My August Favorites

Here are the cards that I enjoyed making this month.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Slimline Card

I'm enjoying the new slimline cards, and decided to take advantage of the height for a bouquet in a canning jar.

supplies: white cardstock, some scraps of pink dps for the tablecloth and bow, The Greetery Just Mason Around and Summer Budding Beauties, Simon Crackle Background and sentiment from Leafy Frames, Altenew and Hero Arts inks, a bow die

I knew I wanted to put make the flowers pink and have a "clear" jar,  but once it was all stamped and assembled, I just couldn't get a good mix for the background.  Then I remembered Simon's new Crackle Background cling stamp, and that was the perfect touch, along with a grounding of a pink tablecloth.  I've always loved this particular sentiment because it can be used for so many occasions, and the little bow gives a tiny bit of dimension, but doesn't add much bulk.

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with a Glimmer Plate

After watching Jennifer McGuire's recent post and video with Glimmer Plates, I caved.  One of the reasons I decided to go this way was that she showed that some could be used to emboss without any foil involved at all.  So when the Flower Pattern glimmer plate arrived before the machine, I decided to give it a try.  Embossing folders are one of my favorite supplies, and these plates give a nice deep embossed effect also.   Here's my first card. 

supplies: white and a yellow cardstock, Spellbinders Flower Pattern Glimmer Plate, Simon Mandy's Flowers, markers to color, tiny heart sprinkles

I used a color-core yellow cardstock, so that I could sand it after embossing to help bring out some details.  I chose yellow because the larger flowers in this plate remind me a bit of daffodils. 

Then I just looked for something that would go into the center to make this a simple design, and found it in my Mandy's Flowers set. 

I love it when you can get extra usage from something, and will be on the lookout for other glimmer plates to try.  There's a snowflake one that might be fun, and won't that be gorgeous glimmered in silver on a blue background?

Thanks for stopping by today!

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

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

This week our theme is Anything Goes, and the team is highlighting Gina K Designs.  I have 2 cards today.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Echo Park Dots & Stripes and a green patterned paper, Gina K Peaceful Roses clear stamp set, Zig markers 

I thought the sentiment on this card especially appropriate, because of our current world situation - sometimes we just need to breathe.  It's one of 2 sentiments included with this pretty spray of roses.

I think I first heard of Gina K because of her foiling products, so my next card highlights some of those.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Gina K. Petite Patterns dp, twisted citron, peacock feathers, and blueprint sketch distress inks, blender brushes, Sparkling Silver foil, laminator, Simon (retired) Beautiful Day butterfly, sentiment from Beautiful Butterflies, adhesive foam squares

Gina makes a patterned paper pack that you top with a piece of foil and run it through your laminator.  It works because the patterns are printed in toner ink.  I chose one of the 8 patterns, and first blended on some distress inks.  The inks blended onto this paper beautifully; it's really smooth! When they were dry, I foiled the panel.  The butterfly and leaves were colored in the same colors as the background, and I popped the butterfly above the card, along with a sentiment.  

This particular foil shows up both bright and shiny, and glittery, quite a lovely effect!

Now it's your turn!  We have a $25.00 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!

Don't forget about our Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, running all this month! 

Foiling a Stencil

When I had this stencil out recently, I decided to do another card with it, this time foiled.

supplies: Surf Blue, Peacock Teal, and gold foil cardstock, Bouquet stencil, transfer gel, stencil tool, emerald watercolor foil, laminator, Simon's Thanks dies

This time I secured the stencil to a Surf Blue panel, and applied transfer gel through it.  After the gel turned from white to clear, I added foil on top and ran it through my laminater.  The panel was then framed in Peacock, and added to a Surf Blue card base.  To finish I cut my sentiment and its shadow and popped them above the card.

It's difficult to capture all the colors in this foil, blue, green, and gold, but I think this photo shows most of them.  I'd like to try more of these watercolor foils - I see they come in lapis, amber, and amethyst, too.

A Summer Hello

I'm enjoying seeing everyone's take on slimline cards.  Here's one that reflects summer, based on the colors of the gorgeous zinnias in our garden this year!

supplies: white and Green Apple cardstock, Wplus9 Doodle Buds, Zig markers and water to color, sentiment from Simon's Sea You Soon (retired, from 2017), adhesive foam squares to lift flowers and leaves

These Doodle Buds have always been a favorite of mine - so glad they're still available!  I especially love those squiggles that I used as framing - they are so fun!

Here's a little snapshot of those zinnias that inspired me - I love running out to the garden and snipping a few stems for a little bouquet.  I added some dill flowers to these.

 

The Littlest Things

 Recently I was looking at the newest arrivals at the Simon Says Stamp store, and came across this quote from Winnie the Pooh.  I discovered Pooh Bear later than most and have a soft-spot in my heart for all things Pooh!  So of course, this stamp came home to live with me.  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: white, Green Apple, and coral cardstock, vellum, Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout, Impression Obsession Little Things cling stamp, flower and leaf sprig dies, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkle

Since this sentiment is on the larger side, I decided I wanted it to be the focal point of my card.  I also remembered this amazing card by Wanda that I had pinned because I loved her choice of colors for the floral background.  So I made my background panel using Wanda's colors.  After all that work, I was hesitant to stamp my sentiment directly onto the panel, so to be safe, I stamped it on vellum, and then wrapped it around the floral.  Then I added a flower and some leaves.

In hindsight, I think I probably could have gotten away with stamping directly over the background - I'll try that next.

Simon Says.........Oh So Cute

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

This week our theme is "Oh So Cute", and the team will be playing with Picket Fence Studio products.  I chose their BFF Owl - isn't she cute with her string of pearls??!!

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, MFT Lucky Prints dp, Picket Fence BFF Owl clear stamp, sentiment from Simon Coffee and Tea, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop Border die, Doodlebug heart sprinkles, adhesive foam to lift up owl and frame

Now it's your turn!  We have a $25.00 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!

Don't forget about our Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, running all this month! 

Quilted Stencil

 I just received an order from Simon Says Stamp, and one of the things I got was a stencil that I have long had on my wishlist.  Here's my first play with it, and I love it - why did I wait so long?

supplies: eggshell and Lipstick Red cardstock, Quilted stencil, festive berries distress ink, blender brush, retired MFT sentiment, Sunny Studio Eyelet Frilly Frames die, adhesive strip to lift sentiment

The pattern on this stencil is a very close match to a traditional Ohio Star quilt, which is usually done in red and white, so that was my color decision made!  I used distress ink to stencil, and when dry, I embossed the stencil also.  This gives a nice subtle texture when you touch the surface, just like a real quilt!  The panel was trimmed to fit inside this lovely eyelet frame, and then I just popped my sentiment above the card.  

Here's version #2, using lots of fall colors of distress inks.

supplies: cream and Audrey Blue cardstock, Quilted stencil, distress inks, sentiment from Neat & Tangled Hello Fall, Audrey Blue ink, Stitched Rectangle die

I masked around each section and changed inks for each "block".  I always try to bring in some blue when I use these harvest colors. Once again, I embossed the panel before putting my card together. 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!

Old and New

I love cover dies and have been wanting this heart one forever!  Today I mixed it with some older stamps for my card.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Honey Bee Stamps Fluttering Hearts cover plate, Stampendous Jar Bouquet woodblock stamp, and a Tammy Tutterow sentiment, Zig markers 

This canning jar stamp has a date of 2013 on it - I still love the mix of flowers in it, like something a little child would pick for his Mom. Tammy's sentiment was a no-brainer to go with all the hearts.

As always, thanks for coming by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Becca Feeken's new Halloween collection!

I have some Halloween cards today using the new Becca Feeken Halloween Collection!  I received her Spooky Boo and Spooky Cottage dies.

For my first one, I decided to cut black silhouettes and make a fun scene using my go-to colors for Halloween cards: purple, green, gold, orange, and black, of course!

supplies: black, gold, purple, and Green Apple cardstock, cat and small bat from Spooky Boo dies, tree, fence, large bat and sentiment from Spooky Cottage dies, circle die, googly eyes

This was fun to put together!  I stamped a swirly magical background onto the purple sky, added some green ground, then cut a gold circle for my moon, shading it with ripe persimmon ink, and then added my black silhouettes. I pulled the bats' wings forward and stacked my sentiment for some added dimension; the googly eyes I have fit perfectly into the Boo!  There are lots of fun details built into these dies!  

There's a little 2-piece mummy die in the Spooky Cottage set that I wanted to use on my 2nd card.

supplies: white, kraft, pale grey, and black cardstock, scraps of Doodlebug Halloween printed papers, Spooky Cottage mummy dies, (retired) Hero Arts Halloween sentiment

A much simpler design this time - I dug out some ancient leftover scraps of printed Halloween papers to  showcase my fun Mummies!

Hope I've given you some smiles today - thanks for dropping by!

Simon Says............Midsummer Blues

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

Our theme this week is "Midsummer Blues", and the team will be highlighting Memory Box products. Blue has always been my favorite color, so I loved this idea, and used 2 lovely shades of it in a simple design for this week's cards.

supplies: white and white woodgrain cardstock, Memory Box Catalina Wreath die, Simon's Bold Hello and Butterfly Shimmer dies, blueprint sketch and mermaid lagoon oxide inks and blender brushes, aqua gems, adhesive foam strips to lift 2nd wreath

I blended blueprint sketch and mermaid lagoon oxides onto 2 scraps of white cardstock and cut out 2 wreaths.  I used the scraps of the inked panels to cut out my sentiment and the little butterflies, then attached them all to my woodgrain background, lifting the 2nd wreath above the first to give it some wispy-ness, if that's a word!  I love how this turned out!

I thought these 2 oxide blues looked so pretty together, that I made a 2nd card with them.

supplies: white cardstock, Memory Box Daisy Silhouette dies, Simon Smile Circle die, mermaid lagoon and blueprint sketch oxide inks, markers to color stems and daisy centers

I just blended the 2 inks, spritzed with water, then trimmed down my panel so that I had a wider than normal white border, and added the die-cuts.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $25.00 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!

Don't forget about our Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, running all this month! 

One Big Hug

I got these Flower Frame dies earlier this year, and thought it was time to play with them again.

supplies: white cardstock, various Doodlebug Designs patterned papers, Lawn Fawn Stitched Flower Frame dies, (retired) Winnie & Walter Noel die, Sunny Studio Fancy Frame Circle die, (retired) Simon Says Stamp Happy Every Day sentiment, button and twine, adhesive foam to lift flower and leaves

I used the plaid patterned paper to pull my colors for the flower.  Since I didn't have any blue, I added the fancy frame die in that color to the center of my flower.......looks like it was made just for it!  It's too bad that this sweet sentiment is retired, as it's useful for so many occasions.  When everything was assembled, I thought the card needed a certain something - I tried heart sprinkles and sequins, but they didn't work. Then, since these dies all have stitched details, I added a button with a bit of white twine tied into a bow!  And it also brings in another color from the background panel.

As always, thanks for stopping by - hope your week is off to a great start!  Be safe!

Simon Says Stamp LET'S CONNECT Blog Hop, Day 2!

Welcome to Day 2 of Simon Says Stamp's blog hop for their new release called Let's Connect!!

You should have arrived here from Betty Wright'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, August 12. Winners must email Simon to claim his/her prize.

And as you can see in the banner above, we have a free gift with any purchase made from now until August 9 at 11:59 pm: a Gina K Designs Dot Runner!  Just use the code GLUE when you place your order.

I have 3 cards to show off some of the fun new goodies that I was sent from this release.  

First up, my favorite is the new Crackle Background.  I think it's going to become a classic!

supplies: white cardstock, Bristol paper, Crackle Background cling stamp, Mom's Meadow flower sprig, (retired) Beautiful Day sentiment, Zig markers and water

I simply stamped with a medium grey ink onto a panel of white, then added the Meadow flowers, and my sentiment.  I love this background, very subtle but it definitely makes a statement!

Next up is a simple card featuring 2 of the 4 stencils in the Sunny Smiles set.  

supplies: white cardstock, Sunny Smiles stencils, mustard seed distress ink, sentiment from Hello Darling, cloud die, Doodlebug heart, adhesive foam squares to lift clouds

This is a set of 4 small stencils - I chose to use just 2 of them, centered on my card front, and then added a stamped sentiment and some embellishments. 

You can see another card  I made with these stencils HERE.

And lastly, I played with the new Toilet Paper Slider and sentiments from We're Like Toilet Paper.

supplies: white and metallic silver cardstock, kleenex tissue,  "tile" and "wallpaper" dps, Toilet Paper Slider dies and sentiments from We're Like Toilet Paper stamps, adhesive foam squares to lift tp roll

Edited to answer Theresa's comment: when I cut out the toilet paper dies, I just put kleenex over white cardstock and cut.  The pressure of the machine "melded" the tissue to the cardstock; I didn't have to glue the 2 together!  And the cardstock gave me some stability so that the whole thing could be popped above the card.  Thanks to my friend Mary Anne for this idea!

Don't forget to visit the blogs on Day 1, too, for even more inspiration and chances to win a $25.00 gift card.  Now you should hop on to Preeti Chandran's blog.

Click HERE for all the new goodies, and for more inspiration, don't forget to visit our Let's Connect Gallery.

Thanks so much for coming by today.  I hope you find something special just for you in this new release. Here's today's Hop Order.

Simon Says Stamp Blog   

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Amanda Korotkova

Caly Person

Heather Hoffman

Yoonsun Hur

Laurie Willison

Bobbi Lemanski

Betty Wright

Lin Brandyberry

Preeti Chandran

Dana Joy

Daniel West

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Karin Åkesdotter