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

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

Can you believe it's the end of the month again??!!  That means that our challenge for you all is Anything Goes!  The team are playing with Technique Tuesday products today, and if you have any, we'd love to see you using them, too, but you can use anything you'd like.

I took this as a sign to finally get myself Cath Edvalson's Heartfelt Thanks stamp set, and I made 2 cards with it this week.

supplies: white, pink and Core'dinations sandable blue cardstock, Technique Tuesday Heartfelt Thanks by Cath Edvalson, stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed in white, Zig watercolor markers to color, sentiment stamped in Audrey Blue, Tim Holtz Roses embossing folder, sanded lightly, Scallop Stitches die, pink enamel dot

My next card might work for Valentine's day; it's a color scheme I've used for that occasion in the past, and it's a CASE of a card by Laura Fulcher.

supplies: Schoolhouse Red and kraft cardstock, Heartfelt Thanks heart embossed in white and sentiment stamped in VersaFine onyx black, black marker and Uniball white gel pen to edge heart, Hero Arts red pearl hearts (discontinued), Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways scalloped rectangle die, adhesive foam squares to pop heart up

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!

Blue and yellow

I am continuing to play with some of the smaller flowers and leaves from Altenew's Vintage Flowers stamps, and decided to make a cheery blue and yellow card.  I used the last of this pretty blue gingham from a Simon Card Kit late last year.

supplies: white cardstock, unknown Authentique gingham dp,  Altenew Vintage Flowers, various Hero Arts and Altenew inks, Simon's Big Scripty Greetings, My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Scallop die, black pearls/enamel dots

Thank you for coming by!

Remembering.....

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them."  - John F. Kennedy

Just Because

I was bopping around Pinterest and found the MOST gorgeous card from Leslie Miller - it had everything that I think is beautiful: lace, amazing flowers, and a timeless sketch.  Here's my CASE of that card:

supplies: white and purple cardstock, Altenew Garden Treasure and Vintage Flowers multi-step stamps and Painted Greetings sentiment, Martha Stewart doily punch, sequins

Leslie used real lace and a velvet ribbon and some lovely soft colors - I used paper versions, and  brightened my colors, using what I have on hand here.  I don't think this will be my last try at CASEing her card - it's that beautiful!

Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend - we have sunshine today!!

Roses

Hello!  I am featuring a Tammy Tutterow cling stamp today as part of her Creative Team Friday post.  I was in the mood for soft pastels this time........

supplies: white, robin's egg, and cotton candy cardstock, Tammy's Framed Hello cling stamp, Zig markers and water, Tim Holtz Roses embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

This was an easy one to make - I colord the stamped panel with my Zig markers and water, then trimmed it out, framed it with a robin's egg panel, and then attached it to the embossed roses background!  I stamped the image a 2nd time just to color in the swirly roses and cut them out, then popped them above the panel for some dimension.

Don't forget to visit Tammy's blog today to see what my other teamies have been working on!

One more Wedding Card

I've seen several people use metallic/pearlescent watercolors on black cardstock, and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring, too.  The main floral image from Simon's Floral Bliss stamp set is the perfect vehicle to try this technique.

supplies: black cardstock, platinum glitter paper from DCWV Glitzy cardstock stack, pink dp from Echo Park's Wedding Bliss collection, Simon's Floral Bliss stamps, embossed in Ranger Liquid Platinum powder, and painted in with Yasutomo Pearlescent watercolors, clear sequins in centers of large roses

I also stamped and platinum embossed one of the single flowers in the stamp set on 2 pink slices of paper, to pull all the glitz all the way across the card, and added 3 clear sparkly sequins for a tiny bit more.  These watercolors are lovely against black - I only wish I could capture how pretty they really are, but I have a dreary day here, so I had to wing it!  If you want to see more examples of this technique, be sure to visit Simon's June 2017 Card Kit Gallery HERE, and look for Amy's and Nichol's gorgeous cards.

Simon Says.......Furry Friends

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

This week our theme is "Furry Friends" and the team are playing with Paper Smooches products.  I used a well-loved stamp set for my card.

supplies: white card base, dps from Doodlebug, Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies stamp set and Birthday Words die, Zig markers and water to color, My Favorite Things Mirror Image stamp, Simon's Celebration Time die (balloon) and string from Lila's Heart

I stamped the dog and then a mirror image of him, then cut them both out, and built my little scene around them.

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!

Guest Designing at Wplus9!!

I was so thrilled to be asked to Guest Design over at Wplus9's Stamp Away with Me blog!  Here are the 3 cards I made for today!

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, Cornflower, Green Apple, Surf Blue cardstock, Wplus9 Quilt Prints stamp set, pool, Tide Pool, Soft Pool, Pool, Green Hills, and Soft Granite inks, Hand Lettered Hello stamp and die,  Stitched Rectangle dies, Winnie & Walter Big Bold Friends cutaway, stamped sentiment from Prayers stamp set, cuttlebug Houndstooth embossing folder

supplies: white cardstock base and Bristol paper, Wplus9 Modern Anemones and Modern Petunias, Spectrum Aqua markers and water to color, Stitched Rectangle die and moonshine sequins

For more details and pictures, please visit Dawn's blog!

June Card Kit

Here's a 2nd card using the Simon June Card Kit.

supplies: black cardstock, my own vellum, Simon's Floral Bliss, Zig markers, 2 of the design papers from Echo Park Wedding Bliss collection

I white embossed the pretty floral onto a strip of vellum, colored it with Zig markers, turned it over, then wrapped it around a panel of script dp.  That was framed with black strips and striped paper, and the sentiment was added to finish.

Here's the Card Kit:

It's still available, but don't wait too long - I'm positive it will be another sell out!

Soft Wedding Card

I think the Simon June Card Kit is one of the prettiest in awhile - of course, I'm a flower girl, so I may be a bit biased!  Mine arrived this afternoon, and here is my first card using the supplies in the kit (plus my own pale pink pearls and 2 tiny strips of a mocha paper).

supplies: Simon's Floral Bliss clear stamp set, stamped in Hero Arts Latte ink, dps from Echo Park Wedding Bliss collection, plus dark brown strips: Hero Arts mocha layering paper, pale pink pearls

I used a big polka dot paper, plus a pink stripe and soft beige and pink solids from the dps included.  I love this soft beige and pale pink combo, and florals, dots and stripes always work together.......

Here's a picture of everything in the kit:

Can you see that there are TWO full-size ink pads in this kit, a sample of Daniel Smith watercolors, and a gorgeous ivory metallic envelope, not to mention those beautiful patterned papers!  Run to Simon Says Stamp before this kit sells out!!

Mix It Up Challenge

I love gingham and yellow, so when I saw the inspiration for the current Mix It Up challenge, I was in!

supplies: white cardstock, Bristol paper, yellow gingham from MFT Farm Fresh Gingham pad, Wplus9 Modern Peonies, distress inks mixed with water to color, Winnie & Walter Noel cutaway, Simon sunshine mix sequins

I loved the yellow flowers and gingham cloth in the photograph, and made a stab at the sketch, too, changing the circle to a scalloped rectangle; I like the look of the white scallops with the yellow gingham.

Thank you, Sugar Pea Designs, for allowing us to use other stamps for your challenges!  

Simon Says..........A Little Sparkle

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

Our theme this week is "A Little Sparkle", and we are playing with our own Simon Says Stamp exclusive products this week.  Since we're in the vicinity of Mother's Day, I decided to make a glitzy feminine card.

supplies: white and Hero Arts Carnation cardstock, Simon's Swirls & Dots stencil, modeling paste and Hero Arts Prisma glitter, Tammy Tutterow Frayed Posies dies, crinoline, centered with a pink paper flower, Hero Arts Love die

This pretty stencil came out during a Christmas release, but I think it can be used for all occasions.  After applying my paste and removing the stencil, I sifted on some glitter.  While that was drying I made my crinoline flower and cut the love die 5 times, to make it stand out from the card.  This glitter really sparkles, but I can't seem to get a picture of it.

I thought I'd balance all the fussiness above with a simpler design for my next card.

supplies: white cardstock, 3 colors from DCWV Glitzy pad, Simon's Butterfly Drift die, and sentiment from their Sparkle & Shine stamp set, heart punch

Because the sentiment has a heart built in, which I covered with a punched heart, I also added more of the little hearts along the flight path of the butterflies!  And I popped up the 3 biggest butterflies for some dimension.

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!

Sending Hugs & Prayers

Just a quick share today.......I think this Garden Treasure stamp set is so versatile; I decided to use just the outline images along with some gingham papers to make today's card.  I don't think I've seen this set used this simply before.....

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Gingham Rainbow Petite Prints pad, Altenew Garden Treasure flowers and leaves, Simon Friendship Blooms sentiment, Spellbinders oval die, Simon Stitched Rectangle die, double-sided foam tape

Altenew May Inspiration

I took one look at the Altenew inspiration colors for this month, and thought of my Mom - that bright fuschia pink is her color.  So I thought I'd make a birthday card now for her birthday in August.  I know she'll love this, especially with the glittery circle!  It started out as a one-layer card, but when I decided to use the circle, I had to fussy-cut out my image, and layered it over the circle.

supplies: white cardstock, fuschia glitter paper, Altenew Garden Treasure and Painted Greetings, 2 circle dies to make ring, moonshine sequins

I decided to forego the 2nd step for these flowers, and left some white in them.  It's a fun thing to change up every now and again......

Here's our inspiration photo.

Welcome Wee One!

Today I used a lovely spring green and one of Tammy Tutterow's new cling stamp and die sets for my card.

supplies; white card base, Green Apple and a pink cardstock, My Favorite Things gingham and dot papers from Tiny Check Brights and Lucky Prints pads, Tammy's Welcome Wee One stamp and matching die, a green colored pencil, Cuttlebug Cross My Heart embossing folder, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die and moonshine sequins

I stamped once on gingham and once on dots, then cut the dots apart and paper-pieced them back onto the gingham backing, using a colored pencil on the peapods and leaves.  The panel was then die-cut with the matching die and glued over the heart embossed background.  I added some tiny pink hearts over the design and some sparkly sequins to finish.

Don't forget to check out Tammy's blog today for her bi-weekly post where this card and other gorgeous creations from her creative team will appear!  

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Simon Says........Going Dotty!

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

Our theme this week is a favorite of mine, "Going Dotty!"  And the DT are all playing with fun Stamping Bella goodies.  You don't have to use them to enter, but if you do have any of their products, we'd love to see what you do with them!

I have 2 StampingBella sets now and love using them - they are perfect for paper-piecing!

supplies: white,pink, and Bristol cardstock, BoBunny periwinkle double dot and an unknown lime dot patterned papers, StampingBella Isabelle Loves Ice Cream, colored with Zig markers and a colored pencil (her shoes and flower in her hair), sentiment from a retired Flourishes stamp set, Simon's Scallop Stitches Border and Blueprints 20 scalloped rectangle dies, fine black pen for doodling border

I've used my favorite periwinkle color to paper-piece her dress, coloring the rest of the image with markers and pencil.  I doodled a border after trimming the panel, then framed it in a pink to match the ice cream.  For my backing papers, I used scalloped dies to mimic the lace on her dress.

Here's my 2nd card, keeping it simpler this time:

supplies: white and surf blue cardstock, Doodlebug Dot Rainbow Petite Prints dp, Stamping Bella Lolly and her Brolly, sentiment from Newton's Nook Spring Showers, markers to color, tumbled glass distress ink and a finger dauber to color background, punched hearts

Last time I used this stamp, I paper-pieced her in yellows, but I'm loving this fun mini dot green this time!  To go along with the sentiment I chose, I covered the raindrops on the stamp with little punched hearts.

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!

Just Because

I finally got myself a wood plank background stamp and here is it's first use.

supplies: white cardstock, Carnation layering paper, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank, MFT Flashy Florals stamps and dies, Hero Arts sentiment from Hello Sunshine Daisies, DieNamics Oval Decorative Doily (retired), Simon Stitched Rectangle die, enamel dots to match

This is a 6" square cling stamp, so it can make vertical or horizontal planking.  I like the subtle pattern it adds to this card.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Blue Roses

I couldn't wait to receive this Stitched Roses stamp set!  For many years I did cross-stitch, and thorougly enjoyed how you could achieve such lovely shading.

It's been a dreary couple of days here, so I am feeling a bit blue, and decided to use that color for my first card using this set.  To my knowledge, they haven't achieved blue roses in nature yet, so these will have to do until then.

supplies: white and blue cardstock, Waffle Flower Stitched Roses, Altenew mini inks, DieNamics Stitched Mini Scallop Square die, Hero Arts light blue pearls, mini Misti

I practiced a bit before proceeding, and I'm still having trouble getting the layers lined up - I think this set is a bit too complicated for these old eyes!  If you have this set, I'd love to know any hints you might have for me.  I did use my Misti, but that little flower isn't perfect........I'll keep practicing!

Hope your weekend is sunnier than ours!  

Paper Smooches May challenge: Flowers

When I saw this month's Paper Smooches challenge, I remembered this cute die of theirs, and decided to do some paper-piecing with it!

supplies: white and black cardstock, MFT Lucky Prints paper pad, Paper Smooches Adorable Array and Birthday Words dies, Simon's Stitched Rectangle and Wavy Scallop Stitches dies, Doodlebug pink pearls, Stick It

I love pink and green together, and these tiny prints worked well to inlay the various parts of the flower die.  Using the Stick It makes it lots easier, too, to secure everything down nice and tight: after I die-cut the flower and words from my white panel, I removed the die-cuts and  added some Stick It to the back of the panel.  Then I die-cut from the various other papers and paper-pieced them back into the design.

When everything was finished I added the scalloped edge at the bottom, and mirrored it with another in black, then popped the panel over the cute heart print paper, and sprinkled some pearls.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says.........A Hint of Pink

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

Our theme this week is "A Hint of Pink", and we are playing with Hero Arts, one of my favorite companies!  You don't have to use their products to enter, but if you have any, we'd love to see what you do with them!

First up, a fun card using a color layering stamp set, along with a layering die:

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, Hero Arts Color Layering Flamingo and matching die, and their Paper Layering Palm Tree die, Hero Arts Bubble Gum and Simon Hollyhock inks, gathered twig and mowed lawn distress inks, Simon Waves Stencil, and cracked pistachio, lucky clover, salty ocean, faded jeans, and stormy sky distress inks, sentiment pieced together from Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons and Big Bold You, wood dots as coconuts, Mini Misti

I have had this flamingo for a little while, and after having spent the winter in FL, I wanted to get this palm tree die to go with him.  I love the dimension it gives us!  For that reason, I couldn't cut off the overhang from the card.....it will have to go into a bigger envelope!

My next card uses a stamp that was designed to be used in the fall, but I think it can be used for any season of the year.  It uses a bit more than a hint of pink.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Hero Arts Color Layering Fall Trees, Latte, Green Hills, Grass, and worn lipstick distress oxide inks, a green colored pencil (for the grass), Simon Autumn Blessings die, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle die, bird from Impression Obsession Birch Tree dies, adhesive foam squares to lift up center panel, Mini Misti

I stamped 3 trees across an A2 panel, then layered green and pink inks to make some flowering spring trees.  After centering and cutting out the pinpoint panel, I lifted it above the card front.   I like the way the flowers spill over into the "frame".  I'm disappointed in the way my pink turned to peach/pink in this photograph; in reality, the worn lipstick and paper are more of a mauve/pink.....

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!