My Favorites from November

 I enjoyed making these cards and tag this month!

Thanks for visiting me today!

Frosted Poinsettia

 I haven't played with this poinsettia die in a long time - it's one of the first Spellbinders dies that I ever bought!  Today I wanted to make it pink, and frosty.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, Mint, kraft, and various green cardstock, Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia dies, Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens and Funky Floral 1 dies, Simon (retired) Small Forest Tree die, Collage Medium, Clear Rock Candy distress glitter, The Greetery Banner & Bough banner stencil and sentiment stamp, tattered rose distress ink, VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink, Echo Park (retired) Snow Flurry embossing folder, tiny rhinestones, a larger Hero Arts diamond gem, adhesive foam

After die-cutting all of the various greens and parts of the flower, I dabbed collage medium with my finger over the tips of everything but the poinsettia leaves, then drizzled them with rock candy distress glitter.  This next picture shows the frostiness a bit better.  It's subtle but shows up pretty well irl.  I separated the layers of the flower with tiny adhesive foam bits, then surrounded it with my little bits of greenery before attaching it to my embossed panel.

I thought this banner and sentiment was the perfect size - it's actually a stencil and stamp combo, which I inked with Tattered Rose distress ink, and then fussy-cut.

And one more picture.

I hope you're enjoying your long weekend - thanks so much for taking time out of your day to visit me!

Pink Poppies

 I wanted to play once again with Susan Tierney-Cockburn's Oriental Poppy dies.  

When we were first planting our gardens, our neighbor gave us seeds from her pink poppies that came from her grandmother's garden.  These were so unusual, because they produced both a simple-petal flower and a multi-petal one!  Over the years they have dwindled, because I haven't saved the seeds, just allowing what seeds on its own from year to year.  This last summer, I think we had only 1 or 2 plants. Here's a picture of them in their heyday, from 2004.  I'm not sure these are oriental poppies, as they had yellow centers when they opened, and no black shading like is usually seen in most other poppies.  They grew 2 or 3 feet tall.

And here's my card in memory of those lovely flowers.

supplies: white, black, Green Apple, and a pink cardstock,  Oriental Poppy dies, Hemstitch Rectangle die, Tammy Tutterow (retired) sentiment, black pearls for centers, sparkle clear sequins

This time I used the bud die that is included in the set.  These flowers take a little bit of time to prepare once they're die-cut, using a stylus to add some veining, and I also used a little blender brush and some ink to darken the centers of the petals.   But I think the results are lovely, and I look forward to seeing more of Susan's lovely dies going forward.  

Did you know that there are blue poppies?  That will be my next project!  

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

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

 

As always at the end of each month, our theme is Anything Goes, and my teammates and I are playing with Penny Black products.

I chose an old favorite for my card - my Snowy stamp is dated 2012!

supplies: white cardstock, white woodgrain cardstock, white glitter cardstock,  buffalo check and  snowflake patterned papers, Penny Black Snowy woodblock stamp and a (retired) Snowflake Trio die, sentiment from  (retired) Simon's An Arctic Christmas, Simon's Birch Circle die

I couldn't resist giving Snowy a signature Woolrich plaid scarf and hat - reminds me of my Dad's hunting gear!

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!

Candy Cane Christmas

 I got my Simon Says Stamp December Card Kit over the weekend and dove right in!  I have 3 cards for you today.

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, Candy Cane Heart die set, sentiment and mistletoe from Joyful Season stamp set

I couldn't wait to try the new Candy Cane Heart, and I love how easy it is to play with, and the perfect size, too!  I decided to run with the heart theme and added a sprig of mistletoe to it.  The sentiment ties it all together, I think, and isn't the handwriting beautiful?

The kit also includes a lovely selection of patterned papers, and among them are sheets of 3" x 4" panels.  This one is my favorite, so I simply framed it with 2 of the other papers in the pad, and then added my own little heart button and a tiny bow.  

supplies: white cardstock, green and striped dps from Simple Stories Vintage North Pole, my own heart button and ribbon

My country-style heart loves this card!  There are beautiful velvet ribbons in this kit also, but they are just a bit bulky for such a tiny bow, so I substituted one of my own ribbons.  I also think it would be fun to use the Candy Cane die and some pine sprigs to recreate this little vignette.  That's my next card.

supplies: white, Lipstick Red, Surf Blue, and red glitter cardstock, a patterned paper from Simple Stories Vintage North Pole, Candy Cane Heart die set, Tim Holtz Holiday Greens, sponged with Rustic Wilderness (pines) and Pine Needles (holly leaves), sentiments from Joyful Season and Tiny Words Christmas sets, my own bow die and aqua flower button, white thread, Doodlebug Heart Sprinkle

I die-cut the Candy Cane Heart, then rearranged it a bit.  I used the new mini Rustic Wilderness distress ink to sponge the pine branches and Pine Needles distress ink for the holly leaves.  After  stamping and die-cutting all the elements, I assembled them as best I could to mimic the printed version you saw above, using a bit of red glitter card for my bow.  

Here's the gorgeous kit.  The stamp set is packed with beautiful images and appropriate sentiments for this unique Christmas season, and there's a pack of ephemera which will be fun to play with when I need a fast card! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Just sharing a Thanksgiving card today.

supplies: ivory, Sunshine, Green Leaf, Burnt Orange, and kraft cardstock, Taylored Expressions Fall Foliage Background stamp and stencils, mustard seed, fossilized amber, ripe persimmon, crackling campfire, and shabby shutters distress inks, Handlettered Thanksgiving Sentiment, Impression Obsession Leaf die, twine, tiny heart sprinkle

This Fall Foliage set is a joy to work with, and the results are perfect every time!  I simply added a framed stamped sentiment to the center of my card and some tiny oak leaves.

Thanks for coming by.  

All is Calm

Another Christmas card.  Looking back at THIS card, I wanted to try that idea with a different central image. 

supplies: white, Surf Blue, and Peacock Teal cardstock, Wplus9 Pine Frame cover die, (retired) Penny Black Christmas Cottage woodblock, dated 2013, retired sentiment, glitter pen and clear glitter, adhesive foam to pop up cover plate

I found that my old Spellbinders Oval die is the perfect fit for the center of this cover die.  So I stamped the little image inside one, colored it minimally, and shaded some ink for the sky, leaving it inside the die.  Then I added a tiny bit of glitter to the shadows and the roofline and stamped my sentiment before attaching the oval to my pine frame.  That panel was then popped above my card base.  

It's a treat digging out all these "old" supplies and using them again each Christmas!  

Christmas Jar

 I got a stamp set earlier this year, and haven't yet used one of the stamps in it - today's the day!

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Christmas dp, Stampendous Festive Season, sentiment from Simon Winter Scene

I always have a soft spot for canning jars, but I don't think I've seen one holding a Christmas arrangement - and I love that big red bow!  I didn't want to cover up a bit of this pretty image, so I opted to place my sentiment a bit off-kilter.  If you'd like to see some other cards using this same set, they are HERE and HERE.

And I'm thrilled to be able to use some of my vast collection of patterned papers - I like this tiny plaid to off-set the stamped panel.

Thanks for your visit!

Simon Says........Christmas

 

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

This week our challenge is Christmas, and the team is featuring beautiful Memory Box products.

supplies: white, pink, and Green Apple cardstock, vellum, Memory Box Open Studio Berry Wreath, Nuvo markers to color, glue pen and prisma glitter on berries

This is a large image, and to fit an A2 card, I had to cut part of it off.  I love pink and a lighter green for Christmas, and I added some clear glitter to the berries only to make it a little more festive.  

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!

A Clear Christmas Card

 I used a brand new stamp set along with a cover die that I got last year.

supplies: white cardstock, clear acetate, Wplus9 Pine Frame cover die, Stampendous Festive Season stamps, markers, Small Talk Occasions sticker

After cutting the pine frame and gluing it to my acetate card base, I also cut 2 oval dies; 1 will go on the inside of the card for my sentiment, and on the very back of the card to cover the tape I used to secure it (see picture below). Then I stamped, colored, and fussy-cut the birch log arrangement, and glued it onto the front.  I wanted a sentiment that wouldn't cover up the design, so I chose a Small Talk sticker and edged it in red ink.

Here's a shot of the inside.  I used the heart and holly stamp from the Festive Season set, as well as an old Hero Arts woodblock sentiment - love the font!

I haven't made one of these clear cards in ages - it's nice to do something different for a change!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards, Take 2

Here are 5 more Christmas cards using The Greetery's beautiful Banner and Bough set of stencils and stamps.  I've really enjoyed working with this set and ended up making 15 cards with it!

As I did last time, I used some patterned papers as my backgrounds, or some framing dies which you've seen hundreds of times before here. The first card has the banner trimmed out separately and popped above the rest of the design. That's an easy thing to do because it has its own stencil.   And I kept the accessories to a minimum also,  just 4 pearls for the centers of the large flowers.  These should all be fairly flat for mailing. 

How are you progressing with your cards?

Floral Smiles

 I really loved this background cling, it's a form of scribbled flowers, which is a favorite motif for me!  I paired it with a new die sentiment for today's card.

supplies: white, beige and fold metallic cardstock, Spring Flowers Background cling, colored in reds, green, and cream, Sending Smiles Shadow die

This will be beautiful in pastels or just pinks or yellows, but because of the season right now, I chose to do it in shades of reds.  After I finished coloring the flowers and leaves on the bright white cardstock, I decided I wanted a creamier background, so I colored it in.  Then the sentiment cut from gold went nicer, too.  I attached the trimmed panel to a beige card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cardinals

 I have lots of Christmas stamps and certainly don't need any more, but each year I add a couple more to my stash.  This year one of the sets I fell in love with was Christmas Cardinals from My Favorite Things.  It took me awhile to get them home, but I received them recently, and here are 2 cards I made for this year with them.

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, unknown Doodlebug dp inside letters,  MFT Christmas Cardinals bird, partial sentiment, and holly sprig, Simon Chunky Merry die, adhesive foam to pop up bird

I kept this one fairly simple, using the side-facing cardinal and the holly sprig, along with a partial stamping of one of the sentiments in the set.  It worked nicely with my new Chunky Merry die!

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, unknown red snowflake dp, a retired Echo Park Snow Flurry embossing folder, Christmas Cardinals bird and holly sprig, sentiment  from Pinkfresh Studio Adore Alpha dies and Wplus9 Hand Lettered Holiday

This one's lots busier.  I've used this retired snowflake embossing folder many times this year - love the scale of it!  This is the other bird in the set, and I cut apart 2 stampings of  the holly sprig and spread them around.  Everything on this card is glued down, so it's nice and flat for mailing.

This card qualifies for the current Let's Squash It challenge, to use a Christmas embossing folder and  Christmas stamps.  

I'll be sharing more Christmas cards off and on into mid-December, but I think I'm officially finished making them for this year!  That's a good feeling!

Thanks for coming by today!

Simon Says..........Thanks/Thanksgiving

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to our challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

This week our theme is Thanksgiving/Thanks, and the team is featuring Pink Fresh Studio products.  

supplies: ivory and Burnt Orange cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Lush Vines cling stamp, Simon Circle Christmas Sentiments (dotted circle), Gina K. Designs Autumn Wreath Builder sentiment, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, Hero Arts Infinity Circle die

I didn't want to lose too much of this pretty allover design, so I used a hemstitch rectangle die to add some subtle detail, then mimicked that with the dotted circle surrounding my sentiment.

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!

Blessings Wreath

 Another wreath card for the season!

supplies: beige, kraft, gold foil, Sunshine, Orange Peel, Burnt Orange, Schoolhouse Red, Lipstick Red, and Green Leaf cardstock, The Greetery Knit Wits stencils, Alltenew Coffee Break mini ink cubes, MFT (retired) Spring Wreath, The Greetery Fit to be Tied bow, Sunny Studio Autumn Greetings sentiment

I stencilled a panel of beige card, using 2 of the set of 3 stencils, then used one of them to also emboss the panel.  The Spring Wreath was cut from various fall colors, cut apart, and then glued back onto a green wreath left whole.  To finish I stamped my sentiment and lined the panel with kraft cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!

Susan's Autumn Flora Collection

 Spellbinders allowed me to play with 2 of Susan Tierney Cockburn's new floral dies from her latest collection!

Here are my cards using them.

supplies: rust, orange, gold, green, and kraft card, a woodgrain patterned paper, Susan's Button and Daisy Chrysanthemum dies, metallic sequins

These dies come with a number on each one, which tells you how many times to cut it.  The bottom 2  are 14 layers deep, and I used 1 of each of the 6 different sizes on the gold one  I thought they looked pretty against a woodgrain backgound.

Next is Susan's Oriental Poppy set.  Since we're so close to Veteran's Day, I made them red and added some details to make it appropriate for that holiday.

supplies: white, red, green, and black cardstock, Susan's Oriental Poppy dies, red pearl centers, retired Hero Arts sentiment and script background

Also in this Autumn Flora Collection are dies for making hydrangeas, coreopsis, gaillardia, plus 2 sets of foliage, and a set of sentiment stamps!

Many thanks to Spellbinders for allowing me to play with these!  Loving flowers like I do, I know I'll use them often in the years to come.

Simon's Holly Jolly release!!

 The latest release from Simon Says Stamp is now live - it's called Holly Jolly!  

I was sent a new CZ sentiment die called Chunky Merry.  Here are 2 cards I made with it.

supplies: white, Peacock Teal, and Lipstick Red cardstock, a plaid Lawn Fawn paper, Chunky Merry die, Christmas Foliage dies, snowflake embossing folder, adhesive foam strips to lift word

For this next one, I used both parts of this die set, cutting the shadow die from striped patterned paper.

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, a striped Christmas patterned paper, Chunky Merry dies, stamped sentiment from Circle Sentiments Christmas, a stripe embossing folder

May be overkill, but I placed everything over an embossed striped background.  The outline letters are stacked 4 deep to make them stand out better against the busy stripes.

To see the entire release, just click HERE, and for more ideas using the new products, I hope you'll visit our gallery HERE.  We have planned a blog hop tomorrow, Dec 7, to showcase these products.  

Simon Says.........Thinking of You

 

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

This week the theme is "Thinking of You", and my teamies and I are playing with Tim Holtz products.  I used his Skeleton Leaves dies and Lumber embossing folder on today's card.

supplies: white, kraft, and Audrey Blue cardstock, Tim Holtz Skeleton Leaves dies and Lumber embossing folder, distress inks and blender brushes, Simon Thinking of You Line die, sequins

I cut out a variety of the skeleton leaves from white cardstock, then sponged on various fall distress inks.  Next I embossed the woodgrain design on 2 pieces of Audrey Blue cardstock, inking them lightly afterwards with tea dye distress ink.  After arranging my leaves on the woodgrain background, I added my sentiment to cover the background seam, and some metallic sequins.

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!