Christ is Risen!

I snagged myself one of the beautiful floral cross dies from a recent Simon Fresh Bloom release, and here is what I envisioned when I first saw it.

supplies: white, Surf Blue, Green Apple, and 2 pink cardstocks, Outline Floral Cross and Hemstitch Oval dies, sentiment from Tiny Words Faith, adhesive foam strips to raise cross

I cut the cross, glued it inside my oval, then inlaid the flowers and leaves back into the design.  I plan to make several of these and try some different color combinations.

Enjoy your weekend!

Springtime Tulips

I recently won this sweet Memory Box die on IG, and thought it would fit in nicely with my (apparant) pink tulip phase!  (see my last post)

supplies: white, Green Apple, and rose card, Lawn Fawn blue Watercolor dp, Memory Box Springtime Tulips die, Sunny Studios Quilted Hearts embossing folder, sentiment from (retired) Flower Friend

Hope spring has arrived for you!

Simon Says........Spring!

Happy Wednesday!  Welcome to this week's challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!  

Our Karin has put together a sweet Spring Mood Board to inspire this week's cards, and my teamies and I are playing with Simon Says Stamp exclusives:

I zeroed in on those bright pink tulips at the top of the board and made 2 cards this week, one using stamps and one using a die.

supplies: white, black, and Green Apple card, Bristol paper, Simon's Spring Flowers stamps, Zig markers and water, Simon Four Seasons die, MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

Next I used this pretty little Sweet Tulip die:

supplies: white, 3 pinks, robin's egg, and Green Apple card, Sunny Studio Gingham Pastels dp,    Simon Sweet Tulip die and (retired) Flower Friend sentiment, adhesive fun foam

I cut the tulip once from all of the colored card stocks, then attached the white one to a panel of adhesive backed-foam, sticky-side up.  Then I simply pieced in the tulip and leaves details from the colored die-cuts.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

Foiling a Stencil

I ordered a few new things from Simon's Blossoms & Butterflies release and received them yesterday!  Here's my first play with the new stencil called Bouquet of Roses.

supplies: white card, gold glitter, and mirror gold card, Bouquet of Roses stencil, transfer gel, Emerald Watercolor foil, peacock feathers oxide ink, Thanks die

The above picture shows the card tilted to catch the foil colors of peacock, green, and gold.  Here's what the card looks like upright.

I applied the transfer gel throught my stencil onto a white card panel.  The gel is shiny.  I set it aside to dry for a few hours (and dinner) and then placed a piece of the watercolor foil on top and heated it with my laminator.  It was pretty, but I didn't like the contrast of the foiling against bright white, so I then sponged on some peacock feathers oxide ink.  Then I mounted my panel onto gold glitter card and added a gold foil sentiment.  I didn't want to cover up any more of the design than I had to, so this small thanks die fit the bill perfectly! 

Hope your Sunday is going well - it's a bit dreary here, but things are greening up and popping up, so it's a great trade-off!

Sending Hugs

Here's a card that uses dies almost exclusively and a mix of different companies.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, 4 peach to coral tones, Green Apple, and Green Leaf cardstock, Altenew Rose Flurries dies,  framing dies from MFT and PTI, Simon Sketched Flowers sentiment

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

A Spring Wreath

We're home from Florida and I'm able to use all my supplies again here at home!  I've been itching to try Tammy Tutterow's Crafter's Edge fabric dies with some felt (up 'til now I've been using papers), and here is my first play, a little 9" twig wreath.

supplies: twig wreath, Tammy's Beautiful Succulents 3 for the flowers, and a leaf each from the Foliage and Posey Flowers 4 fabric cutting die sets, Taylored Expressions Avocado, Cotton Candy, Lilac, and an unknown pale yellow, pale green buttons, and some pale green hand-dyed binding to wrap the wreath.

Here's a closer look at the flowers:

All of my supplies were what I had on hand.  At some point I may replace the binding with a green gingham ribbon, if I can find the right shade.   I simply cut out the flowers and leaves on my Spellbinders Platinum machine, using a metal shim, and secured the flowers together with a button center, then sewed a leaf or 2 to each.  After wrapping my wreath, I used a course twine to sew the flowers and leaves on, adding a glue dot to the leaves on each end to hold them to the wreath and prevent them from flopping over while hanging.

It was nice to bring a little spring inside while we're waiting for it to arrive outside!  Thanks for stopping by!

Simon's Blossoms & Butterflies Release!

Simon Says Stamp has a new release debuting today: Blossoms & Butterflies!  I was fortunate to have been sent this gorgeous cling background stamp called Floral Mix Background!

supplies: white and watercolor card, vellum, Floral Mix Background cling stamp, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, Zig markers and water, Beautiful Day sentiment, Leanna Butterfly die, Tiny Heart sprinkle

You may recognize this art, as this is a mix of some favorite clear stamps from the past: More Spring Flowers, Even More Spring Flowers, and Summer Flowers!

The nice thing about stamps like this is that you can go to town and color it up using your favorite medium, like I did above, or you can just stamp it over an inked background, like I did next.

supplies: white and black card, Floral Mix Background cling stamp, squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin, worn lipstick, and picked raspberry distress oxide inks, Painted Hello and Hemstitch Rectangle dies

Be sure to visit THIS PAGE to see the rest of the release - my favorites are: Outline Butterflies cling stamp, the coordinating Comfort and Prayers clear stamps, Bouquet of Roses stencil, and the gorgeous Floral Mom die.

As usual, plan on a blog hop this coming Friday AND Saturday, and a Facebook Live on Friday at 12:30 pm sharp!  See you then!

Simon Says.........No Designer Paper

Happy Wednesday!  Welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme this week is "No Designer Paper", and the team is showcasing Picket Fence Studios products.  As soon as I saw this canning jar bouquet, I grabbed it!

supplies: white and Surf Blue card, Picket Fence Forgot to Say Thank You clear stamp set, Zig markers and water, Altenew Lace die, tumbled glass distress ink, adhesive foam squares to pop up jar and flowers

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

Something a Little Different

Recently Betty sent me some panels covered in wide washi tape after I had admired her work with it........I finally found some time to have a play!

supplies: white card, wide washi from The Ton, Hemstitch Rectangle die and dusty pink embroidery floss, MFT Sending Hugs sentiment dies, DCWV Metallics paper pad, adhesive foam squares to lift up flowers

I first trimmed a washi panel slightly smaller than A2 size, then die-cut the Hemstitch Rectangle, and sewed through the holes with embroidery thread, 6 strands.  I fussy-cut the floral spray from another of the panels, and popped it above the card, adding my die-cut sentiment, cut from rose-gold foil metallic.  The washi has rose-gold foiling and is really lovely, so I wanted to add a bit more of that metallic feel to reinforce it.  

Many thanks, Betty - what a thoughtful thing to do!

Simon Says.......Animal Antics

Happy Wednesday - welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme this week is Animal Antics, and we're featuring Hello Bluebird products.  

supplies: white and kraft card, dps from Sunny Studio Gingham Pastels and Doodlebug Floral Graph Rainbow Petite Prints pads, Hello Bluebird Deer Friend clear stamp sets, Tonic markers, Concord & 9th Bitty Burst Turnabout, Altenew mini inks, Doodlebug Tiny Hearts sprinkles

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Simon Says........Anything Goes!

Happy Wednesday!  Welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme is Anything Goes, and the team and I are showcasing Tim Holtz products.  

supplies: white, black, robin's egg, kraft, pinks, yellows, and light orange card, Tim Holtz Sizzix Funky Florals 1 dies, Simon's Four Seasons and Chisolm Wreath dies

These Funky Florals are really fun to play with - the flower shapes are pleasing, with lots of ways to mix and match them, and there are plenty of leaves to go along with them.  Here's a 2nd card using a hydrangea type flower and a leaf from the set and the color of the year.

supplies: cream, white, and 3 coral card stocks, Tim Holtz Sizzix Funky Florals, Simon's Love and Friendship sentiment, Doodlebug Tiny Hearts sprinkles, Lawn Fawn Quilted Backdrop cover die, trimmed, retired MFT Blueprints 20 (stitched banner) and Spring Wreath bow dies, glue dots

I'm sold on Tim's Funky dies - the Funky Foliage set is next on my wishlist!

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

Lilac Love

Today I'm CASEing an idea by Cindy to use the tiny flowers in this month's Simon Card Kit to make lilacs, my favorite of all flowers.

supplies: white, Lavender and Green Apple card, Simon's Hello Darling flowers and leaves, Altenew mini inks and a matching green marker,  Simon Stitching Butterflies die, Tammy Tutterow Tiny Sentiments, Becca Feeken's Hemstitch Oval die, Doodlebug rainbow hearts sprinkle

I first cut my hemstitch oval and trimmed it to fit inside a lavendar mat.  Next I lightly sketched 2 branches for my lilacs, then, starting with the tops of each, stamped my little flowers in what I hope to be a lilac blossom shape, adding leaves at the bottom.  Then I just stamped my sentiment, adding an enamel heart, and the butterfly.

Thank you, Cindy, for your idea!  

Welcome Spring

I'm a bit late officially, but I made a card that uses happy spring colors to celebrate the coming of the season we've all been waiting for.

supplies: white and Green Apple card, dps from various Doodlebug 6" paper pads, Spellbinders Oval Hemstitch die, My Favorite Things Stitched Blooms dies,  Simon's Big Scripty Greetings, various enamel dots

These flower dies have such fun stitched details!   And I used Doodlebug patterned papers because of their fantastic array of colors and darling diminutive prints - here I mixed florals with dots and gingham and their reverse patterns.  And you can see that I finally hunted down a Hemstitch Oval set of dies, too.

Enjoy your weekend!

Such a Blessing

Here's a card using my new Turnabout stamp set.  I'm stamping today with distress oxide inks in blues and greens.

supplies: white and Island Blue card, Concord & 9th Lovely Blossoms Turnabout stamp, Turnabout Jig, Distress Oxide inks: cracked pistachio, blueprint sketch, peacock feathers, and salty ocean, Simon Script Thanks dies and a sentiment strip

I made the turnabout design the star of the show, and added a simple die sentiment accompanied by one of Simon's recently released pre-printed sentiment strips, simply trimmed and mounted on Island Blue card.

Thank you for stopping by.