Inspiring Bird Tag

Hello friends! Happy New Year again, in case you missed my 2016 favorite post of yesterday. Today is the first Monday of the year, and of course it is time for a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Our theme is Start Afresh - and the challenge is to use something fresh out of the packaging.

Since this is the first Monday of the month, the design team is featuring products from a specific company or designer and today it is Carabelle Studio. I really enjoyed using the stamps of this, to me, new company. They have a great variety of stamps, and you can see them all here. I particularly liked the nature themed sets. It is fun if you use their stamps in the challenge, but you don't have to.

I made a tag this week and worked on a background I found in my scrap box. It's from a session when I experimented with watercolours together with cling wrap and salt to create texture, and you might recognise it from my Textured Watercolour art journal page.

I used three stamp sets from Carabelle Studios: Every Bird, Herbier 2, and Nature Sauvage.

I stamped the Nature Sauvage with Black Soot in the foreground for a silhouette effect. Sequins, pearls and buttons from 28 Lilac Lane were added to the foreground, for some bling and more colour.

The bird was stamped with Hickory Smoke, Blueprint Sketch and a bit of Black Soot Distress Ink, misting the stamp with water before stamping. I added some more colour afterwards, to give it even more of a watercolour look. The grasses in the background were watercolour stamped with Blueprint Sketch and then also white embossed.

The title was die cut with the SSS Inspire die from watercolour paper and coloured with Cracked Pistachio. I die cut it one more time from black cardstock to give it a shadow and make it stand out better. The 'i's are seed beads. I also used a part of the Sketch Frame to underline the title.

I used Small Talk stickers for my sentiment.

Here you can see the cool effect of the salt in the watercolour paint.

The crinkle ribbon was dyed with Cracked Pistachio.

I really hope you will join us in our first challenge of the year, Start Afresh. As every week, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

If you want to, follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Carabelle Studio EVERY BIRD	Carabelle Studio HERBIER 2	Carabelle Studio NATURE SAUVAGE Edge	Simon Says Stamp INSPIRE	Simon Says Stamp SKETCH FRAME
Winsor Newton COTMAN WATERCOLORS PLUS 12 Tube Set With Palette	Tim Holtz Distress Ink HICKORY SMOKE	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CRACKED PISTACHIO	Tim Holtz Distress Ink BLUEPRINT SKETCH	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK BLACK SOOT
Tim Holtz Distress Ink GROUND ESPRESSO	Ranger WATERCOLOR PAPER	Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER WHITE	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK	28 Lilac Lane BLUES Sequin Tin
Tim Holtz Idea-ology SMALL TALK Stickers	Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SUPER SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE	Tim Holtz Sizzix Die TAG & BOOKPLATES	Tim Holtz Idea-ology CRINKLE RIBBON	Darice 6 WELL PAINT PALETTE Plastic Tray
Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And White	Sizzix MINT Standard Cutting Pads	Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER Ranger	Hero Arts CLEAR ACRYLIC BLOCK 4 x 4.5	Ranger Inkssentials US HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL
Ranger Inkssentials EUROPEAN HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET	Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS	Tim Holtz Tonic Craft SCISSORS

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