This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!
Hi friends! I am back with a pair of projects today featuring a new stamp set illustrated by my incredibly talented friend Alberto Gava for Simon Says Stamp: Once Upon A Dream. I definitely had to keep this set under lock and key from my 10 year old daughter… she immediately started squealing when it arrived in the mail! I thought I would make some customized projects for today’s post using this adorable set, including a custom notebook just for her. Let’s get started with the details!
I wanted to use as many of the images in the sweet Once Upon A Dream set, so I stamped lots of them on some white cardstock using black pigment ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder. While it’s not recommended to use alcohol markers with embossed images, I occasionally will use my Copic or OLO markers with clear embossed black outline images, because the clear embossing powder seems to make those black lines so much crisper and more visible. When using cute images like these, I want to have those crisp black lines to help the images stand out even more!
For my first project, I used the Princess Aurora image with the fairies, coloring her dress with some pretty pink and adding some violet down at the bottom of her skirt, channeling the final scene in the movie when her dress is changing from pink to blue over and over! I stamped the images from Once Upon A Dream using black pigment ink and clear embossed them, then used Copic markers to add color to the images in the classic Sleeping Beauty color palette.
To create the background for my die cut images, I placed one of the Nested Domed Arches Masks + Stencils in the center of a white A2 card front, then used blending brushes to blend Pawsitively Saturated Ink in shades of Carnation, Lilac, Cadette, and Tropic inks in an ombré. With the arch stencil still in place, I added the Rainbow Splash Twinkle Stars stencil over the top of the open area and spritzed the twinkling star pattern with iridescent shimmer spray. I love this technique; it adds just the right amount of magical sparkle, which works perfectly with the sweet sentiment from Once Upon A Dream! Just for extra shimmer, I splattered some iridescent glitter watercolors on the stenciled dome, too. I trimmed down the sides (I hadn’t gotten the arch stencil centered 100% perfectly, and so needed to do some maneuvering) and added strips of holographic foil cardstock on either side. I popped up the images and greeting die cuts with foam adhesive, then added a few shimmering gems for added sparkle!
As a bonus project, I decided to create this sweet little notebook for my daughter. I have been trying to organize some of my older craft supplies, and I found a stash of skinny notepads perfect for customizing with inspirational sentiments and colorful images! (I’m not sure where exactly I purchased the notepads that I used, but these notepads from Doodlebug are similar!) The princesses from Once Upon A Dream peeking around the corner was the perfect size to adorn the front of my notebook cover, which I created using the Simon Says Stamp Score Board and some of the heavyweight 130 lb Mega Thick Cardstock from Simon, customizing the cover to the measurements of the notepad. (I will have a video on how I created this project very soon!) I closed the cover for the notebook by adding some 1/4″ white ribbon and adhering it with some Tear-rific Tape.
To decorate the cover of the notebook, I used Pawsitively Saturated Ink in shades of Carnation, Lilac, Cadette, Tropic, and Sunbeam to blend a vibrant rainbow down a panel of white cardstock that fit perfectly over the front of my notebook cover. I also splattered it with some more iridescent glitter watercolors for added shimmer and magic!
After I’d created my notebook cover, I decided to personalize it for my daughter. She’s like me and loves a pretty notebook and a good pen, and she is always on the lookout for things with her initials, so I knew that she would flip out over a completely personalized notebook with rainbows and princesses! I used the Rainbow Splash Classic Uppercase Alpha to personalize it, stamping the letters in black pigment ink and covering them with Iridescent Purple embossing powder. The combination of the black letters with the shimmery, semi-translucent purple embossing powder creates such a unique look! I added all of the die cut elements to the front of the notebook cover with some foam adhesive, finally finishing the project off with some sparkling gems! And yes, I gave it to my daughter, and yes, she did love it. 🙂
Well, that’s all for my projects today! It’s so fun to step outside of my comfort zone with cute and sweet images like these from Once Upon A Dream. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp’s month-long STAMPtember celebration begins on September 1! There are so many amazing surprises in store for you… I can’t wait! Have a marvelous day, friends!
