Monday, January 2, 2017

Start Afresh...

Hi Everyone...I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and wish you all a very Happy 2017. It's the first Monday of the New Year and time to join in the fun over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for sharing your creations with us for the "Party Time" challenge and we hope you can join in this week too because...

and the theme for this week is...
START AFRESH
use something fresh out of the packaging...i.e. something never used before

The Design Team are showcasing the fabulous Carabelle Studio Products this week and if you have them we would love to see how you use them but you don't have to use them to join in the challenge.

The start of a new year for me requires a new notebook/diary/planner...this absent minded crafter can't function without a little help in the memory department...an aide-memoire of what I should be doing or where I should be going on any particular day...
so when I spotted this black notebook in my local supermarket...I knew it ticked all the boxes but was crying out for some crafty magic decoration. I cut two panels of Simon Says Stamp White Cardstock slightly smaller than the covers and covered them with Ranger's Natural Sticky Back Canvas...
I cut a panel of patterned paper from Prima's French Riviera 6 x 6 pad and stamped the Mixed Media Strips Art Stamp from Carabelle Studio using Black Archival ink.
I attached the panel to the Sticky Back Canvas with Ranger Multi Medium Matte...used Tim's Craft Pick and Ruler to create stitching holes around the edges and hand stitched zig zags using Eclectic Elements Thread.
I die cut the flags from white cardstock using Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes die and my "fresh out of the packaging" item was the Angel Heart Die from the  recent "Hey Love" release which I die cut from white cardstock and French Riviera patterned paper.
I used Tim Holtz Idea-ology Label Letters to create the year...
and decorated the panel with buttons from my stash and an Eclectic Element Thread bow...
At this point I decided that the edges of the canvas panel were looking a bit bare so I used washi tape to mask off the letters I didn't want to use on the Cargo Mini Layering Stencil and used the Ground Espresso Mini Ink Pad and round blending tool to add some stencilled letters...
I used the alphabets from the Prima Salvage District 6 x 6 Pad to make the NOTES panel...

and the circle die from Bundle of Stitched Shapes to create tabs for the inner dividers...
and Miss Memory is all set for 2017...no excuses for being forgetful now...

You can find all the products I used over at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp online store...just click on the links below...

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and our fabulous Guest Designer for January Autumn Clark aka sewpaperpaint. As always you all have the chance to win a $50 gift voucher to spend at Simon Says StampYou have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in...

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram
and if you use Instagram...
please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too
I look forward to seeing what you create this week...
Have Fun and Happy Crafting
Hugs Kath xxx