My June Favorites

 Here are my personal favorites for this month.

What did I do before dies????  Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says......Anything Goes

Welcome to our weekly challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

 

It's the end of the month, so our theme as always is Anything Goes! The team is featuring Riley & Co. stamps again.  

supplies: white card, Riley & Co. Glow Behind the Horizon stamp, Spellbinders Awesome Birthday clear stamps, Ranger Gold Tinsel embossing powder, Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

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!

Just Playin'.......

 with a mix of Simon Says Stamp goodies for today's card.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue card, Doodlebug Floral Graph patterned papers, Simon's Blooming Meadow flowers and leaves, Garden Greetings sentiment, Blossom Field embossing folder, Hero Arts Nesting Rectangle die, enamel dots, adhesive foam squares to lift flowers and frame

To start, I stamped and fussy-cut the flowers and leaves from some tiny floral tone-on-tone prints and arranged them with the help of some Press 'n Seal.  Then I cut a rectangle out of a white card panel.  On the smaller rectangle I stamped my sentiment, and ran the "frame" through my floral embossing folder.  The flowers were then attached to the frame and the inner rectangle glued to my card.  Then I lifted the frame and flowers with some adhesive foam squares.

Thanks for your visit!

Blue Bells

 Here's a card using another of my new The Greetery dies recently released.

supplies: white, cornflower blue, paler blue, and green cardstock, The Greetery Blue Bells Botanicuts dies, Altenew Fine Frames die, Hero Arts (retired) Old Letter Writing woodblock stamp and sentiment from (retired) Forever cling stamps, partial Sunny Studio Frilly Frames Eyelet Lace die,micro-dot adhesive, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkle

I love any flower that's blue, so this one was a must-have die for me.  I thought I'd make a vintage-feeling card using some old Hero arts stamps along with more modern supplies.  Once again, the micro-dot adhesive came to the rescue to help secure the teensy frame and the skinny flower dies - makes everything SO much easier!

After cutting out my scalloped panel, I masked off an area to stamp the script background.  Then I added the skinny blue frame, and stamped the main sentiment.  Lastly I added my blue bells, and then popped up the panel above a white card base.

My husband and I celebrated our 51st anniversary earlier this month, and here's the card I made him; it incorporates these bluebells along with some older The Greetery dies.

supplies: white, cream, kraft, green, and 2 blue cardstocks, The Greetery Wood Slice Hearts, Blue Bells Botanicuts, Love die, and sentiment from Love Is, faded jeans distress ink

This is a take on some cards I made for Valentine's Day last year.

There's also a similar Botanicut set released at the same time that is Lavender - it's on my wishlist!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

When Life Gives You Lemons........

 Today's card is made up of the supplies in the July Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp.

supplies: white cardstock, vellum (not in kit), Tim Holtz Window Frame, Simon You Shine Window Box and sentiment stamps, buffalo plaid from Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist paper pad

I knew I wanted to use the window box along with one of the window baseboard pieces, but then it was difficult to add a sentiment, so I came up with the idea to make an "awning" to hold it!

Here's the kit - don't you love the colors this month?  There are lots of fun things inside, also: the Emboss and Cut Flower Garden folder and a bottle of Tim Holtz Foundry Wax in Gilded! 

A Wedding Card

 June is the month for weddings, and although I don't have one this year to attend, it's always good to have something "just in case".  I decided I wanted to make a white-on-white design, and use vellum and embossing.  I took this first picture against a bouquet of white peonies.

supplies: white and Cream card, vellum, Simon Beautiful Flowers and Thankful Flowers (leaves) clear stamp sets, clear embossing ink and white powder, Tammy Tutterow/Maker's Movement Sweet Petite Sentiment, Simon Blossom Field embossing folder, Hero Arts Nesting Rectangle dies, micro dot adhesive

I'm thrilled with the new micro dot adhesive - it is PERFECT for adhering vellum elements!  

Here's a 2nd photo taken in my usual way, inside under our bathroom skylight.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Simon Says........Clean and Simple

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

This week we want to see some Clean and Simple designs.  The team is featuring Hero Arts products.  You don't have to use this brand to enter our challenge, but if you do have some of their products, we'd love to see you using them, too!

I used a stamp set and 2 sets of dies that Hero Arts made first as a card kit.  But it was so popular that they were re-released as single products.  In my opinion, they are timeless designs!

supplies: cream and parchment cardstock, Hero Arts Sending Love Mail clear stamps, Envelope Accessories and Boutique Accessories dies, markers to color, tiny heart sprinkle, adhesive foam squares

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!

Hello Sweet Friend

 Here's another card using my new Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage dies, this time in cool colors.  

supplies: white, various blues, purples, and greens from Memory Box paper collections pads, Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage dies, Simon Blossom Field embossing folder, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamp and matching die, (retired) Wplus9 Hand Written Hello sentiment, enamel dots 

You can't see it, but I used an old twig wreath die as a platform to add my flowers to, and then popped the whole thing above my card base with adhesive squares.

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

Bless You

 Here's a card made with a set of Becca Feeken dies that were released last week - her collection is called The Right Words.

supplies: white, pink, green, and pale yellow cardstock, pale grey striped patterned paper, You Are a Blessing dies

This die set includes what you see, plus a few other words/parts of words to build around "Bless".  Isn't the font lovely?  

Many thanks to Spellbinders for sending me this new set to play with!  

New 3D Embossing Folders

 Spellbinders is launching a line of 3D Embossing Folders, and they were kind enough to send one of the 10 new ones to me.  It's called Puff Dotty - here's what I did with it.

supplies: white, 2 shades each of aqua, blue, and green cardstock, Spellbinders Puff Dotty 3D embossing folder, a daisy and leaves from a 2019 Small Die of the Month kit, retired Happy die, Tim Holtz Sentiment label sticker

To begin I cut some strips from 6 shades of blue to green cardstock, and glued them diagonally onto a 1 3/4" X 5 1/2" strip, then attached that to my white card panel and ran it through my Big Shot machine with the complete platform and 1 cutting plate.  Then I simply added my stacked sentiment and a daisy!

Be sure to check out all 10 of these new 3D folders - they are a generous 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" size, so you can use them for slimline cards too!

Just Wanted to Say Collection

 Spellbinders released a new collection recently. which they are calling Just Wanted to Say, and I have 3 cards to share with you!

My first card features the new Wreath Builder dies.

supplies: white card, Wreath Builder dies, markers to color, white pearls, sentiment from Concord & 9th Harvest Wreath Turnabout stamp set, Wplus9 Blossomsberry ink

I kept this CAS, and used 2 sprigs of flowers and leaves, cut twice each, to form my wreath, then added additional flowers - easy and a delicate design!  There are dies for the flowers alone, which I doubled up for more dimension.

Next up, some bird cards!  This first one uses the Little Chickadee dies.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue card, Little Chickadee and a leaf sprig from Wreath Builder dies, colored with markers, Simon Beautiful Butterflies sentiment, Lumber embossing folder, heart sprinkles

I used the 3rd of the leaf sprigs from the Wreath Builder dies to make something for the bird to perch on, cutting them all from white cardstock and coloring them with markers before assembling.  I wanted to bring out more of the aqua in the bird, so I embossed a woodgrain texture onto my background, and inlaid the retired Becca Feeken shape into it.

My 3rd card features another bird set called Sweet Birdie, and I made a mini slimline with it.

supplies: white, 2 yellows, black, and green card, Sweet Birdie dies, Petite Floral Potpourri dies and Mini Slimline Envelope/Nested Card Creator dies, a retired Hero Arts sentiment, black enamel dot, adhesive foam squares 

These last 2 sets of birds contain 8 dies each, so you can make a variety of birds just by changing up colors and adding and subtracting elements to make them as complicated or simple as you like. 

Once again, many thanks to Spellbinders for sharing these fun dies with me!

Simon Says.......Add a Sentiment

Welcome to our weekly challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

This week the challenge is "Add a Sentiment", and the team is featuring Newton's Nook products.  I have had my eye on this bleeding heart stamp for quite awhile, so I was tickled to snatch it up.  Bleeding Hearts are another sentimental favorite of mine; I can remember one in my Granddad's garden next door growing up - the details on the tiny little heart flowers is amazing, and the leaves are pretty on their own.

supplies: white  and Doll Pink card, Newton's Nook Bleeding Heart, Sunny Studio Quilted Hearts embossing folder, MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Square die, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle die

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!

Happy Birthday, Spellbinders!!!

 Spellbinders is celebrating its 20th birthday today with a Celebration Event all day!  You should see posts popping up all over today featuring birthdays!

I have 2 cards, both of which feature foil prominently - it seemed a good idea for this celebration, but I always forget how difficult it is to photograph!  

My first card features the So Many Candles Glimmer plate and the Stylized Happy Birthday dies.

supplies: white and dark teal cardstock, rainbow foil cardstock, So Many Candles glimmer plate, rainbow glimmer foil, Stylized Happy Birthday dies

I used my zig markers to color in the striped candles only, using the same colors as in the foil.

My 2nd card features the new embossing folder called Party Spots.  I think it looks like champagne bubbles!  I ended up taking this card outside to get a good image of it, since I used a foiled metallic cardstock to make it more festive.

supplies: doll pink cardstock and a rainbow foil cardstock, Party Spots embossing folder, sentiment from Awesome Birthday stamp set, embossed in silver embossing powder, silver sequins

Happy Birthday, Spellbinders!!  Congratulations to this wonderful company which just keeps coming up with innovative ideas to excite us year after year!

A Spring Hello

 I fell head over heels with Caly's card recently and couldn't wait to get myself these Spring Foliage dies from Pretty Pink Posh.

Caly colored hers with watercolors, I used pastel shades of cardstock with a bit of shading.

supplies: white, kraft, sage green, yellows, pinks, and slate grey cardstock, Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage dies, Memory Box Pinpoint Leaf cover plate, (retired) Wplus9 hello die

This die set is packed with lovely foliage, but also lots of florals.  Today I chose just 2 of them and cut them out of my main colors to make my little arrangements.  For something different, I placed them over kraft that was cut in a leafy pattern.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday - thanks for stopping by!

Best Wishes

 It's the month for weddings, so here's a card that could be used for that occasion.  The cover die reminds me of eyelet lace!

supplies: white, pale yellow, 2 greens, and 3 shades of Hero Arts Pool Layering Papers (retired), Pink Fresh Studio Floral and Diamond Tiles Coverplate die, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies, Tim Holtz Label sticker

I used just a few elements from the Be Bold Blooms die set, securing the flowers only in the centers and the ferny leaves only at one end so that I could pull them up for some dimension.

Enjoy your weekend!  Thanks so much for coming by today!

Simon Says........Bright and Cheerful

Welcome to the new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

The theme this week is Bright and Cheerful, and we're featuring our own Simon exclusive products!  You don't have to use this brand, but we'd love to see them used if you do have some!

supplies: white and coral card, Simon Layered Flowers stencils, Rosie Cheeks, Teeny Bikini, Melon, Duckling, Key Lime, and Dublin inks, blender brushes, Sending Smiles die, fairy jewels

I'm loving the layering stencils, and I thought the tropical feel of this 4-piece set was a nice option for this week's theme.

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!

Adding Texture

Recently, Jennifer McGuire did a wonderful tutorial on adding texture using cover dies and die-cuts.  I loved her examples and couldn't wait to give her technique a try!  So I dug out some of my own supplies and here are the results.

supplies: kraft, Mint, Green Leaf and a darker and a lighter green cardstock, Spellbinders Ferns dies, Simon Detail Bohemian cover plate, The Greetery Opposites Attract stamp and matching die, Hero Arts Latte ink

I followed Jennifer's directions exactly and I love the results!  I think, because of the colors and the leaves, this would make a great card for a guy.  So for my 2nd card I made a card  maybe more suited to a girl.

supplies: white, green apple, orange peel, audrey blue, and sunshine card, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms and leaves from Stitched Flowers dies, Pink Fresh Studio Floral and Diamond Tiles cover plate and Perfect Sentiments hot foil plate and matching cutting dies, gold glimmer foil, Doodlebug sprinkles

This time I did a simple design with the large flowers and leaves, glued onto a white base, then run through my machine with an embossing mat and folder only so as not to cut out the design, just impress it.  After trimming the panel and matting it, I added smaller flowers and popped up my foiled sentiment.

Be sure to watch Jennifer's video that I referenced at the top - she has lots of ideas for this technique.