and a Jumbo Number.

Sarah went with Splat, Stamp and Stitch and created a Grungy card in her favourite combo of blues and browns.

I love playing around with Distress Stains and one of my favourite things to do with them  is the very technical 'splat'!!! Last week I was all girly so this week I had to balance it out with some messy, inky fun and distressing. I started out by adding a good dose of Vintage Photo splatting to a piece of Destinations Paper Stash for my background. Believe it or not, I still hadn't got round to playing with the fabulous hand and tickets from my Ringmaster set and I thought I'd cut out the main image from each one to add dimension to my card. I also wanted to send a motivational card to a friend and I think these words are just the ticket for someone needing a push in the right direction.

Bird song was the inspiration for Tracy's dimensional piece.

The first thing that came to mind was bird song when I thought of the letter 'S' and of course stamping, being a rubber stamper it was the obvious choice. Hero Arts Timely Bird is my focal image showcased in a dimensional arch cut using the Arch Frame die and the coordinating Sized Arch die to create the frames. My colouring medium this week was PaperArtsy Mermaid Fresco Finish Paint. I also added some stenciled leaves using Wendy Vecchi's Lovely Leaves stencil along with White Embossing Paste.

It is no secret....Trace loves Stars!

Even since I was a small child, I have very interested in the galaxies. Stars are just so "right" for so many projects; and I use them on cards, tags, mixed media, and art journals. I can't seem to stop using them, or Studio Calico's Wood Veneer star shapes! Another product I can't live without, and that are just right for any project; are these two background stamps from Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern and Large Plaid Pattern. I love how they provide a subtle look when stamped tone on tone with Tim Holtz Distress ink in colour  Frayed Burlap on Neenah Desert Storm paper.

Candy loves steampunk.  So, she used this "S is for challenge" to create a funky steampunk style squash card.

How about a square spritzed and stamped steampunk style squash card?  Is that enough "S's" for you in one sentence?  My inspiration for this piece actually came from Wendy Vecchi's fabulous Art Parts Steampunk Gears And More.  Altered using Gold and Silver Paint Dabbers followed by Chestnut Roan Ink and Black Soot Distress Ink, the large gear takes on a metallic finish. Add some wired Ideaology metal Sprocket Gears and Mini Gears and a Clock Key and the front of this steampunk style square squash card is complete!

 

Always up for a challenge, Ashli decided to try something Simple this week:

Sure, there are lots of things that S is for in this layout. But really, I decided on... S is for Simple! I am pretty confident no one would ever call me a simple scrapper. So, for this week's challenge, I decided to indeed make it a challenge and limit my supplies. For this page, I used less than 10 supplies. That's right! Just a Copic Pen, my beloved Signo Uniball, a sheet of Lucky Charm for my Background paper, my Tim Holtz Scissors, White Distress Paint, a small selection of paper scraps, Graphic 45 Letter Stamps, and Archival Ink. With a little bit of creative doodling, distressing, and stamping I was able to create a fun and lighthearted layout about my little shoppers. I just love the way a challenge like this can really make the most out of my supplies and stretch my creativity at the same time! 

Anna-Karin couldn't stop at just one 'S' item on this layout:

I started thinking about things starting with 'S' and was inspired by a whole bunch: Stamper's Anonymous, Sizzix, stencils, scrapbooking, sentiments, Squeezed Lemonade and Salty Ocean. The background was made with The Crafter's Workshop stencils, molding paste and Distress Ink, with some stamping here and there. I wanted to use sentiments from Tim Holtz new Way with Words set. The largest one fits perfectly on a tag, and I used Artful Dwellings, grungeboard and tissue tape as a base for two more sentiments. The tag, roofs and title letters were die cut from manila cardstock inked with Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers and misted with White Linen Dylusions for a chalky effect.

 

Dan couldn't decide which "S" to go for, so he included a whole bunch.

Ok folks, hold on to your hats because there are so many "S"s going on here that it's going to make your head spin!  Among them are shadow box, stormy sky, chipped sapphire, stains, stars, statue, stripes and shading.  To top it off, while I was working on this I listened to Gnossiene #1 by Satie.  I reckon that's just about enough S-themed elements for one piece.  Products I used included the Artful Artifacts and Psychedelic Grunge stamp sets, white gesso and Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire distress stains.

"S is for Silver", says Anita, and that is the color scheme she is going for here. 

I sure had fun making this silvery steampunk jumbo thank you tag (That was a mouthful!) for someone who inspires me greatly and did a very nice thing for me. I used an Inkssentials #10 Black Surfaces Tag from Ranger, and I gave it a criss-cross like coating with Tim's new Metallic Distress Paint in Brushed Pewter, and followed up with a few Texture Fades and Trades from Sizzix, one being the new Alterations Compass (& Airmail Set). The tag was then completed with lots of metal bits and a stamped an embossed hot air balloon from Tim's Remnants set from Stamper's Anonymous.

Suzz loves to smear, splatter, splash and generally ink it up which makes this challenge perfect for her.

 I love using my Distress Stains and wanted to create a big splash with the challenge this week.  I inked up with Ranger Distress Stains - Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed on a craft mat and added the water to make it a lovely mix of colors.  I smeared my tag into the inks.  I continued on to add layers of images and embellishments including Hero Arts - Silhouette Fern, Hero Arts - Papillion, Stampers Anonymous - Attic Treasures, and Tim Holtz Idea-ology Timepieces.

For more inspiration click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects.
 

 I (May) will be back Wednesday with some "S" products to show off in a product feature. In the meantime - it's your turn!

As always, Simon Says Stamp 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  June 9th EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.