Simon Says Stamp Blog!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Jennifer Mcguire Combines Hero Arts and Sizzix Designs for STAMPtember™ Punch!

YAH! It's STAMPtember™ 25th! YAHOO! I have been eagerly anticipating this day for what seems like AGES! Today, we are over the moon excited to host one of the most well known stampers in our industry: Jennifer Mcguire. Not only am I a ginormous fan of Jennifer's work, but I deeply care for her as a person too. She is clever, smart, talented, kind, generous, hard working....an amazing friend and momma. Amongst friends Jennifer is considered a "people connector". It's hard to believe her huge heart of gold fits into her pint sized frame.

Jennifer is well-known for her very popular, energetic, fast-paced technique classes and is one of the creators of the best online education resources in the world: www.onlinecardclasses.com. Her resume includes working for some of the best companies in the industry - including Hero Arts and serving as a contribitor for "Paper Crafts Magazine".

Recently she brought a beautiful baby girl into this world and is helping raise 2 teenage daughters and a young son. She calls Cincinnati, Ohio her home, but is able to reach people all over the world through social media and this wonderful tool we call "the internet" ;) You can often find her engaging in open and candid conversation on real life topics through her "jenmcguireink" twitter handle.

Stampers appreciate Jennifer's expert eye for quality and useful products. She is well respected for giving honest feedback and straightforward technique demonstrations. I love that Jennifer supports good quality and often searches high and low to find it!

Her support of the stamping industry encourages companies to bring paper crafters the best quality and most innovative products possible! Please join us in welcoming Jennifer Mcguire:

From Jennifer:

Card 1: Faux letterpress is very popular with embossing folders, but is even better when combined with stamping! First, I stamped the background on white cardstock with Tide Pool Ink. Then, rubbed the inside of the folder with Soft Pool Ink before lining the stamped image in the folder and running it through my die cut machine. This results in a dark pool image on the raised areas and light pool in the recessed areas.

Card 2: Want to take the first technique one step farther? Along with inking the inside of the folder, I also inked the Envelope Liner background with Soft Granite Ink. Then I "kissed" them together, transferring some of the granite ink to the inked embossing folder. After running it through my die cut machine, I ended up with a textured look in the background.

Card 3: Using an acetate piece stamped with White Staz-On Ink on a card is a great way to add unexpected shine and interest. But take it a step further by also running it through an embossing folder for dimension.

For added fun, I used a frame stamp and die from a holiday stamp set... but made it non-holiday by popping on a "thank you" message.

SUPPLIES:

InLinkz.com

Which of the above techniques would you like to try first? Comment below to let us know and you could be the winner of an awesome Hero Arts' product prize package valued at over $50! The fun doesn't stop there! Be sure to check out Jennifer's blog www.JenniferMcguireInk.com because she is posting an extra special Simon coupon code for you!

Thank you Jennifer!

Heidi and the Simon Family

Monday, September 24, 2012

STAMPtember™ Blog Candy BONANZA!

Hi Bloggers!!! We've been pleased as punch to bring you lots of sales, giveaways, inspiration, & special blog guests this month! Trust me, there are many more good ones to come too! But, on this Monday morning, we'd like to ask YOU to share some inspiration love back with us!

Have you been getting inky? We'd love to see what you've been up to... a new stamp, perhaps?

To help persuade you to share with us, we've lined up LOTS of fabulous prizes, 3 lucky winners could win an assortment of what is pictured above! Our good friends at Artistic Outpost, Hero Arts, & Art Impressions provided a few fabulous prizes that you'll see pictured here, above!! Be sure to click on the image above to take a look at all this YUMMY candy!

For a chance to win, post your project below, and comment on this post! Winner will be announced at the end of the month! Good luck!

Congrats to weekend blog candy winners!

From: Celebrating STAMPtember™ with Penny Black: maria f & joy!
From: New Basic Grey with Joy Taylor: Pam!
From: Amy Tangerine Inspires in STAMPtember™!: Cheryl Wright!

Please email me (Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com) with your full address & the name of the blog you won from to claim your prize!

Steph

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Amy Tangerine Inspires in STAMPtember™!

Hi Bloggers! Happy 23rd day of STAMPtember™ to you! Wow, what a whirlwind of a month! Never fear... we still have a full week of STAMPtember™ fun, inspiration, & surprises!! Today we have a very special guest, Amy Tan, known for her fun scrapbooking layout skills & awesome fashion insight!

Here is a little info about our featured designer today:

Born and raised in Chicago, Amy spent much of her childhood wallpapering her bedroom walls with the colorful and glamorous pages of fashion magazines. She learned how to sew her senior year of high school and what developed was her first passion: designing. Within five years, she had become an award-winning designer and founder of the popular handcrafted t-shirt line Amy Tangerine. Her collections were featured in hundreds of retail outlets, including Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, and yielded impressive worldwide sales.

In 2007, her business expanded to include scrapbooking, with her fashion design work now being produced on a custom basis. Her love for sharing her clothing and now also paper crafts has taken her all over the globe and given her the opportunity to teach creative classes from Hawaii to Tennessee.

Amy very graciously provided us with step by step photos through her creative process along with some notes behind her process. Enjoy!

After getting this square print of an Instagram photo in the mail from Persnickety Prints, I knew I wanted to make the layout colorful. At first I was just going make it an 8.5"x11", but as I got going, I realized I wanted it to be 12"x12". I began by misting the white cardstock with a Studio Calico mask and Mister Huey's.

While it was drying, I stamped the Field Notes and pencil with StazOn.

While that was drying, I selected some elements I knew I wanted to use, including Hero Arts Shadow Inks. I stamped away and then pieced the elements together.

Finished it off with a journaling card, some sewing and some added embellishments.

TA-DA! Gorgeous layout!!

Supply List:

Please DON'T forget to stop by Amy's blog HERE for an extra special (& exclusive!!) coupon that you can only find on her blog! Check it out!

BLOG CANDY ALERT! Follow our blog and comment on this post for a chance to win a surprise pack of Simon Says Stamp exclusive goodies! Good luck!