Simon Says..........Bright and Cheerful

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

Our theme this week is Bright and Cheerful, and we're highlighting Hero Arts products!  One of the best things Hero Arts did was to introduce Color Layering stamps.  I have several of them, and I'm glad to see that they continue to add new sets with each release.  

First up, what's more bright and cheerful than a butterfly?!

supplies: white card, Hero Arts Color Layering Swallowtail, VersaFine Onyx Black and various Altenew inks, MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

I imagined these flowers to be zinnias and stamped them in shades of pink.  This set has 3 layers for the butterfly and the flower, and I used my Misti to line them up.

Next up,  another color-layering set:

supplies: white and Audrey Blue card stock, Hero Arts Color Layering Flamingo stamps and matching die, Simon's Tropical Leaves and sentiment from It's Your Birthday, Altenew ink cubes (Tea Party, Sweet Dreams, Sea Shore, and Green Meadows), a woodblock party hat stamp, adhesive foam strips

I've had this flamingo set for awhile and I don't think I'll ever tire of playing with it - it always makes me smile!  This time I added a party hat to the mix and made a summer birthday card.  

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!

And just a reminder to visit HERE to see Simon's newest release, Good Vibes.  If you'd like to see the card I made with my new die, please scroll down 1 post, or click HERE.

A New Simon Release: Good Vibes!

Simon has a new release debuting today, called Good Vibes!  I was lucky enough to have been sent this really fun set of dies, called Perforated Flaps.  There are 3 sizes, and for this card, I used the smallest one.  This is how the card will appear when you take it out of its envelope.

  Look closely.......

The new dies cut 3 different sizes of a 3-sided window, leaving the top attached to be folded up for a surprise underneath.  I used the smallest flap, cut from my stamped and colored flower panel. Then the panel was popped above my card base on which I had stamped my sentiment.  I also added a small vellum panel with a sentiment to the "door".

Here's one more look at the card with the flap closed.  All my supplies are listed below this picture.

supplies: white card, vellum, Simon's Perforated Flaps die, Even More Spring Flowers flower and leaves, Sea You Soon sentiment (under flap), and Stitched Rectangle die, sentiment on vellum from Technique Tuesday Agapanthus, masking paper, Zig markers and water to color, Doodlebug Sprinkles, adhesive foam strips to lift top panel above card base

Be sure to visit THIS PAGE to see the rest of the new release.  I have my eye on the Hibiscus Frame, Everett Letters, and the Classic Bicycle dies.  What are your favorites?

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll visit again later this morning for my regular Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog post.

Ditsy Print

I just received a new stamp set from Altenew - my favorite of their new release.   It's one of their layered sets, but on a much smaller scale than their usual large flowers.   Here is my first play with it.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue card stock, Altenew's Ditsy Print set, Sweet Dreams and Tropical Forest mini inks, Wplus9 Hello die and stamped sentiment from its companion Hand Lettered Hello, Winnie & Walter Noelle large scallop die

I decided I'd use this pretty little floral above and below a central sentiment.  After I saw it inked, it reminded me of the embroidery on ladies' handkerchiefs, so I cut the panel into a large scalloped rectangle, and added the hello die because of it's pretty feminine font.

Next I switched to purples and repeatedly stamped the little bouquet.  They remind me of little nosegays of violets.......

supplies: white and black card stock, MFT Black & White Stripes pad, Ditsy Prints, Shades of Purple and Green Meadows mini inks, MFT Thanks die

I love florals mixed with stripes, so I cut my stamped panel down a bit and added some stripes above and below it.  Again, I chose my sentiment because of the lovely font.

This set is easy AND fun to use, and I know it will become one of my favorites.  

My Dad

Remembering my Dad on Father's Day, I did a little collage of the few pictures I have of the 2 of us.  

left, my wedding day, 1971, wasn't he handsome?, below, Florida, 2011, me wearing his cap, middle, Jack's Lake, Ontario, early 1950s, right, early 1950's

My Dad was born in 1920, and we had him for 95 years.  He was an avid outdoorsman; loved to hunt and fish and just be outside.  He never sat down, always kept busy.  My sisters and I have fond memories of our summer vacations in Canada.  On a high school diploma, he put his 3 daughters through college, and built the house that we grew up in.  After he retired, he took the time to write down his memories of his life, and that little book is a treasure!  He always had a joke to tell.   He loved spending the winter months in Florida, and one of my favorite memories is of him riding his bike every day with his little dachshund in the basket, even in his 90's!  He and Mom were married for 70 years, and I count myself truly blessed to have had them as my parents and role models. 

Miss you, Daddy!

Foiling

I recently added a few more foiling supplies to my arsenal, and today I made a card with them.  I really like the results!  Here's what it looks like standing upright:

supplies: black, Island Blue, and DCWV silver foiled card stock, Gina K. Designs Floral Sketch Clear Designer Toner Sheet, Sparkling Silver Fancy Foil, and a toner sheet, Chameleon Cool Tones alcohol markers, Penny Black Stitched Stacker die, Simon's Script Thanks dies, adhesive foam strips, laminator

To begin I cut a piece of the clear acetate designer toner sheet and a piece of foil and ran it through my laminator.  I set aside the foil, and colored the reverse of the acetate with alcohol inks.  Then I framed it.  

Next I placed the used foil piece over a piece of toner sheet and again ran it through the laminator.  You can see that the reverse image comes through, a silver background with the design in black.  Lying flat like this, you can see the iridescence of the foil

This was attached to a white card base and, after adding my die-cut sentiment to the clear panel, I popped it above and a teensy bit off-center from the silver layer.  Here is the finished card laying flat:

And a final photo of it upright.  As you can see, the light plays with the foiling and gives all kinds of different looks.  From a distance, depending on which way you tilt your head, the background turns to purple, gold, green, or blue - so fun!

What I was unable to capture in my photos was the dimension, almost a shadow-box effect that lifting the clear panel gives to it.  You can kind of think of this design as a shaker card minus the shakings!

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope your weekend will be a fantastic one!

Simon Says..........Frame It!

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

Our theme is a fun one this week: Frame It!  And the team are playing with Memory Box goodies.

I found an interesting die and made 2 very similar cards with it, using items from my scrap basket.  

supplies: white and peach card stock, Memory Box Small Circle Burst die, Simon's Center Cut Flowers cling, Wishing die and Sending & Wishing sentiment, adhesive foam squares

After assembling the panel with the Circle Burst, I popped it above my peach backing.  

My 2nd card is flatter, just some layering:

supplies: white, aqua, and black card stock, Memory Box Small Circle Burst die, Altenew Painted Flowers, Simon's Sending die and sentiment from Sending & Wishing stamp set

There's a large version of this die, also, but I chose this version, thinking it would make a good sun in the corner of a card.......yet it's still large enough to have a small sentiment inside it.  

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!

For a Summer Birthday

I recently ordered and received this oh-so-pretty Tossed Florals cover die and here's a card I made that features it.

supplies: white, black, and coral card stock, Wplus9 Tossed Floral die, watercolored with Altenew inks, Simon's Stitched Circle and Leanna Butterfly dies, sentiment from Gina K Designs Wreath Builder, Doodlebug sprinkle on butterfly

I wanted to color it with softened sherbet-y summer colors, so I smooshed various mini inks on an acrylic block, and used them to watercolor the flowers and leaves.  I didn't want to cover up much of the pretty result, so I chose to add a sentiment in a small circle.  The butterfly was sitting on my desk and it seemed like a nice addition to the mix.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Roses and Lavender

Just playing today; this one uses dies and lots of texture!

supplies: cream, black, Simon's Green Apple, Green Leaf, Sunshine, a pale gold and a medium lavender card stock, Tim Holtz Roses texture fade and Wildflower die, Altenew Layered Rose dies, sentiment from Simon's Beautiful Flowers

It's no secret if you visit here often that my favorite rose is a yellow one.  So I played a little with the yellow card stock in my stash until I found 2 colors that I liked together.  The roses and leaves are 3 layers, a solid back, a detail layer, and a framing one.  I thought adding something spikey would change things from the other cards I've done with this set of dies.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your weekend!

Another Anniversary card

......this one for my husband this year.

supplies: kraft, blue, Green Leaf and Green Apple card stock, (retired) MFT Spring Wreath die, (retired) Memory Box Perched Reed Bird, Simon's Happy clear stamps, heart punch, twine, faded jeans and abandoned coral distress oxide inks, Colorbox Frost White cat's eye ink pad, tea dye distress ink

This bird die has always been a favorite of mine - it fits into most wreaths or branches, so I first cut out 2 of him from desert storm kraft card and inked them to resemble bluebirds.  I cut 2 shades of green for my wreath, and, influenced by Pam's 2nd card in THIS post, sponged some tea dye distress ink around the wreath and the edges of my card.   

It's been 47 years for us - how about you?

Simon Says............ Anniversary/Wedding

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

Our theme this week is Anniversary/Wedding, and we're playing with Impression Obsession goodies.  And it just so happens that today is my own 47th wedding anniversary, too!

I have 2 cards using the same stamp set:

supplies: white, black, and Lavender card stock, Bristol paper, pink gingham dp,  Impression Obsession Floral Heart set, Simon's Happy sentiments, Daniel Smith watercolors (Shari Carroll palette), adhesive foam squares

I stamped and watercolored the flower sprigs on Bristol paper, and the heart on pink gingham, then cut them out and arranged them on my card.  The sentiment was added to finish.

Next up, I used one of the flower sprays, colored a little brighter, and the same sentiment set:

supplies: white card stock, Bristol paper, BoBunny dotted pattern paper, Impression Obsession Floral Heart, Simon's Happy sentiments, and (retired) large heart doily die, Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Borders 2 die, Zig markers to color 

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!

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

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

Our theme this week is our ever-popular Anything Goes, and my talented teamies and I are showcasing Doodlebug products!  Doodlebug makes fantastic 6" square paper pads, with small-scale patterns perfect for our cards, and I determined that I'd use ONLY Doodlebug papers for my cards today.

Here in the US we think of the beginning of summer as Memorial Day, so both of my cards today are summer-themed.

supplies: white card base, Doodlebug Sweet Summer 6" paper pad, Simon's Scallop Stitches die, natural twine and pink dotty button, adhesive foam squares

I found a sketch that I followed for this card.  Most of the latest Doodlebug paper pads have a couple of designs on the reverse that are little scenes or vignettes, and some that have various stripes, in this case the summertime stripe.  I chose this adorable beach scene and then pulled all papers from the same pad that coordinated with it. 

Here's a closer look at the little vignette - I love the rainbow spokes on the adirondack chair, and pulled them down into the lowest panel!

Summer means bike riding, so when I saw this bicycle in one of my many Doodlebug paper pads, I cut it out and put it against some strips of summery-colored Doodlebug patterned papers. 

supplies: white card base, various 6" Doodlebug paper pads, sentiment pieced from Simon's Beautiful Ride sentiments, zig-zag and scalloped rectangle die from (retired) MFT Blueprints 20 die set, adhesive foam strips and squares

I thought the wheels were the perfect place to add a sentiment!  And I love the effect the zig-zag stitch die gives between the paper strips - the one I used is retired, but MFT brought it out in another set HERE.

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!

Love & Hugs

I so enjoyed making my last card with the Fantasy Florals dies that I decided to do another.

supplies: white, rose, red, and Green Leaf card, MFT Plaid Patterns Merry & Bright dp, Fantasy Floral dies, sentiment from Simon's Beautiful Flowers, adhesive foam strips to separate layers

These colors approximate the colors of the peonies in our gardens, and I thought the background plaid worked well with them, giving a kind of trellis effect, too.  When I first got these dies, I envisioned them cut from 3 shades of the same color, but I'm happy to see they look just as pretty in one shade, with the layers popped above each other.

Back to reality, hope your week is a lovely one!

Peony Prayers

My peonies are finally opening this weekend!  We have 3 colors, all old-fashioned varieties that were divisions of our neighbors, a white, a pale pink, and a rose pink.  The whites are generally the first to open.  Here's a card inspired by them - they have just a touch of dark pink color splashed inside.

supplies: white and Green Leaf card stock, grey grid from Sunny Studios Classic Gingham pad, Altenew Fantasy Floral dies, a touch of picked raspberry distress ink, Hero Arts Prayers die, adhesive strips to separate layers

My Mom puts these on our family's graves on Memorial Day, so I have always associated them with this holiday.  

My Heart

I have some cards today using some Tammy Tutterow cling stamps and dies, most from her Sew Sweet collection. 

supplies: white, Audrey Blue and Schoolhouse Red card, Tammy's Handmade (quilt) and Sentiments 2 cling stamps, markers to color, Stitched Mini Scallop Square die, Swiss Dot embossing folder

I was so tickled that Tammy drew this little quilt block, so I made it the star of this card.  And I love that she adds little hearts to her sentiment stamps!  

Continuing the heart theme:

supplies: white, Lipstick Red, and kraft card, Sunny Studio Classic Gingham dp, Tammy's From Heart and Hand tag and heart dies, Simon's Roses for You sentiment, scalloped rectangle dies, twine

I love the combination of red and kraft!  And I sneaked in a little gingham, too!

And finally, Tammy put out a really cute die set of edges/trims, and I used this scalloped ribbon threader for my last card:

supplies: white card, Sunny Studio Classic Gingham dp, Tammy's Sew Sweet Trims die, Simon's Birthday Bits sentiment and High Dive ink, aqua satin ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by - hope your holiday weekend is the best!