Smiles

I'm throwing my hat in the current My Favorite Things Color challenge:

supplies: white and lavender fields cardstock, MFT Flashy Florals stamps and dies, MFT blue raspberry, wild wisteria, and lavender fields inks, Cuttlebug embossing folder, DieNamics Blueprints 20 die,  Winnie & Walter Big, Bold Friends cutaway, lavender pearls, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

These colors are really lovely together, and the stamp and die set have fast become a favorite of mine!

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

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

It's Anything Goes this week, and the Design Team are all playing with Art Impressions goodies!  If you have any, we'd love to see what you're doing with them, but that's not a requirement to enter our challenge.

I chose a sweet little Windows to the World stamp this week.

supplies: white cardstock, Art Impressions Lighthouse cling stamp, retired The Craft's Meow sentiment from Clare Buswell's Cottage Garden set, Mini Misti to stamp, various markers to color image

I don't like to use retired stamps for my Simon assignments, but this one was just too perfect for this image.  For those of you who don't want to turn yourself upside-down to read the script around the lighthouse, it says "He who dwells in the shelter of the most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Ps. 91:1"

We love going to Maine whenever we can - it's usually only every 2 years or so.  A big part of our love affair with this state are the many varied lighthouses that you find everywhere along the coast.  So I am tickled to now have this stamp in my collection!

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!

CASE-ing an old card

I was tooling through Pinterest and was surprised to find this old gem has been pinned 20,000 times!.......it's from 2012.

So I decided to play with the idea of text and die-cut flowers and buttons again, using newer materials, and here's the result:

supplies: cream cardstock, design papers from My Favorite Things Dots & Stripes Sorbet and Fresh papers, plaid paper from My Favorite Things Farm Fresh Gingham papers, text paper from an ancient October Afternoon Thrift Shop pad (the same one I used in the inspiration card), Spellbinder's Rose Creations dies, leaves from Simon's Single Roses die set, Wplus9 Hand Lettered Hello die, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, tiny craft buttons

I cut the leaves from 2 different green design papers and mixed them up when I placed the centers back into the edges.

These colors work for the current Color Throwdown challenge, so I'm entering it there.

Off to a new week - hope it's a great one for you!

All Smiles

I haven't used this Wplus9 Free Hand Florals very much, so on this beautiful summer morning, I had a play with it.

supplies: white cardstock, Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid paper, Wplus9 Free Hand Florals, a variety of inks to match plaid, Mini Misti, Technique Tuesday Simply You by Ali Edwards (retired), Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaway, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins

I still love this sentiment stamp set, even though it's been long retired, and it was apropos for me, as I smiled all during the making of this pretty summer card!  Because I used multi-step stamping, I'd love to enter this into Virginia's View Summer Challenge.

Our humidity seems to have disappeared, at least for a little while here in NE Ohio, and we are so loving the results - clear and sunny!  We're off tonight to see our Blue Coats perform here locally - can't wait!  Hope your weekend plans are fun, too!

Simon's July Card Kit

The Card Kit this month at Simon Says Stamp is a pretty one!

Here's the card I made:

I chose one of the PinkFresh papers, and cut it to fit my white card front.  Next I stamped the big flower on the Cotton Candy and Lemon Chiffon cardstocks, and then colored in a few of the petals tone-on-tone with my own markers to match.  I did the same for the leaves, using Simon Sea Glass cardstock, and adding details with a Dusty Sage distress marker.  These were all fussy-cut, and arranged as you see them, using Glad Press & Seal to hold the elements together until I was ready to attach them onto the panel.  I stamped some extra black dots to the left side of the panel, to match the printed ones on the right, and stamped my sentiment using my trusty Mini Misti, affixed the panel to my card base, and then popped the flowers and leaves above the surface, adding a sequin to the center of each flower.

Thanks for coming by!

Edited to add - I see that this kit is now sold out, so I thought I'd give you a link to at least the stamp set that was in it: it's called Handwritten Floral Greetings - the name says it all!

Ahhhhhhhhh........

I received this new Tropical Leaves stamp just before its release as part of the Among the Stars release and just as we were leaving to go visit our Grands in TX.  So now that we're back, I was excited to play with it.  Here's my first stamping of it.

supplies: turquoise and white cardstock, Simon's Tropical Leaves, and sentiments from their My Sunshine and One with Nature stamp sets, various greens, blues, and pool inks, Mini Misti, 3 enamel dots to match my ink colors

Starting with an A2 white cardstock panel, I masked and then stamped my leaves, choosing mostly the ones in this set that have 2-step stamping, and mixed my inks up, stamping both tone-on-tone, and mixing colors.  I also stamped some dots in the white spaces between the leaves. After removing my masks, I then overstamped my sentiments in Navy ink, trimmed the panel slightly to allow part of the card base to show on the sides, and also added some enamel dots to match my colors and mimic the dots in the stamped panel.  I love the cool feel that these colors give, and thought these sentiments worked well with them!

We were gone about 2 weeks, and I usually have a rough time getting back into the swing of making cards, but this set made that transition easy and fun!  I'll be back again soon with some cards using the new July Card Kit! 

Simon Says..........Shimmer!

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

Our theme this week is Shimmer, and the DT were treated to some Lindy's Gang products.  I received a set of Magicals and oh they are fun!  In case you don't know about these, they are vibrant colors with shimmer in powder form.  You can mix them with water, or into pastes or paint - the sky's the limit, and the shimmer is amazing!

I made 2 simple cards with them, letting the colors themselves be the stars of the show:

supplies: Lindy's Mermaid Seashells Magical Set, watercolor paper, gold foil cardstock, Tim Holtz Detailed Butterflies, Wplus9 Doodle Buds sentiment, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die

For this card I wet an area of the cardstock, then sprinkled on a tiny bit of one of the colors.  Then I moved on to another area and did the same, changing the color each time.  Sometimes I spritzed water to help the powders move, and at the very end I splattered some of the droplets that had rolled off the paper.  The gold shimmer on this is amazing, but I can't seem to capture it for you ...... just know you won't be disappointed! I thought that gold foil embellishments were a perfect match for this background....and I hope it resembles an impressionist garden to you!

For my next card I diluted the same 4 powders with water in a little palette, and then just brushed them on haphazardly over this white resist panel. Again I added splatters of each color with a paintbrush before allowing the whole thing to dry.  I love how the colors mixed and blended.  The shimmer is not quite as explosive as on my first card - it's a bit more subtle, like that of Wink of Stella.  There is so much going on in just this background that I felt it needed nothing else but a simple die sentiment.

supplies: Lindy's Mermaid Seashells Magical Set, Prima Paintables Vintage Emporium paper pad, Hero Arts Hello Stamp & Cut die, white cardstock base

I really encourage you to try one of these Magicals sets - they are easy to work with, so versatile, and the colors are beautiful!

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!

Happy Anniversary

June is the month for anniversaries, and I've made my share of cards for them this month.  Thought I'd share one of them.

supplies: white, red, kraft, and Simon's Green Apple cardstocks, Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine embossing folder, Memory Box Perched Reed Bird die, retired (this one is very similar, though), Simon Mini Hearts Outline die, Memory Box Grove Branch die, retired The Craft's Meow sentiment from Side by Side clear set

Simon Says........Animal Magic!

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

Our theme this week is "Animal Magic", and the team are all playing with Paper Smooches products.  If you have any, we'd love to see you using them, too, but you don't have to in order to enter.

I chose their Bird House die set, and as it turns out, my cards are made up of almost all dies!

supplies: white, black, red, and kraft cardstock, dp from Basic Grey's Picadilly paper pad and a scrap of music paper, Paper Smooches Bird House dies, Memory Box Grove Branch, sentiment from Wplus9 Blanket Stitched Blooms, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, twine

After determining I wanted to hang my birdhouse from the branch, I had the choice of stamping leaves around it or finding a suitable design paper, and I was happy to unearth this floral and leaf piece from a 2011 Basic Grey paper pad.  It's not too busy to compete with my music, allows the branch to stand out, and I like the colors, too!  The green scrap with my sentiment stamped on it is from the same paper pad, too.

There are 2 birdhouses in this set, and I used them both in my next card:

supplies: white and green cardstock, various dot design papers, most of them from Bo Bunny's Very Vintage Double Dot paper pad, Paper Smooches Bird House dies, Wplus9 branch dies from Folk Art Florals, Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine embossing folder, Impression Obsession frame die and sentiment from Hero Arts retired Right at Home

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!

Simon Says..........Father's Day/For a Guy

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

This week we're honoring special men in our lives - you can make a Father's Day card or just a card for a guy for any occasion.  The design team are using Tim Holtz products.

We lost my Dad last September, so this challenge was pretty meaningful for me.  Dad lived to be 95 years old, and he was a real character!  He always made me smile, and showed his love for all of us whenever he could.  He was a man of faith and was more than ready to "go Home", as he termed it, and I know he's in a better place.  So many things remind me of him, and I miss him every day.  I got my love for nature from him, so I thought it was appropriate to use one of Tim Holtz Wildflower dies on my card this week:

supplies: Hero Arts Earth designer paper as card base, a panel of Menagerie paper, a Wildflower die, cork adhesive-backed panel from a Textured Surfaces pack, "love you" sticker from Small Talk stickers pad, tiles from Alpha Tiles

Hero Arts Designer Designer Papers are unique in that each 8 1/2 X 11 piece is printed on one side, and white on the reverse, so they make great card bases! 

Using an adhesive-backed product really made it easy to work with this delicate die, and I love the feel and look of the cork!

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

I finally found some time to play in Altenew's latest Inspiration Challenge for this month.  It hit all my buttons, because our anniversary is Monday, (our45th!), and I carried yellow roses on our wedding day, so I couldn't wait to make a bouquet of Altenew's lovely Vintage Roses!

supplies: ivory and black cardstock, Altenew Vintage Roses and sentiment from Beautiful Day, Cheery Lynn French Pastry doily die, sparkling clear sequins, Mini Misti, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

I had originally planned to just stamp the roses and keep this a 1-layer card, but the more I looked at the inspiration photo, I wanted to add some lace to the mix, so I ended up fussy cutting my roses and popping them over this pretty doily.  The sentiment is perfect for the occasion, and I sprinkled some sequins to mimic the pretty sparkle on Amy's dress.  

Here's the lovely inspiration:

Thanks for your visit!

An Anniversary Card

Our youngest son and his wife celebrate their 14th anniversary next week; here's the card I made for them.

supplies: cream and a Doodlebug textured pink cardstock, watercolor paper, Simon's Stacked Hearts, Painted Hugs, and Stitched Rectangles dies, worn lipstick and spiced marmalade distress inks

I smooshed some distress inks on my craft mat, spritzed with water, and then brushed the colors on a panel of watercolor paper.  When it was dry, I trimmed it out using the largest Stitched Rectangle die, then glued it to my cream card base.  The Stacked Hearts were cut out twice, and all the little hearts were pushed out of the design, then I glued the frames together.  I reserved 14 of the tiny hearts and dipped them into the worn lipstick puddle before re-applying 11 of them back into place; the other 3, representing our grandchildren, were placed outside of the frame.  "Hugs" was cut out 3 times and stacked before adding to the card.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your weekend!

More from Taylored Expressions

Here's another new (to me) goodie from Taylored Expressions:

supplies: Hero Arts Blush layering paper as card base, watercolor paper, Taylored Expressions Fancy Banner 2 Stamp and die combo, markers to color, worn lipstick distress ink, Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaway 

This stamp and die combo is another of the choices I made for a win at the Share Joy challenge recently - I thought this little banner would come in handy for lots of occasions.  Today I simply smooshed some worn lipstick distress ink on an acrylic block, spritzed it with water, and then "stamped" it onto a watercolor panel, letting the ink flow where it wanted to.  This is a technique that Shari Carroll came up with years ago, and gives you a little more control when you want a smooshed background.

There are 6 different sentiments in this cute little set, so I foresee it being used often!

Weekend's here - have a good one!

Hello Summer

It is suddenly summer here!  A bit early for these hot temps and humidity, but I know lots of people who have been waiting for this.  I recently won a challenge at Taylored Expressions Share Joy and wanted to play with some of my new goodies.

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts grass layering paper, Taylored Expressions Bloom Where You're Planted dies, Wplus9 Lattice Frame die, Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons cutaway, various Doodlebug Designs papers, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares to lift flowers

The TE die set has everything you need to make a fun pot of flowers - I only used 1 of the 4 different flowers in the set.  The Doodlebug 6" papers are scaled down in size and perfect for small designs like these.  I couldn't decide what color to cut my sentiment, so I chose a diagonal stripe that had them all!

Thanks for coming by today - enjoy!

Simon Says........Mask It!

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

This week our theme is "Mask It!" - I know you're going to flood our gallery with some beautiful creations!  The design team are using Altenew Products this week, one of my favorite companies, because of their gorgeous florals!  I love their multi-step stamp sets particularly, because I don't have to color in the images; the inks do it for me!  I made 2 cards for you this week, using post-it notes for my masking.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set, a Hero Arts pink, Ranger Pink Gumball, Simon Hollyhock, Hero Arts Green Hills and Grass inks, Simon Birthday Flowers sentiment, Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, markers to color apple blossoms, post-it notes for masking

supplies: white cardstock, My Favorite Things Country Fair Plaid dp, Altenew Painted Flowers stamps, Altenew Shades of Purple, Hero Arts Iris, Green Hills and Grass, and Brilliance Pearlescent Purple inks, Simon Big Scripty Greetings sentiment, moonshine sequins, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares to pop up stamped panel, post-it notes to mask flowers as I stamped upwards

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!