Hello and welcome! September is a very special month at Simon Says Stamp because that is when STAMPtember® is celebrated. There will be many fun things happening this whole month, don't miss them! At Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we are kicking off STAMPtember® with a Stamping All Stars challenge. Use your favourite stamps, ink or types of stamps, and more. I am not good at picking favourites, especially among stamps, there are simply too many that I love. I had to narrow it down somehow and decided to go through my Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps and pick out the ones that I used the most. The pop-up tag was started without much of a plan, just using those favourite stamps of mine. Pop-ups are another favourite and I used the Sizzix Circle & Ribbon Platform. The base is manila cardstock, die cut in the Tag & Bookplates die, folding the top edge and placing it just under the top cutting line on the die, so that I got a tag shaped card. I used other favourites here too, from the surfaces I worked on, to the dies and the inks. I love Tim's wood stamp and clear embossed it on all sides of the tag. The tag was inked with brown shades of Distress Inks, keeping it lighter towards the centre. I did the faux batik technique and ironed off the embossing powder (always place the paper between printer paper to protect your iron and ironing board). The bottom edge isn't embossed, but I wasn't worrying about that since I was planning to cover it up anyway. I stamped the background with several favourite stamps, to create even more texture. I love the bird stamp from the Mini Ornates set and the little bird stamp from Tiny Things. They were stamped with Archival Jet Black. My favourite alphabet background stamp, from School Desk, was stamped with Coffee Archival ink, holding it in my hand instead of mounting on an acrylic block, for a random impression. This alphabet background is probably my most used stamp of all time. Finally, I stamped the background here and there with a dot texture stamp and embossed with platinum powder. Tiny Textures is another set that I reach for all the time. The letters were die cut with the Wanted die and the tree was die cut from Bazzill text paper. The Circle Platform base was die cut from kraft-core cardstock, which is also a favourite. The base was stamped with the alphabet stamp and a grid stamp. The circle and ribbons were die cut from manila cardstock. The circle was stamped with the ledger stamp from School Desk, which I love, using Pumice Stone ink and then one of my favourite sentiment stamps was stamped on top. The fun dimensional ribbons were inked with Peeled Paint and stamped with a grid stamp. I also added a little photo booth photo of my dad, sister and me, placed on top of a postage stamp die cut. This is the front part of the inside, with a small pine tree, a swirl embossed in platinum powder and a left-over UTEE covered flower (from my Summer Memories Burlap Panel). I felt like some bling, and used a green tinsel, over tissue tape. The fabulous sentiment comes from Cosmo Cricket. Here you can see what the pop-up looks like from the top. It's fun with the ribbons, and very easy to do. I used it on this card too. The front of the tag card is pretty similar to the inside, with the same stamped background. I really like Tim's sentiment stamps and here I stamepd one of them on cream cardstock, which had first been inked, stamped with a ledger stamp and Pumice Stone and die cut with the Torn Notebook die. Combining the ledger stamp from School Desk and the Torn Notebook die is a great way of making your own distressed notebook pages. I layered a Bazzill vintage text paper behind it. The crinkle ribbon was dyed with Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive. The Hinge Clip was embossed with Stampendous Aged Silver Embossing Enamel, giving it a cool look. Be careful, metal gets very hot when you emboss it. The border was embellished with grass die cut from kraft-core cardstock with the Tapered Fringe die and another piece of tinsel. I had a leftover modeling film/natural sticky-back canvas butterfly, from my Summer Memories Burlap Panel (check the post out to see how I made it) and also tucked a Prima wooded leave and more platinum embossed swirls in among the grass. Join us this week in our fun challenge and it can be you who wins the $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, or gets picked to be featured as one of our Designer Spotlights. Thank you for visiting me today! Happy stamping! Anna-Karin Supplies: Surfaces: Ranger Manila Cardstock; Core'dinations Tim Holtz kraft-core cardstock; Bazzill Antique 6 x 6 paper pad; Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous Clearly For Art Whiteout modeling film; Claudine Hellmuth Natural Sticky-Back Canvas Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Mini Ornates, Wallpaper & Wood, Way with Words, Classics #5, Tiny Textures, Tiny Things, School Desk, Ultimate Grunge Dies: Sizzix: 3-D Circle & Ribbon Platform, Tag & Bookplates, Torn Notebook, Mini Bird & Cage, Tapered Fringe, Mini Butterflies, Pine Tree, Mini Pine Tree & Holly, Tattered Flower Garland, Mini Bottle cap & Stamp, Wanted, Bird & Butterflies, Embossing folder: Sizzix: Bottle Caps & Rulers Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Coffee; Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Pumice Stone, Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive Embossing powder: Ranger Clear, Liquid Platinum, Clear UTEE; Stampendous Aged Silver Embossing Enamel Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Elements Tissue Tape, Winter Tinsel Twine, Hinge Clips, Crinkle Ribbon; Prima Wood Icons Leaves & Flowers; Cosmo Cricket: Life Tiny Text stickers; twine