Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Sparkle & Shine

Welcome!

It has been an honor to be part of the Design Team for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for the month of August. The final Monday Challenge theme for August should put a “spark” in many of you – Sparkle & Shine! My take on the theme comes from my recent trip to the U.S. Southwest. The beauty was amazing with hues of red, gold, and copper. I was also in awe of the night sky. So many stars that made the sky sparkle. That sky is my inspiration and homage to the beautiful state of Arizona. Enjoy my take on Sparkle & Shine!

Arizona Night Sky!

I was inspired by the beauty of both Arizona and the Grand Canyon on my recent trip. The night skies were so vivid and bright! I decided to bring that sparkle and shine to this little piece. I utilized some recycled wood I had sitting around in the studio to create the base and then began building my scene. Here is my process…

To begin, I added gesso to two pieces of recycled wood and glued them together. While the wood was drying, I cut a variety of cactus and flowers from the Tim Holtz Funky Cactus die set. A variety of cardstock and metallic cardstock helped to bring my little succulents to life!

For the background, I used an older Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set (Alpine) to create mountains out of cardboard and some metallic cardstock. I then painted the background sky with acrylic paints and variety of Distress Inks including Chipped Sapphire. I also stamped on some fun accents. A Posca paint pen in white helped with the stars and flair! Tissue paper was added with a gel medium and then after it was dried, I used more Distress Ink over a stencil from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous collection – Speckles and Honeycomb. Additional inking and blending helped to create a fun, layered background!

Cactus time! I assembled the cactus and chose the ones I liked the most. My go to glue – Bearly Art Craft Glue. LOVE it! Using double sided tape, I adhered my tiny cactus to the background. For the “rocks”, I used the Tim Holtz Mini Cobblestone embossing folder, inked it up a bit and then added in a sentiment from the Flutter stamp set from Stampers Anonymous. I used white ink to stamp my sentiment.

Leftover bling I had floating around my studio helped to add additional sparkle to my sky. And there you have it – my take on an Arizona Night Sky! I love the sentiment as this is exactly how I felt, especially when at the Grand Canyon. Oh my – simply amazing!

And that’s a wrap! I want to thank Simon Says Stamp for the honor of being part of the Monday Challenge Design Team for August. It was a wonderful experience for sure. THANK YOU!!! Keep an eye out for my future Challenge submissions and all of my fun musings!

Now it’s your turn! Let’s see your Sparkle & Shine! Upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. You can submit up to 5 submissions giving you 5 chances to win a special $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Stay Creative!