Spring Flowers

The challenge this time at The Card Concept is Spring Flowers, and the photo inspiration is a bucket of lilacs.  Here's my take on the challenge:

supplies: white, green, and shades of purple cardstock, Hero Arts Hibiscus Style ( a woodblock from 2005), Simon's Christmas Blessings die, Sizzix flowers embossing folder, Wilted Violet and Shaded Lilac distress inks, Sizzix Branch with Leaves die, various purple sequins

I first smooshed 2 purple distress inks on a white card panel, then after it was dry, I embossed the little flowers.  Then I affixed that to my white card base and then added the other elements.  I have an awful time figuring out what style my cards are - maybe mixed media?

After I finished my card, I remembered this old Flourishes set and made another one, much simpler in design:

supplies: white and lavender cardstock, Flourishes Sweet Violets, Chameleon Cool Tones markers to color, tumbled glass distress ink and finger dauber, Spellbinders Floral Ovals  die, Simon's Small Love You die

This card makes me think of those hand-painted porcelain pins that were popular in an earlier time......I'd guess this would fall into the clean and layered style.

Merry Monday: Let it Snow!

This week's challenge at Merry Monday is Let it Snow!  Here's my entry, using some well-loved Hero Arts stamps.

supplies: blue and white cardstock, Hero Arts Stunning Snowflakes woodblock stamp, Stonewash and Simon White inks, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy snowman and sentiment, red dotty dp for his scarf and hat, Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake die, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins

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

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

Our theme is Anything Goes, and the Design Team are using Stampendous products this week - we'd love you to do the same if you have any, but you don't need to in order to enter the challenge.

I fell in love with this sweet bouquet stamp - LOVE the handle made of pussy willows!

supplies: white and green cardstock, Stampendous Birch Bouquet stamp, markers to color, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Delightful Day, Penny Black Painted Blooms gingham dp, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle Layers die

For some other cards using this stamp, please see HERE and HERE.  

And I used a somewhat older stamp for my second card.  The last time I used this stamp I did it with pink flowers, so today, I changed things up and made them yellow.

supplies: white, grey and bright yellow cardstock, Stampendous I Love Paris cling stamp, Hero Arts Charcoal ink, dp from Authentique Classique paper pad, gold pearls

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!

Another Charmed Heart

I wanted to play again with my new Charmed Heart dies and felt, and here's the result of a fun afternoon!

supplies: Simon's Charmed Heart dies, my own red and turquoise felt, cream lace and embroidery floss, red buttons

I'm running out of felt big enough to cut out the body of the hearts, so I dug into my stash from eons ago and came up with this red felt from some little craft kit that I never used.  So glad I saved the felt, though.  Then, since it was red, I decided to try and add lace to the edges.  My next problem was finding a 3rd color.  This turquoise was really the only thing that I liked with it - I'm out of white/cream felt, and I didn't have any pinks that worked with that red.    So I kept my color scheme fairly simple this time.

This makes me think of something Southwestern, for some reason.  The lace was fairly easy to attach, but I think you need to use lace that is already gathered on one edge........the other laces I previewed didn't go around the curves very well.  These flower dies are not part of the set - I wanted something a bit bigger.  Therefore, in order to attach them, I used buttons in their centers and stitched them down at one time.

I'd encourage you to give any of these plush stitching dies a try - it's nice sometimes do make something besides a card!  Thanks for stopping by, as always.  

Share Joy #32

Here's my card for this week's Share Joy challenge.  We had a choice of a sketch and/or  a CAS card - I used both.

supplies: black, white, and yellow cardstock, Tim Holtz Detailed Butterflies dies, Anna Griffin Rosa embossing strip, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders die, dps from Simple Stories and Authentique, Paper Sweeties flower sequins

Here's the inspiration:

SubLIME

Here's a card I created just for fun......it's a remake of this one, just changing up the colors to lime, grey and white.  For whatever reason, I am in love with lime in all its hues lately.

supplies: white and green cardstock, unknown grey board design paper, My Favorite Things Dots & Stripes Fresh design paper, Tim Holtz Gothic stencil, modeling paste,  Altenew Painted Flowers, lime and grey inks, Technique Tuesday Simply You by Ali Edwards (long discontinued, but still one of my favorite sentiment sets)

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings and a Note

Good morning!  Today I'm sharing 2 cards I made using Wplus9's new Free-Hand Florals stamp set.
I was a bit daunted with this set at first, so for my first outing, I went with a general CASEing of Dawn's design.

I used lots of different inks from different companies here.  One of the reasons I chose this set was because of those little lilac-like sprigs that I inked in Simon's Wisteria ink, and I am NOT disappointed - I know I'll be using that one lots!  My sentiment is part of Simon's Christmas Blessings die, and I used Winnie & Walter's Audrey Cutaways to cut my scalloped frame.

After I got my feet wet, I felt a bit more comfortable with the set to do a second card.  The stamped panel was masked to make it one layer:

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Free-Hand Florals, aqua, Wisteria, and green inks, Wplus9's sentiment from Blanket Stitched Blooms, Lawn Fawn  Stitched Scalloped Border die, Pretty Pink Posh Enchanted Garden and Share Handmade Kindness  sequin mixes

Hope your weekend will be a great one!

Color Throwdown

I just love the colors this week at the Color Throwdown!  I was inspired to pull out some new-to-me dies and create with them!

supplies: white cardstock, picked raspberry, spiced marmalade, and shabby shutters distress inks, sponging tool, Simon's Single Roses and Painted Hugs dies, sequins to match

Here's our darling inspiration:

From Places Abroad: Thailand

Altenew has a monthly challenge called From Places Abroad, and this month our destination is Thailand!  Here's my entry:

supplies: white and gold glitter cardstock, unknown lattice diecut from a friend, Altenew Painted Flowers, Altenew Shades of Purple and Glacier Caves and Hero Arts Tide Pool and Splash inks, discontinued Simon sentiment, Ranger super fine detail gold embossing powder

Here's our inspiration. 

It's always fun to see how everyone interprets these prompts - be sure to visit!

Simon Says Stamp New Release: My Favorite!

Simon has a new release, debuting today, called My Favorite!

Here's a card I made using a new stamp set called Beautiful Ride.

supplies: white cardstock, Simon Beautiful Ride stamp set, mowed lawn, mustard seed, and mermaid lagoon distress inks, Simon Stitched Rectangle die, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

When I first saw this stamp set, it brought back memories of my parents wintering in Florida.  Daddy always made sure he had a bicycle at whatever house they would rent, and he loved putting their little dachshund into the basket each day for a ride around the neighborhood.  It was a great ice-breaker with all the neighbors each year!

This fun stamp set has all kinds of "little things" to put into your bicycle basket, and I know you'll make it your own.  My bicycle was fussy-cut, but there's a matching die set, or, if you'd like, a set that includes both the stamps and dies.  I used the smooshing method to add some color to my background.

This is a small release, but there's something for everyone!  Head on over to the Simon Store to see everything!

Simon Says.........Make it Girlie

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

Our challenge this week is "Make it Girlie", and my teammates and I are using Hero Arts products.  I made 2 very different cards today:

supplies: cream, kraft, and 2 Doodlebug pinks cardstock, Hero Arts Classic Tea Rose, picked raspberry and mowed lawn distress markers, Molotow masking fluid, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle Layers dies, Old Letter Writing, tea dye distress ink, Hello Stamp & Cut die, Heart Accent Pearl, natural twine, lace

I inked the flower stamp using distress markers, then stamped it onto a panel and lightly brushed it with a damp brush to spread the color out.  After it was dry, I used masking fluid to cover the flower before overstamping the script background, and sponging on a little more tea dye distress ink around the flower.  The masking fluid was then rubbed off, and I trimmed the panel with a pinpoint die, framed it in a skinny kraft frame, then again in a Doodlebug pink.  Since the challenge this week is "girly", I went all the way and used some old lace trim to frame the panel one more time, then added my triple-cut sentiment, a twine bow and a Hero Arts heart pearl.  

After all the layers and detail on the above card, I wanted to make a much simpler design for my second card.

supplies: white, periwinkle, and dark aqua cardstock, Bold Floral Stencil, blueprint sketch, mermaid lagoon, and lucky clover distress inks, Happy Stamp & Cut set, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders die, Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways scallopped frame die, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins

For this card I inked directly onto the stencil using distress inks, then spritzed it lightly before "stamping" it onto white card.  I trimmed the panel, adhered it to a periwinkle card base, then added my sentiment and sequins.

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!

A Little Birdie.....

Here's a last-minute entry to the current Share Joy challenge. I used the sketch only.  One of my favorite things about springtime is the pretty greens of the newly emerging leaves, so I started with that and everything followed.

supplies: kraft, red, 2 blues and Hero Arts Grass cardstock, and MFT Farm Fresh Gingham, Taylored Expressions woodgrain cardstock, sponged with ground espresso distress ink to bring out the woodgrain,  and their Leafy Vines embossing folder, Paper Smooches Birdhouse dies, Lil Inker Stitched Tag, May Arts natural twine

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Sunshine

It is a beautiful day here today, so I thought I'd post a card full of sunshine that was recently sent off to a friend.

supplies: white, black,  and yellow cardstock, black dotty dp, Simon Floral Bookmarking flowers and leaves,  Altenew Warm Sunshine and Simon Jelly Bean inks, Painted Hello and Stitched Rectangle die, Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaways scalloped die

I love this time of year when things begin popping out of the ground!  It's that sunshine that makes it happen!

Hello Hollyhocks

Just sharing another watercolored flower die.  These were actually colored with pinks, but they're showing up as more peachy on my monitor.....whatever, I'm still having fun with them!

supplies: white, black, and Green Apple cardstock, watercolor paper, Impression Obsession Hollyhock dies, Spectrum Aqua markers, water, Hero Arts Hello Stamp & Cut, Tim Holtz Bricked embossing folder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch

If you missed my first watercolor use of this die earlier this week, you can see it here.

And Virginia's View is having a Link-Up Party, so I'm linking this card there.  She's asking for any kind of friendship card: hello, miss you, etc.

Charmed Heart

I just ordered one of the new die sets from Simon's latest Stitched Plush Spring release, and I have a heart to share with you today!

supplies: Simon Plush Charmed Heart dies, Taylored Expressions Marshmallow, Avocado, Cherry Blossom, Orchid, and PTI Harvest Gold felts, DMC embroidery flosses, thin silk ribbon, polyester stuffing

This heart die has everything you need to make lots of stuffed hearts.  Besides the flowers that you see today, there are also a small star, heart, ruffled flower, and a scalloped die.  What do I do with this, you say?  These hearts could be Christmas ornaments, gift attachments, and if you add something scented inside, like potpourri or an oil, they could be attached to lingerie hangers to prettify your closet!  Or you could sew a pin on the back and wear it on a coat.   Add a magnet to the back and put it on your fridge!  And you don't have to use felt - use paper and put it on the front of a card.  I'm sure you can think of some other fun uses for it!

When I decided to add the little ribbon bow, I discovered that you could use ribbon for your stitching on these dies, an idea that I will be trying next.  I know I'll be making lots of these now and way into the future!  Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says........Let's Do the Polka!

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

We are playing with Lawn Fawn products this week, and our theme is Let's Do the Polka: make something using dots/

Dots have always been a favorite motif of mine, so I decided to make a set of birthday cards, using some common supplies on all of them: Let's Polka 12" paper pack, Sophie's Sentiments, and Stitched Scalloped Borders.  I did 4 monochromatic cards using each of 4 colors, and a 5th card using all of the 4 colors.

additional supplies: a Prima Flower

additional supplies: Simon's Leanna Butterfly and a sequin to match

additional supplies: Lawn Fawn Scripty Hugs die, enamel dots

     

Additional supplies: Lawn Fawn Our Friendship Grows flower

Additional supplies: Lil' Inker Perky Posies dies and sequins to match

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!

Watercolored Hollyhocks

It may be a bit early for hollyhocks, but maybe this will help chase the last of winter away!

supplies: Sea Glass card base, watercolor paper, Impression Obsession Hollyhocks die, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, Simon's (retired) Summer Garden sentiment, Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaways

I recently got a birthday card from my sweet friend Mary Anne, and she featured a watercolored flower die on that card - so the seed was planted.  But it wasn't until I saw this card by Reni that I knew which die I wanted to play with.  So I cut out a bunch of these dies this weekend and had a fun afternoon watercoloring them!  This won't be the last you'll see of these......

Hope you're off to a good start for the week!  

For our Grandson

Just sharing.......

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, white and silver glitter cardstock, Simon's Birthday Circle dies, Hero Arts Upper Case Alphabet die, Simon's Sparkle & Shine sentiment stamp, Martha Stewart confetti, enamel dots

Our oldest grandson turns 7 this month, and he's past the baby stuff, I think, so I made him a shaker card with "grown-up" elements this year!  Personalizing it was my husband's idea.......

Welcome Spring

Skidding in with a last-minute entry to Winnie & Walter's Share the Love challenge.  They had a week of collaboration with PinkFresh Studio.  I remembered I had some design papers from Pink Fresh, and was motivated by Vanessa's card on Day 2.  Here's my entry:

supplies: Simon's Sea Glass and Surf Blue and white cardstock, PinkFresh Studio dp from their Christmas release paper pad, Winnie & Walter Spring cutaway from their Big, Bold Seasons, set, and "welcome" from the coordinating Big, Bold Seasons stamp set, a K&Company sticker, blue rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today!  

HE will Sustain You

Here's a card I made for this week's Share Joy challenge.

supplies: white and Doodlebug blue cardstock, amuse blue gingham, Taylored Expressions Uplifting Watercolor Panel, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, Simon Moonshine sequins

I adore gingham, so that's where I started, and then framed up one of the lovely Uplifting panels, using the same colors as are in our inspiration photo this week.

This is a wonderful scripture to me......and I believe it wholeheartedly!  

Share the Love week

I'm hopping in at the last minute with a card for Winnie & Walter's Share the Love Week.  I was enthralled with Lea's shaker card on Day 5, and here's my version of it:

supplies: white card base, dp from My Favorite Things Lucky Prints, Doodlebug pink cardstock, Simon Green Apple cardstock, silver glitter cardstock, Winnie & Walter Happiest of Holidays and Big Bold Seasons cutaway, DieNamics Spring Wreath, Memory Box Fancy Blossoms, Pretty Pink Posh Cornflower and Sparkling Clear and Simon pink flower sequins

I've always had a crush on anything that had to do with birds.  These adorable images are actually from a Holiday set, but they work just as well for any season.

Hope you're having a great weekend!