The Golden Days

A simple card made with Neat & Tangled Maple Thanks and matching dies......

supplies: kraft, white, and Audrey Blue card stock, gold glitter card stock, Neat & Tangled Maple Thanks stamp set and matching dies, Tonic Nuvo markers to color, sentiment from The Craft's Meow Golden Days (retired), VersaMark ink and gold embossing powder

See you tomorrow!

Nature's Grand Finale

I'm itching to do some fall cards.  It took me forever to get Neat & Tangled's Maple Thanks dies, but they are well worth the wait!  Today I combined them with some smooshed oxide inks in my background, sponging the leaves with regular distress inks.  I was trying to achieve the colorful fall leaves against the beautiful blue skies that we get in the fall.

supplies: kraft card stock, Bristol paper, Neat & Tangled  Maple Thanks dies, sentiment from Impression Obsession Autumn Leaves stamp set, oxide inks in the background: salty ocean, faded jeans, and blueprint sketch, also some diluted droplets of perfect pearls powder, leaves sponged with mustard seed, carved pumpkin, and festive berries, splattered with same plus a bit of vintage photo distress inks, Penny Black Stitched Stacker die

Could this sentiment be more perfect?  My background got a bit intense, and at the time I was talking to my friend Mary Anne - she suggested splattering on some perfect pearls, and they did help to lighten things up a bit!  Thank you, girlfriend!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Autumn's Splendor

I was playing around with my distress oxide inks today and here is one of my results.

supplies: white and black card stock, Bristol paper, Taylored Expressions Birch Tree cutting plate, Wplus9 Blessed die, Impression Obsession leaf die, Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker, fossilized amber, carved pumpkin, candied apple, and fired brick distress oxide inks, smooshed, adhesive foam strips, glue dots

Each of the 4 colors of oxide inks were smooshed separately, using just a tiny amount of the ink on my craft mat, diluted with a bit of water (I like lots of dots/splatters and white space), drying between each color.  While that panel was drying, I cut out my birch trees and sentiment.  The birch trees got strips of foam adhesive wherever I could hide them on the back, so that the trees are popped above the smooshed background.  The little leaves were cut from a scrap that had been previously sponged with regular distress inks (mustard seed, carved pumpkin, and candied apple), and attached with glue dots.

Here's a closer view:

I have no idea why, but fall is really appealing to me right now - I'll probably be burned out when it really arrives!  Thanks for visiting - enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Pink Birthday

Here's a pretty-in-pink birthday card for someone special.

supplies: ivory, white, and Slate Grey card stock, Simon's Modern Rose Blooms background cling, Altenew's Beautiful Day flowers and leaves, Rose Petal and Green Meadows mini inks, VersaMark and white embossing powder, Puffy Heart ink and sponging tool, Painted Greetings sentiment, MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares to pop up flower

I love this Modern Rose Blooms stamp!

Simon Says........Distress It!

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

Our theme this week is Distress It! and my teammates and I are showcasing Tim Holtz goodies!

supplies: white and black card, Bristol paper, Tim Holtz Wildflower dies, distress oxide inks (peeled paint, carved pumpkin, abandoned coral, wilted violet, fossilized amber, and broken china in the background, smooshed with water), finger daubers, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk sticker, Simon's Four Seasons  and Stitched Rectangle dies

I cut the Wildflower dies and inked them with my distress oxides.  Then I smooshed some broken china oxide onto my stitched rectangle panel.  After it was dry I affixed it to my card base and arranged my flowers.  Simon's new Summer die, from the Four Seasons set, along with a sticker from Tim's Small Talk booklet, made the perfect sentiment.  I didn't add glue to the tops of some of my flowers, so that they'd stand out a bit for dimension.

Here's another card using the same Wildflower dies, except in cool blues and greens this time:

supplies: Simon's Cornflower, and Audrey Blue card, old My Mind's Eye notebook dp, notebook edge punch, (HERE's a die that would also work), Wildflower dies, distress oxide inks (broken china, faded jeans, peacock feathers, cracked pistachio, and lucky clover), finger daubers, Simon's Joy dies, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk sticker, twine

Once again, I sponged the flowers with the inks and added a mix of a Simon sentiment die and another of Tim's stickers for my sentiment.

Now it's your turn!  Heidi has provided another $50.00 gift voucher

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

Peaches and Cream

I was thrilled to be sent the new August Large Die of the Month from Spellbinders to play with - I love the large scrollwork on the 3 main images!  I chose the single flower and the smaller of the scroll dies, and here is my card using them:

supplies: cream and carnation card stock, coordinating patterned papers from an old Graphic 45 paper pad, August's Large Die of the Month, Tammy Tutterow's Sentiments 2 stamp and matching die, markers to color, cream Doodlebug enamel hearts, adhesive foam squares

I chose these papers because I thought the main one reflected the die design.  Since the sentiment had a little heart, I also added some to the very tips of the large scrolled piece.  The single flower is the exact duplicate of the one in this scroll design, so I inlaid some peachy-pink into it and popped it up above the rest of the card.

Hope you're having a great week - thanks for stopping by!

For a Fall Birthday

Another wreath card today, still in my autumn mood.......

supplies: kraft and white card stock, Lawn Fawn (retired) Into the Woods woodgrain dp, Simon's Stitched Maple Trio dies, distress oxide inks, sentiment from  (retired) Birthday Flowers and a PTI die, VersaFine Clair Acorn ink, Stitched Rectangle die, twine, bright yellow enamel dot

I have lots of birthdays in September and October, so this will be saved until then.

Thanks for stopping by!

I LOVE Autumn

......I knew, it's the beginning of August and here I am starting up on fall stuff.  I can't help it, it's my favorite time of year......

I decided to CASE myself and make a fall wreath.  Here's my original card, made in 2016:

I used the same stamp set to make my wreath, but updated it with a newer 4 Seasons sentiment die and a plaid background......I have learned to love fall colors mixed with turquoise/aqua!

supplies: white card stock, Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Rainbow patterned paper, Simon's retired Nutty Over You, Simon's Fresh Fruit mini ink cubes, plus Audrey Blue and 2 brown inks, Gina K Wreath Builder stencil, 4 Seasons die and 4 Seasons Sayings, twine, enamel heart, adhesive foam squares to pop wreath up

As I did last time, I stamped the brown vine into a circle, then methodically added leaves and branches in bright colors.  I'm so sorry that this Simon set is discontinued, but Gina K has an Autumn Wreath Builder set that would give you the stamps to do something very similar.  I used the same inks to color a scrap to cut the Autumn die from, and triple-layered it before adding it to my card.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend - we'll be spending part of ours with our youngest son!  Can't wait!   

Inspired by Shari

I needed a birthday card for our nephew, and Shari's post at the Simon Blog yesterday came just at the right time!   I was wowed by her technique, but I don't have all that many distress oxide inks yet, so I thought I'd try her idea with my regular distress inks.  Here's my result:

supplies: white, kraft Green Apple and Green Leaf card, distress inks: twisted citron, broken china, stormy sky, and vintage photo, rectangular blending foam and tool, retired Tim Holtz woodgrain embossing folder, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Happy cutaway, retired Hero Arts Essential Messages sentiment, Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves die, twine, wood dot

Using my rectangular sponge and matching blending tool, I swiped colors vertically on my white card stock, then I embossed it with the woodgrain folder.  Next I lightly sponged some more vintage photo over the raised area to bring out more of the detail.  That panel was then trimmed to fit inside an A2 card, and I cut out my happy sentiment, along with 5 other kraft ones to layer with it for thickness.  I affixed it to my card base, added my sentiment strip, and then 2 leaves sponged with peeled paint distress ink at the top.

Edited to add:  Since I had so much fun with this, I wanted to try another version, this time substituting a woodgrain plank stamp for the embossing folder.  Instead of leaves as an embellishment, I used a wood veneer bird, stained a bit with vintage photo ink.  And since my card base is a darker brown, I used some copper embossing powder to make my stamped sentiment stand out.  This one turned out on the darker side, thanks to the darker card base and my adding of peeled paint to the palette.  I think I prefer my original version......

I'm so sorry so many of these supplies are retired or not linked, but I used what I had.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by.  

Simon Says........Make Your Own Background

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

This week our theme is "Make Your Own Background", and my teammates and I are showcasing Concord & 9th products.

I chose their Plaid Background stamp set, and made 2 cards with it.

supplies: white, gold, black, and Green Leaf cardstock, Concord & 9th Plaid Background clear set and sentiment from Brushed Blossom set, Altenew Warm Sunshine and VersaFine Onyx Black inks, Altenew Fantasy Floral flower and leaf dies, Simon's Summer Gold sequins, adhesive foam squares

I love black, white and yellow together!  Here's another version, using the same inks but stamping on a pale yellow cardstock to begin:

supplies: white, black, and Lemon Chiffon card stock, Concord & 9th Plaid Background, Altenew Warm Sunshine and VersaFine Onyx Black inks, Simon's Summer Flowers and My Sunshine stamps, sunshine die, Nuvo Sunshine Yellow and Irish Clover marker sets to color, adhesive foam squares

Now it's your turn!  Heidi has provided another $50.00 gift voucher

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

Happily Ever After

Here's another set of gorgeous dies that Spellbinders sent me - I paired it with a damask embossing folder for a wedding card:

supplies: white, cream, and silver metallic card stock, Spellbinders Layered Happily Ever After dies, Taylored Expressions Damask embossing folder, silver brads for flower centers, adhesive foam

I first cut an A2 panel in white card, and from that cut out the arched shape; then that panel was embossed with the folder.  On my white card base, I affixed a cream bride and groom diecut in the center.  On the embossed panel, I added the sentiment die cut in silver, and then popped that panel above my card base with some adhesive foam.  The flowers were also cut from cream card to make them stand out a bit better from the white background, and I added tiny silver brads to their centers.

What a great set to have for weddings!  Going forward, I think I'd use the bride's wedding colors for some of these details.......

Summer Sunshine

I think this Sunny Studios pad of gingham papers is ever so pretty, so I chose one as background and used a Simon wreath die as my focal point.

supplies:  white, yellow, and green card stock, Sunny Studios Classic Gingham paper pad, Simon's Blooming Circle die, Gina K. Wreath Builder sentiment, pearls

I cut the wreath from yellow and green card, then used one of the negatives as my guide to reform the wreath on a white backing.

Hope this brings a smile!

Cinch & Go Flowers

I was so pleased to receive some Spellbinders dies recently!  Here are 2 cards using Becca Feeken's Cinch & Go Flowers III.

The first one uses shades of aqua:

supplies: white, Sea Glass, Surf Blue, Audrey Blue, and Green Apple card stock, Doodlebug patterned papers, Becca Feeken's Cinch & Go Flowers, Simon's Beautiful Flowers sentiment, glittery blue brads

And my 2nd uses my happy colors of white, yellow, and black:

supplies: white, black, and Green Apple card stock, patterned papers from Lawn Fawn and My Favorite Things, Cinch & Go dies, sentiments from Simon's Happy & Smile and Happy stamp sets, yellow brads

The layered dies have 4 sizes of the flower, plus a backing and a leaf sprig.  On these cards, I used all 4 layers of the flower, but they would work in any combination.  I used white and colored card stock, but you could sponge on distress inks to make your own custom colors.  Irregardless, they add a wonderful dimension and take a card to the next level!

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday - thanks for stopping by!

Butterflies

As soon as I saw these papers from Bo Bunny's Early Bird paper pack in the Simon August Card Kit,  I knew what I'd do with them.

supplies: white, pink, Surf Blue, yellow, Soft Navy and kraft card stock, dps from Early Bird paper pack, Simon's Stitching Butterflies dies and sentiment from Beautiful Day, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares to pop up butterflies

This may be too busy for a variety of reasons, but for me, it brings back my quilting days - I loved to find just the right patterns to mix together!  Thank you for stopping by.