My March Favorites

Here are my favorite cards from this month.

Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #2: Never Seen Ink

Hero Arts is kindly giving us a challenge once a week.  This week the theme is "Never Seen Ink": to use a stamp that you've never inked before.

Years ago a sweet friend was de-stashing, and sent me her Hero Arts flower stamps.  This woodblock stamp is one of them.  It's called Tall Flower, and is dated 2010.

supplies: white, orchid pink, and Desert Storm cardstock, Hero Arts K5431 Tall Flower woodblock stamp, sentiment from their All Occasion Messages, CL272, Sunny Studio Frilly Frame Lattice die, Nuvo markers in Flamingo and  Lucky Clover, pink pearls as berries/buds, adhesive foam to lift up flowers

I added one of my all-time favorite Hero Arts sentiments, and popped up the flowers which had been stamped and colored on white cardstock and added some pearls for a bit of dimension.  

It's feeling like I've come full circle with Hero Arts.  Back when they started their blog, they used to have challenges for us on Flickr once a week or so, and that's where I had my education in stamping.

Stitched Flowers

I recently took advantage of a good sale at My Favorite Things and grabbed this set of Stitched Flowers dies that has been on my wishlist forever.  Here are 2 cards using them.

supplies: white cardstock, dps from MFT (plaid) and Doodlebug Design , MFT Stitched Flowers and  Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle dies, sentiment from (retired) Paper Smooches Needle Little Love, Doodlebug sprinkles

Since most everything on this card has stitches, I looked for a sentiment with stitches.  This one is retired, but perfect!

Here's another card that uses another flower in this large set.

supplies: white cardstock, Amuse Studio dotted cardstock, Lawn Fawn watercolor dp, MFT Stitched Flowers dies, Sunny Studio Frilly Frames Lattice die, Tammy Tutterow tag die, Simon Beautiful Flowers sentiment, twine

Simple and sweet, maybe what we all need right now.  Be well!

Woodland Spring

Last year, Newton's Nook released this adorable Woodland Spring stamp set that I fell in love with.  It took me awhile to get it home, long past spring last year, so I just tucked it away for this year.  Here's a card using one of these darling spring cuties that I hope will make you smile and take your mind off the present for a little while.

supplies: white, Surf Blue, and Cotton Candy cardstock, Woodland Spring fawn and sentiment, Nuvo Creative Pens to color fawn, (retired) Sizzix embossing folder, Zig markers and water to color embossed flowers, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle, Simon Stitched Circle, and Spellbinders Scalloped Circle dies, adhesive foam squares 

I stamped and colored the image and sentiment and then cut them both out into circles.  I was originally going to pop them above my embossed background, but at the last minute, I popped the backing up and recessed the fawn.  

I took my time and watercolored most of the little embossed flowers, leaving a few of them white. 

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Happy Wednesday - welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme is Anything Goes, and the team is playing with Gina K. Designs products!  I have been eyeing this lovely stencil for a long time.

supplies: white, peach, and black cardstock, Gina K. Designs Floral Stencil, 2 lightest shades each of Altenew Tea Party and Green Valley mini ink cubes, Picket Fence Blender Brushes, Simon's Sending die and stamped partial sentiment from Beautiful Flowers, Penny Black Stitched Stackers dies, adhesive foam squares

I've been wanting to try this technique to stencil a panel, then cut out the center and replace it in the design, and I love these results!

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!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Hero Arts Stay Crafty Challenge: Encouragement

Hero Arts is beginning a new weekly challenge during these difficult times.  They're calling it the Stay Crafty Challenge, and this week we're to make cards of encouragement. 

I made a card for my sister, who is now the only caregiver for our 95-year old Mom, since she lives in the vicinity and the rest of us live out of town.  She makes sure Mom has groceries and meds, but more importantly, she is there to relieve Mom's loneliness.  So I made her a card to let her know how much we appreciate all that she does for our Mom.  It will go out in the mail today.

supplies: white and surf blue cardstock, Hero Arts Flower Garden die, banner and sentiment from Hero's (sold out) January Card Kit earlier this year, Nuvo markers to color, adhesive strips to pop up flowers, Doodlebug Tiny Heart sprinkles

I chose my favorite die from Hero: the Flower Garden cover die, cut it out of white cardstock twice, then glued one of them to my card base and cut apart the other, colored it, and popped it over the base, adding some teensy little hearts.

My sister likes to make cards, too, so I put a couple cuts of this fun cover die inside her card.

Hero Arts will have a new challenge every Friday, that can be entered through the following Wednesday - I plan to play along as often as I can - hope to see you there, too!

With Love

Here's a card that was a joy to make!  I was inspired by this card by my Simon teammate Karin to play with this Rad Roses die again.

supplies: white, Slate Gray, and pool cardstock, Paper Smooches Rad Roses die, colored with Pink and Turquoise Green Zig markers and water, Memory Box Big and Little Words sentiment, Sunny Studio Eyelet Lace Frilly Frame die

I may save this for a Mother's Day card this year, but really it will work for so many occasions!

As always, thanks for your visit today.  

Hello Spring

Hello friends, how are you doing?  It's been raining cats and dogs here, typical of this time of year, so today I pulled out some Simon dies and stamps and made a card for spring.  There's nothing better at this time of year than seeing some green sprouts, and then beautiful color as spring unfolds!  Rain definitely will get us going in that direction, even if we have to slosh through it for awhile.

supplies: white and Mint cardstock, Bristol paper, Doodlebug Love Notes plaid dp, Simon's Rainboot Planter die, Zig markers and water, sentiment from (retired) Simon Flower Friend set, Doodlebug rainbow heart sprinkle

Hope that you all are doing well and being safe.

A One-Layer Card

I haven't played with these Painted Flower stamps in quite awhile; I think they were my first purchase from Altenew, and I still love them!  This time I challenged myself to make a 1-layer card.  That meant some masking!

supplies: white cardstock, Altenew Painted Flowers, stamped with Sweet Dreams and Green Valley mini inks, sentiment from (retired) Technique Tuesday Simply You, Penny Black Stitched Stackers die, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkles

I first stamped my sentiment, then added the die-cut borders above and below it.  Next I stamped the flowers, and couldn't resist adding the tiny hearts - the colors are spot-on!

This sentiment stamp is dated 2012.  It's long retired, of course,  but it is still a favorite of mine. And once again, I'm getting my money's worth from the Stitched Stackers dies - this particular one is seeing its first use; I like the little subtle detail it adds here.  It's just a simple line-die, and never shows up in the pictures of this die set, which is primarily some nested rectangle dies - a nice little bonus!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Simon Says..........Whatever the Weather

Happy Wednesday - welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our challenge this week is to make something weather-related - you choose!  The team and I are playing with Lawn Fawn products this week.  You can use them if you'd like, too, but it's not a necessity as long as you follow the theme.

I chose a stamp set called Blue Skies.  

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, tumbled glass distress ink and a blender brush, Blue Skies clear stamp set, some retired Lawn Fawn birds, Nuvo Creative Pens, Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

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!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Stitched Blooms

Still playing with my new Concord & 9th goodies, this time the Stitched Blooms bundle.

supplies: white cardstock, Stitched Blooms dies and stamps, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Lime and Fresh Leaf mini ink cubes, Sunny Studio Frilly Frames Eyelet Lace die, adhesive foam squares

I cut the stitching die twice, as close together as I could, then used the matching stamps for the flowers and leaves to fill in the details.  After cutting out the panel with the frilly lace die, I popped the largest flowers up and stamped one of the sentiments in the center.

This reminds me a bit of the design of a needlework sampler.  Thanks for your visit today - stay well!

More Blooms Turnabout cards

I have 2 more cards today that I made last weekend during my play with the Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout set.

supplies: white, dark kraft, and a scrap of turquoise cardstock, Blooms Turnabout stamp set, Deep Blue Seas and Coffee Break mini ink cubes, Impression Obsession Top Edger die

I wanted to make something towards the masculine side, so I chose tans/browns and blues for this one.

Then, of course, I had to do a girly one!

supplies: black, white, and Doll Pink cardstock, Blooms Turnabout, Cherry Blossom and Sea Shore mini ink cubes, sentiment from Simon Hello Darling, Sunny Studio Frilly Eyelet Lace die, black pearls

The sentiment with it's little flowers and leaves is a good match for this background, I think.  I clear embossed it to bring it out as much as I could against the busy background. 

And I couldn't resist a shot of all 4 of my cards using my new favorite turnabout stamps!  You can see the details for the other 2 HERE.

Spring Blooms

I recently treated myself to some of Concord & 9th's newest sets: Blooms Turnabout, Stitched Blooms and it's matching die set.  This weekend I had a ball trying them out!  I've got 2 cards for you today.

For my first stamping, I went with spring colors.

supplies: white cardstock, Blooms Turnabout, Altenew Green Valley, Warm Sunshine, Eastern Sky, Hydrangea, and Pinkalicious mini ink cubes, Stitched Blooms sentiment and matching die, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

This turnabout has 2 steps, one to stamp the leaves, and the other for the flowers.  There is just something about this particular set that really speaks to me. 

Next, because these flowers remind me of wild violets, I made a mint and lavender version.

supplies: white and mint cardstock, vellum,  Blooms Turnabout and sentiments in the same set, single flower and leaves from Stitched Blooms and matching dies, Altenew Green Meadows and middle 2 shades from Enchanted Garden and Shades of Purple mini ink cubes, VersaFine Onyx Black ink and clear embossing powder, Simon Stitched Rectangle die, a stitched oval die, adhesive foam

For this one, after doing the turnabout thing, I trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangle die, then cut from it an oval.  I wasn't sure that my stamped sentiment would show up enough, so I stamped and embossed it on a piece of vellum which I placed over the oval piece.  The vellum muted the flowers behind it so that the sentiment is clear. Those 2 were then attached to my mint card base, then I lifted the remaining panel above the card, and added a single flower at the top.

There are 8 sentiments included that can be mixed and matched for a variety of greetings - a nice bonus!

I'm not done with this lovely set  yet, so I'll see you again soon with 2 other cards I made using it.  

Simon Says........Use Some Green

Happy Wednesday - welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week we want you to Use Some Green!  The team is showcasing LDRS Creative products.  

supplies: white cardstock, Craft Consortium Wood Textures plank dp, LDRS Heart Wreath, colored in all 6 shades of Nuvo Emerald Seas and Woodland Greens (berries in Rich Red) creative pens, banner and sentiment from Simon Woodland Whimsy, adhesive foam to pop up wreath and banner

For the most part, coloring isn't usually my thing, but I really enjoyed taking my time and randomly coloring in the leaves in various shades of green.  Maybe it's large expanses that I don't like to color?

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!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Watercolored Heart Bouquet

These newish 3D embossing folders are really detailed.  Recently I needed a little quiet time, and decided to see how difficult it would be to watercolor the details on one of them.

supplies: white and metallic gold cardstock, Memory Box Heart Bouquet embossing folder, Zig markers and water, Impression Obsession Thinking of You top edger die

For most of these colors, I scribbled the marker on a little square acrylic block first, then used a wet paintbrush to dilute the color and paint in the details on the embossed panel.  Because what I was coloring was raised, it just took a little patience to color them.  This particular folder has a big heart and lots of flowers, right up my alley!

Give this a try if you have any of these folders, it's really relaxing!

Just Because

Here's another Sketchbook Rose card, this time in my preferred rose color, yellow.   I paired it with a script background and framed it with a hemstitch die.

supplies: pale gold and black cardstock, a script dp, The Greetery Sketchbook Roses, Altenew Warm Sunshine and Spring Bouquet greens inks, a favorite sentiment from Hero Arts Hello Sunshine Daisies, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

I love the mix of a script background with beautiful flowers like these, and the soft colors make this a soothing design.  

Have a great Sunday, thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says Stamp Lucky to Know You Blog Hop!

Welcome to the final stop on Day 1 of the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop, featuring our newest release "Lucky to Know You"!  The release has some really darling things!

You should have arrived here from Bobby Lemanski's blog.  If you have just happened upon me today and want to start the hop from the beginning, go to the Simon Says Stamp blog to start.  We'll be giving away a $25.00 coupon at every stop on the hop, so don't forget to leave a comment!  The winners will be announced at the Simon Says Stamp Store Blog next Wednesday, March 11.

I received 4 new goodies, and 2 of them were gnomes!  Here's my first card:

supplies: white, Surf Blue and Green Apple cardstock, Simon's new Spring Gnomes stamp set, Bold Hello die, Birch Tree Window die, heart sprinkles

My eye went straight to this girl gnome when I opened the package.  On this card I set her just outside of the woods - isn't that where gnomes live?  

Up next, another gnome from the same set - I love that he's holding a bird!  I also added some stencilled leaves from a new set of 4 small stencils, all of them branches of leaves in different configurations. 

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, new Spring Gnomes image and sentiment, Zig markers to color, new Leaves stencils, twisted citron and mowed lawn distress inks, wonky rectangle dies, adhesive foam squares

My 3rd card is a She Gnome, made of dies this time.  Don't you love her braids and the little bows in them? 

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, yellow,  and 2 pink cardstocks, She Gnome dies,  Leaves stencils, sentiment from Spring Gnomes, tiny stamped hearts from Look for the Miracles, Stitched Circle die, peacock feathers, picked raspberry, squeezed lemonade, and twisted citron distress inks

And I used the leaf stencils again -  I chose some distress inks, and scattered them all across my background panel.  I also added some stamped hearts in the same colors, since the She Gnome's dress is full of them.  

And finally, my last card features this big Faberge Egg die set.

supplies: white cardstock, dps from various spring Doodlebug paper pads, Simon's new Faberge Egg dies

This new Faberge Egg die is 2 pieces, a stitched outline for the background and the detailed egg.  I wanted pastel spring colors for this, so I pulled out some Doodlebug Design paper pads, chose the floral for the frame, and then pulled tiny dotted ones to match it. 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for Day 2 of this Blog Hop.  Again, it will begin at the Simon Says Stamp blog.  Don't forget that each stop on both days will be offering a $25.00 coupon to the store, and if you buy anything on either of these 2 days, you can get a free gift!  Use the code WLY777 to get a free Wooly Lucky stamp set or FLF584 to get a free Color the World enamel pin (see the banner at the top of this post to see them).

Thanks for coming by.  Please don't forget about our gallery HERE where you can find oodles of inspiration for this release.

Here's today's Hop order:

HOP ORDER:

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Cathy Zielske

Nina-Marie Trapani

Nichol Spohr

Lisa Addesa

Heather Ruwe

Suzy Plantamura

Barb Engler

Cheiron Brandon

Lea Lawson

Betty Wright

Bobbi Lemanski

Lin Brandyberry