Share Joy challenge

I recently acquired some Taylored Expressions felt, and love that it works so well with all of my dies! The price point is great and there's a beautiful array of colors!  So when I saw the sketch at the latest Share Joy challenge, I couldn't wait to use them on my entry!

supplies: white cardstock, green and blue dotted papers from BoBunny's Soft Shades pad, Taylored Expressions Cherry Blossom, Orchid, and Avodaco felt, yellow felt, Lil Inker Perky Posies flower dies, Simon Crystal and Moonshine sequins, Simon's Big Scripty Greetings

Garnet

.......that was what I saw when I looked at the spectacular inspiration board for this month's Pin Sight's Challenge .  What a gorgeous array of color!  Here's my entry:

supplies: cream, green, and 3 shades of deep red cardstock, Bold Blossoms, Painted Hugs, red sequins

I was obviously taken with that gorgeous bouquet and the sparkling rings, but oh that red velvet cake.........

Merry Monday.......One Layer

Here's my card for this week's Merry Monday challenge.  This week our challenge is to do a 1-layer card.

supplies: white card, Hero Arts Winter Town, The Craft's Meow (retired) Christmas Blessings (star and sentiment), VersaFine Lagoon Blue, VersaMark and Liquid Platinum embossing powder

I said it last week, and I'll repeat - so nice to be able to use older stamps for these challenges!  

You Have My Heart

Here's another card very similar to my design for the Simon Wednesday challenge, but I thought I'd share it anyway.  It's almost a one-layer design.....

supplies: watercolor paper, ivory card base, Simon's Roses for You clear stamp set, Spectrum Aqua Floral and Zig Clean Color markers in shades of pink and green

I simply stamped the individual flowers and leaf sprigs along a lightly-pencilled heart shape, then erased the pencil lines and watercolored the design.  After stamping my sentiment from the same set, I splattered some of the inks (a little too exuberantly, maybe?), and let the panel dry before attaching it to my card base.

I am loving this stamp set - it may be the source of most of my Valentines for this year!

And one more in blue.......

......using the Beautiful Day stamp set.

supplies: white and blue cardstock, Altenew Beautiful Day, Hero Arts Stripes Pattern and sentiment from Made with Love, Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue, Hero Arts Cornflower, Stone Wash, Green Hills, and Grass, and VersaFine onyx black inks, Doodlebug blue jean sprinkles

The sky blue ink is pearlescent, so this whole card has a subtle shimmer to it!

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

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

Being the last Wednesday of the month, our recurring theme is Anything Goes, and the Design Team are all using Simon Says Stamp products.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Roses for You stamps, and I had a ball playing with them!  I used the individual flowers and leaves stamps to form a heart wreath for my first card.

supplies: ivory cardstock, Roses for You stamp set, Spectrum Aqua Floral watercolor markers, water, Simon Stitched Rectangles die and moonshine sequins

And I went a bit shabby-chic for my 2nd card.

supplies:  white cardstock, dps from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two and a retired Lawn Fawn paper pads, heirloom lace, Roses for You stamps, Spectrum Aqua Floral markers, moonshine sequins

This one uses the heart of flowers all around the edges of my card, along with a sentiment from another Simon Valentine clear set:

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts carnation layering paper, Simon Roses for You and Paper Hug clear stamp sets, and Stitched Rectangle die, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  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!

The Most Beautiful Day

Here's another card using my new Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Altenew Beautiful Day clear stamp set, pink and green inks, and blue and green markers to color, Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Poppy embossing folder

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Valentines for our Grands

It's taken me all this time to get the Harvest Mouse stamp set from My Favorite Things, so the fact that it's autumn related didn't stop me from putting it to use for our grandchildren's Valentines....I simply removed apples and inserted hearts in their places!

The first one is for our granddaughter Alma - she is all girl!

supplies:white cardstock, BoBunny Strawberry double dot cardstock, MFT Harvest Mouse, Simon's Large Heart Doily, Hero Arts sentiment from All Occasion Messages

My next card is a CASE of one by Alice Wertz, and it's for our youngest, Owen:

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Petite Prints Limeade dot grid, MFT Harvest Mouse, Simon Painted Hello die and sentiment from I See You, heart from Stacked Hearts

And this last one is a CASE of Tracey McNeeley's card.  It's for our oldest, Liam, who loves to run:

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Petite Prints Blue Jean dot-grid, MFT Harvest Mouse, hearts from Simon's Mini Hearts die in the February Card Kit

One of his parents will have to explain (and probably sing) the significance of the sentiment on this one.......I've written "and a hug around your neck" inside!

Thanks for your visit today!

Hugs and Happy Thoughts

I won an Altenew challenge a little while ago, and chose this amazing Beautiful Day stamp set as my prize.  I had to wait a bit for it, as it is very popular, but that wait was so worth it!  Here's my first card using the wonderfully detailed flower:

supplies: white and black cardstock, dotty panel from a Teresa Collins Carolina Breeze paper pad, Altenew Beautiful Day stamps, 3 shades of yellow (Ranger Conch Shell, Altenew Warm Sunshine, and Wplus9 Wild Mango) and 2 shades of green ink (Hero Arts Green Hills and Grass), black enamel dots

Yellow roses are my favorites, so I had to try these first in that color.  I love the wonderful detail that these multi-step stamps can give to a person who is coloring challenged - all the shading is already done for me!

Hope all you blizzard people are staying inside and crafting today!  We haven't had a single flake here in NE Ohio - I'm so jealous of all of you!

Simon Says Stamp February Card Kit!

I just received my card kit for February and couldn't wait to play with some of the beautiful papers!  Mixing stripes and florals is a favorite thing for me to do, but I wanted to stretch my gorgeous floral paper, so I cut out a 2" strip from it and then fussy-cut as many flowers as I could to use on this first card.  They also work to help hold the vellum sentiment panel down to the card.

supplies: all supplies except vellum from Simon's February Card Kit: cotton candy and black cardstock, striped and floral papers, sentiment from the Hello Beautiful clear stamp set, epoxy heart stickers, gold heart sequins

My second card uses the unique marbled paper in the kit, along with some more of the epoxy stickers, another sentiment from the stamp set, and I added a die-cut heart from the Small Heart Doily die set from last year.

Here's another, using more of the floral and striped paper, along with an ombre one, cut with the same Small Heart Doily dies I used above.

If you like this kit as much as I do, you can find it at Simon Says Stamp for $29.95 plus shipping.  If you'd like to receive this kit, plus future monthly kits for $24.95 plus shipping, you can subscribe HERE.

And for more cards using this fun kit, visit Simon's February Card Kit gallery!  Don't forget to add your card there, too!

Here come the Hearts!

Valentine's Day is my favorite card-sending holiday, so from now until the DAY, you'll be seeing lots of heart-related cards here.

This one uses 2 new dies from Simon's recent Die-cember release.

supplies: red and white cardstock, various red mini-print papers, Simon's Stacked Hearts and Painted Hugs dies, Hero Arts heart pearls

I cut the stacked hearts out of red cardstock and made partial cuts of 6 tiny red print papers, then paper-pieced the hearts back into the design.  Hugs was cut 4 times to make it stand out better.

This fits as a last minute entry to the Paper Players challenge: Clean & Simple Valentine.

Happy weekend, everybody!

Warm Wishes

I'm playing again at the Merry Monday challenge....this week our theme is warm beverages!  I immediately thought of this old Purple Onion Designs (probably discontinued by now) cling stamp called Cup of Joy.

supplies: kraft and white cardstock, dp from Simple Stories Handmade Holiday pad, Purple Onion Designs Cup of Joy cling stamp, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Holiday Words script die, Winnie & Walter "warm" from The Big, the Bold, & the Merry stamp set and their Audrey Cutaways dies

I love this challenge because it allows us to use any product, even those that may be discontinued, like the paper pad I used.  

Simon Says.........Create with Critters!

It's Wednesday and that means a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

My teamies and I are playing with Lawn Fawn products this week.

My first card is a result of reminiscing with my sisters at Christmas about our fabulous sled-riding track my Dad made for us.  We lived on 2 acres out in the country, and he cleared the trees to the top of the highest hill so that we had a huge long ride from there to the street we lived on.  What I wouldn't give to do that one more time!  Joy indeed!

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug dp, Lawn Fawn Winter Bunny and Home Sweet Home clear stamps (birds), markers to color, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy sentiment, Hero Arts Red Royal ink, DieNamics Snow Drift die, Taylored Expressions Birch Tree cutting plate

There are so many cute critters made by Lawn Fawn; however, at the time I was shopping for this challenge (right after Black Friday), all of my favorites were out of stock, so I used this older set that contains butterflies for my second card.

supplies: white cardstock, dps from 2 Lawn Fawn Let's Polka pads and Simple Stories DIY Boutique (stripe in background), Lawn Fawn Flutter By, Avery Elle Brushed, Wplus9 Little Piggy, Ranger Lemon Twist, mowed lawn distress, and Simon Audrey Blue inks, Spectrum Noir colored pencils, and various sequins to match butterflies

Now it's your turn!  I can't wait to see what you make!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

4 Colors

The January challenge at Paper Smooches is a fun one - they've called it 4 colors!  We can use their examples, or choose colors of our own.  I started with this old scrap of My Mind's Eye paper, and built my card around it.  My colors are melon, yellow, aqua, and green.

supplies: white, Surf Blue, and black cardstock, pale blue vellum (for canning jar), and My Mind's Eye paper from their Collectible collection, Paper Smooches Best Buds and Lovely Thoughts (sentiment) stamps, Spectrum Aqua markers, Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways die

I stamped an extra canning jar on aqua vellum and glued it over my main panel.  Glossy accents, used very sparingly, worked great to secure it.

Here are some suggested colors:

Thanks for your visit!  

Dots and Flowers

Here's a birthday card I made using felt that I die-cut and some buttons.  I'm CASEing a card by Tammy Hershberger:

supplies: white cardstock and polka dot dp, Lil Inker Perky Posies dies, PTI pink, yellow and green felt, various buttons, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Hello and Hero Arts stamped sentiment

I needed something bright and happy for our granddaughter, and I think this fills the bill!  It looks like something she'd wear.  And it works for the current challenge at Curtain Call: Girly.

A Dotty Birthday

I always love to play in Winnie & Walter's monthly ReRun challenges; even if I don't own the stamp they're featuring each time, I always am inspired to play by one of their samples from the team.  Here's my card for this month's ReRun challenge, inspired by Lydia's card:

supplies: white cardstock, Winnie & Walter Scenery: Big Bang Confetti and The Big, the Bold and the Happy stamps and their In a Word: Happy die, a retired The Craft's Meow dotted strip stamp, Brilliance Peacock tri-color ink, VersaFine onyx black ink, and sequins to match

I really like the way Lydia off-set a white die against a colored one.  In my case, I used the same ink pad I did for the stamping to swipe across my white cardstock before cutting my sentiment.

Wishing you a great weekend!  

More Anemones

My friend Carol cut this Wplus9 Lattice Frame Die for me recently, and when I saw it I wanted to make a window box idea using it.

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Wplus9 Lattice Frame Die and Watercolored Anemones stamp set, yellows, peaches, and green inks, Hero Arts Sunshine & Flowers sentiment from 2008

When I made this card a little earlier this week, we were in the midst of our first snowstorm, and it sure did brighten my day - hope it does the same for you!

Merry Monday - Plaid

I'm determined to make at least 1 card each week for next Christmas season, so I am playing again in the current Merry Monday challenge, which is plaid!  Here's my card:

supplies: white cardstock, papers from a Martha Stewart Christmas pad, DieNamics Quilt Square coverup, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Merry die, pine punch, red button, and baker's twine

Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says........Ombre!

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

This week our theme is Ombre!  The design team are using Hero Arts Products.  I've used some of my favorite Hero Arts stamps today, and some colors and subjects that help take our minds away from winter.

supplies: white cardstock, watercolor paper, twisted citron and mowed lawn distress inks, Hero Arts Dandelion, sentiment from a retired The Craft's Meow Butterfly Kisses, VersaMark ink and Hero Arts white embossing powder

I used the smooshing technique to transfer diluted distress inks to my watercolor panel, then let them merge and run together.  After everything was dry I stamped and heat embossed my dandelions and sentiment.  I just had to use this sentiment with my dandelions, even though it's not available any more, as I fondly remember picking them as a child, blowing on them to release the seedlings, and "making a wish"!

supplies: Bristol paper and Hero Arts Pool mixed layering papers (all 3 colors), Tweed Pattern background wood stamp, peacock feathers, evergreen bough, and cracked pistachio distress inks, Butterfly and Flowers Stamp and Cut set, Happy Stamp and Cut set, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, DieNamics Blueprints 20 stitched die

I white embossed the Tweed Pattern, then used distress inks to watercolor in part of the design.  That panel was die-cut, then topped with the rest of the elements.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  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!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too! 

Watercolored Anemones

I was inspired by Teresa's and Virginia's cards for our Simon Wednesday challenge last week, both using a beautiful Wplus9 stamp set.  I pulled mine out and had a play with it, too:

supplies: white cardstock, grey bias stripe dp from Simple Stories SN@P Color Vibe pad, Wplus9 Watercolored Anemones, Taylored Expressions joy die, silver foil cardstock, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways

Hope you enjoy my little spring bouquet as much as I enjoyed making it!

Bright Blessed

Fusion is celebrating its 2nd anniversary with a big splash - a gorgeous inspiration and lots of guest designers to bring it to life!  I chose the photo inspiration to make my entry:

supplies: white cardstock, Wplus9 Watercolored Anemones and Doodlebuds stamps and die, Simon's Diagonal Stripe stencil, yellow Memento marker

After randomly stamping my flowers and leaves, I overlaid a stencil and used a yellow Memento marker to add stripes in the background.

Here's our inspiration:

 

Be sure to visit to see all the amazing takes on this challenge from the designers and also the other entries!  Happy Anniversary, Fusion!  Wishing you many more!