Simon December Card Kit

......has sold out, but you can still get some of the elements from it separately.  Here's the card I made using the peppermint sticks die, one of the sentiment stamps, and design papers found in the kit.

supplies: Simon's Lipstick Red card, dps from Carta Bella Santa's Workshop paper pad, Candy Canes dies, sentiment from Christmas Cheer stamp set, adhesive foam squares to pop up circle

I'll be back tomorrow with a card using a brand new DieCember product - see you then!

Simon's November Card Kit!

Here's a card I made using the supplies in the latest Simon Says Stamp Card Kit.

supplies: Ivory, Orange Peel, and Desert Storm cardstocks, Thanks and Leaves clear stamp set, a mix of fall-colored inks, bronze sequins from the kit

The kit is the perfect mix of items that we will use over and over for this fall season and for years to come - the solid leaves are a perfect size - small enough for stamping a background and large enough to cut them out by hand like I did.  The many sentiments are in a lovely font.  And I included the pretty metallic orange peel envelope in my pic that's included in the kit, along with lots of other things I didn't use yet.  I'm looking forward to playing with the butterflies and the Snarky Small Talk stickers - a complete set of 8 pages is included in the kit!

Be sure to visit Simon's Gallery to see lots more examples to inspire you!

Sketched Flowers

Playing today with the big stamp set in the (sold out) Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit.  Thankfully, the beautiful stamp set will always be available.  I colored it in fall colors and paired it with a striped pattern paper.

supplies: white and black card stock, MFT Dots & Stripes Sorbet paper pad, Sketched Flowers clear stamp, watercolored with distress inks, adhesive foam squares

After stamping and coloring the floral spray with diluted distress inks, I splattered more of the inks, then trimmed the panel down, fussy-cutting a few of the edges, then lined it in black.  This panel was placed onto the stripes, and my sentiment from the same set was added.  I stamped and colored an extra center flower and popped it above the card for a bit of dimension.

Edited to add:

Here's also a play with the alcohol inks and yupo paper included in the kit; I don't particularly like the dropped circles look, so I reverted to the old polished stone technique, using a felt pad to pounce and distribute the colors.

supplies: Burnt Orange and black cardstock, Yupo paper, Sunset Orange and Sunshine Yellow alcohol ink refills, Sketched Flowers, stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black, Simon's Thanks and Stitched Rectangle dies

FYI, VersaFine never really dried on this Yupo surface - when I went back in with an orange alcohol marker to add some details, it smeared a bit.  

Thanks for stopping by!

A Foiled Card from the October Card Kit

We've been away the last couple of weeks, visiting all our favorite places in Maine and enjoying it thorougly; this was one of our best vacations!  My Simon October Card Kit was waiting for me when we got home, and here's my first play with it - I wanted to try one of the foiling cards included in the kit.

supplies: Burnt Orange and black cardstock, an exclusive Gina K Designs leaves card, foiled with Sweet Mango foil, then trimmed and colored with Tonic Nuvo markers

I'm still lazy from my vacation, so I didn't even attempt to get a photo that showed the beautiful foiling of the leaves and sentiment, but I love the twinkle it has from across the room!  These make for super-easy card making!

Thanks for coming by to visit today! I'll leave you with just one picture of a perfect day along Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park. Maine - "the way life should be"!

Butterflies

As soon as I saw these papers from Bo Bunny's Early Bird paper pack in the Simon August Card Kit,  I knew what I'd do with them.

supplies: white, pink, Surf Blue, yellow, Soft Navy and kraft card stock, dps from Early Bird paper pack, Simon's Stitching Butterflies dies and sentiment from Beautiful Day, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangle die, adhesive foam squares to pop up butterflies

This may be too busy for a variety of reasons, but for me, it brings back my quilting days - I loved to find just the right patterns to mix together!  Thank you for stopping by.

Modern Rose Background

I wanted to play again with the sweet Modern Rose Blooms background; this time I colored the stamp with some water-based markers, then spritzed it and stamped on watercolor paper.

supplies: watercolor paper, ivory, lavender and surf blue card stock, Simon's Modern Rose Blooms cling, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, Mandy's Flowers, Tonic Nuvo markers, twine and a Doodlebug Tiny Heart

You can see how the amount of water that I spritzed affected each area of the panel - it's not equal across the board, but I guess that shows that it's handmade!  It will be interesting to try this stamp in other color combinations.

I'll see you again tomorrow, I hope, for a new Simon Wednesday challenge!

Black, White and Yellow

Here's another card using the supplies in the August Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp.  I have always loved text/script as an element, and adding black and yellow to the mix is icing on the cake for me.

supplies: white and yellow card stock, dps from Bo Bunny Early Bird and a black dot, Simon's Mandy's Flowers clear stamp set, Tonic Nuvo Sunshine and Irish Clover markers, Doodlebug Tiny Hearts, adhesive foam squares to lift flower

Here's the Card Kit:

Enjoy your week!

For You, with Love

Here's another card from the Simon August Card Kit, this time featuring the pretty Modern Rose Blooms cling and another of the floral stamps from Mandy's Flowers.  Since my last card was soft pastels, I went a little brighter with this one.

supplies: white, pale gold, and black card stock, Modern Rose Blooms cling, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, picked raspberry and mustard seed distress inks, round sponging tool, Mandy's Flowers, alcohol markers to color, Doodlebug Tiny Hearts, Simon's Stitched Rectangle and Stitched Circle dies

I had first white embossed the Modern Rose onto a pale gold cardstock, but didn't like the results, so I sponged on some distress inks, then went with those colors to color my flower pot.

Here's all that you get in the Card Kit:

There are matching dies coming soon, if that's something you'd be interested in.  

Simon's August Card Kit

I know I've said this many times, but this may be my favorite Simon Card Kit EVER!  The amazing stamp sets, lovely papers, and those teeny hearts - swoooooon!  Here's my first play (it won't be the last)!

supplies: white and Cotton Candy card stock, Simon's Mandy's Flowers clear stamp set, Tonic Nuvo markers to color, Bo Bunny Early Bird patterned paper, twine, Doodlebug Tiny Hearts sprinkles, Simon's Scallop Stitches and my own oval dies

After stamping the flower jar image and cutting it into an oval shape, I pierced each side of the top of the jar with a needle and threaded the twine through, then tied it into a bow and topped it with one of the adorable tiny hearts.  The rest of the card was just a matter of layering the gorgeous elements together.

This kit is really an amazing value - it is less than the price of the 2 stamp sets in it!  And it's even better if you buy it at the subscription price!!  I know this set will be a much-loved classic!

One Cool Pineapple!

Here's another card from the Simon Says Stamp July Card Kit: Cool Summer.  The heart sunglasses just crack me up!

supplies: white cardstock, Simon's One Cool Pineapple clear stamp set and sunglasses and heart stickers from sticker pack, MFT Wonky Rectangle die and Radiating Rays stencil, squeezed lemonade and fossilized amber distress oxide inks applied with a blending brush

I grinned all the way through making this!  And I definitely liked applying the oxides with the blending brush, which I think came in a past month's card kit......I plan to get myself a few more of them.

Simon's July Card Kit!

Mine arrived yesterday, and still in the tropical mood from yesterday's release at Simon, I made an easy card using some elements from this fun kit called Cool Summer.

supplies: white and Doll Pink card stock, flamingo stamp and (partial) sentiment from Simon's One Cool Pineapple clear stamps, Flamingo die, pink glitter paper, dp from Carta Bella Summer Splash papers, Simon's Summer Gold sequin mix, and  flamingo sequins, probably from Pretty Pink Posh

Did you know that the fun flamingo die fits the stamped version perfectly?  I simply stamped it on Doll Pink card, and then cut it out with the die.  Love the bold font of the sentiments in this set; here I fussy-cut part of one of them, abbreviating the full sentiment.  Everything on my card except for the bright pink sequins is in this kit.

Considering that this new stamp set is a larger than usual one, the value of this kit is pretty amazing versus what you'd pay separately for the elements inside it!

Beautiful Flowers

I received my Simon Says Stamp June Card Kit yesterday and couldn't wait to dive in and play!  I tried the gorgeous stamp set first.

supplies: white, black, and pink card stock, striped dp, Simon's Beautiful Flowers, markers to color

I stamped the floral on an A2 panel, colored it, then trimmed out the left side and layered it over the striped paper.  The sentiment is just one of many in this set - Simon has hit this one waaaaaay out of the ballpark!

One more, adding in the beautiful embossing folder in the kit:

supplies: white card stock, watercolor paper, vellum, Beautiful Flowers stamp set, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Botanical embossing folder, lemonade and worn lipstick distress inks and water, alcohol markers

I inked the "flat" side of the embossing folder with distress inks, then spritzed with water, and ran a piece of watercolorpaper through my cuttlebug.  (For anyone interested, my sandwich is the A plate, the loaded embossing folder, and the B plate.)  The sentiment was stamped on a strip of vellum and colored with the same markers I used for my flowers.  

I can't wait to try those dreamy design papers next!

Love Always

Here's another card using the small stamp set and a sticker from Simon's May Card Kit.

supplies: white, apricot, and Audrey Blue card, Bristol paper, Simon's Take Heart stamps, watercolor markers, puffy sticker from Pink Fresh Let Your Heart Decide

Here's all that you get in this month's Kit - a little something for everyone!

You Have a Beautiful Heart

I received my Simon Says Stamp May Card Kit yesterday - here's my first card using the supplies.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue card stock, dp from Pink Fresh Let Your Heart Decide paper pack, matching puffy stickers, Simon's Heart die and sentiment from Take Heart stamp set, Stitched Rectangle dies

I seem to be in a blue state of mind recently, so I concentrated on that color for this first card.  It's nice to have coordinating products to mix and match!   Next I want to play more with the little Take Heart stamp set - hopefully I'll be back again tomorrow with another card. 

Did you know that Simon has a gallery for each of its Card Kits and also each release?  You can find the gallery for this May Kit HERE - be sure to add your card to it when you use this month's kit.

Rainbow Butterflies

My Simon Says Stamp April Card Kit arrived earlier this week, and here's my first card using it!

supplies: white and black card stock, striped rainbow dp from Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow pad, Simon Butterflies stencil, picked raspberry, spiced marmalade, squeezed marmalade, twisted citron, mermaid lagoon, and wilted violet distress oxide inks, applied with finger daubers, sentiment from Simon's Beautiful Day stamp set, Doodlebug Rainbow Hearts Sprinkles

Sadly, the kit sold out almost immediately, but lots of the components are available still.

Happy Weekend!

Showers & Flowers

Here are 2 more cards, this time using the March Card Kit stamp set called Showers & Flowers.  Both of these were first stamped on watercolor paper, then colored with my Zig markers and water.

supplies: watercolor paper, Surf Blue and black card, Showers & Flowers image and sentiment, Thanks die, MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Square die, Zig markers and water

This wasn't colored as I planned.  I first colored all the flowers and leaves, and when I started to do the boots, I mistook the one laying down as a clay pot on its side, and started coloring it with a clay color.  THEN I realized it was the top of a boot, but by then I was committed, so the wellies are a very unusual color!

Next up is a card using a 2nd image from the same stamp set:

supplies: watercolor paper, Sunshine, Bright Yellow, and black card, Showers & Flowers image and sentiment, Stitched Rectangle die, Doodlebug heart sprinkle, Zig markers and water

Again I stamped the darling image on watercolor paper, colored it with Zig markers and water, trimmed it out with a stitched rectangle, then stamped the sentiment from the same set.  Then the panel was framed up with card that pulls the colors I used.

The images in this set are the perfect size to allow for adding sentiments or trimming into a smaller card, and the sentiments are fun too!

Hope your week is off to a great start!  

Bloom

Today I have 2 cards using the supplies in Simon's March Card Kit.  It has sadly sold out, but many of the elements are available.  I was so tickled to see the tiny gingham stamp in the Choose Joy stamp set, and that's the first thing I grabbed when I opened my box.

supplies: white, purple, Lemon Chiffon card stock, Simon's Choose Joy stamps, Wisteria ink cube, My Favorite Things Mini Stitched Scallop Square die, Zig markers, adhesive foam squares

I stamped the gingham square 4 times to make a larger background gingham, then cut it out with a scalloped die.  Separately, I stamped, colored and fussy-cut the darling pair of boots and made a sentiment banner.  Both of these are in the stamp set.  Since the background was square, I followed suit and made a square 4 1/4" card.

This next one uses a design paper and a sticker from the kit:

supplies: Green Apple card stock, Carta Bella Spring Market design paper and sticker from Spring Market sticker sheet

I fussy-cut the line of flowers and the awning from the pad of design papers, attached them to a scrap of white card stock, lifting the awning with foam, then affixed the whole thing to a Green Apple card.  Then I added the sentiment sticker.  

If you don't want to miss out on future kits, be sure to subscribe HERE and you'll save $5.00 each month.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

It's the Little Things........

I have a card today made using mostly supplies from Simon's February Card Kit.

supplies: white and Green Leaf card stock, papers (Echo Park I'd Rather be Crafting) and sentiment (Simon Crafty Friend) from February Card Kit, Simon's Stitched Rectangle dies, Tammy Tutterow Bitty Posies dies, tiny gold buttons, double-sided adhesive strips to raise flowers

I thought this paper was so pretty, so I simply added a sentiment and some 3D posies (cut from more of the solid papers from the pad) to it for my card.

Here's the Kit; if you look closely it has some really fun additions from the norm: a water-brush pen and a sampling of Daniel Smith watercolors, wooden embellishments, some lovely metallic envelopes, and 2 Tim Holtz embossing folders!

If you have this kit already and have made some cards with it, don't forget to add them to the gallery HERE. 

Simon's January Card Kit

Happy New Year!  I'm thrilled to be moving into the new year with my favorite kind of card - for Valentine's Day!

My card uses a few of the supplies in the latest Card Kit.  I LOVED this particular floral paper from the Pebbles design papers in the kit, and used that as my inspiration.  I paired it with a sentiment and the tiny hearts in the new stamp set, along with my own stamped roses with die-cut leaves, to mimic the roses in the paper.

supplies: Cotton Candy, Doll Pink, Lipstick Red, and Mint cardstock, floral dp from Pebbles Forever My Always paper pad, sentiment and tiny stamped hearts from new Really Like You stamp set, (all in the kit), along with roses from Roses for You and Partial Cut Leaf dies, Stitched Rectangle die

The background is a very dark brown, and I followed suit, using an Espresso distress ink for my stamping.

Here's what this January Card Kit looks like, and as of this writing it's still available!  Be sure to check out our Gallery for more ideas!