Country Basket

 I received this new Simon Says Stamp die set just before we left for our little trip, so I am just now getting around to paying with it.

supplies: white, parchment, kraft, and various pastel cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Country Basket Bouquet, Simon Hurley Must-Have Sentiments Glimmer Foil Plate/die set, gold glimmer foil, adhesive foam

It was easy to put together, with lots of floral options for filling this cute little basket.  And it's a good size for a focal point on an A2 card - not much else needed.  After arranging my basket, I added some adhesive foam to pop it above the card base.

Hope your day is going well; thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hero Arts Studio Release for June - Coastal Vibes

 I am so pleased to share with you some cards I've made using some of the new June Hero Studio release!  The collection is called Coastal Vibes, and it's a great mix of goodies you'll use for summer cards!

First up today are the Layering Stencils, Hydrangea.  These are so easy to use and with such great results that I made 2 cards.

supplies: light and medium blue cardstock, Hero Studio June Hydrangea Layering Stencils, 2 shades of blue and green inks, sentiment from The Whole Studio bonus, HiYa Friend stamp and cut

The stencil set is 4 parts, 2 for the flowers, and 2 for the leaves.  

I've always wanted a blue hydrangea bush, but haven't been able to sustain one - ours look more like my 2nd card below, various shades of pinks and blues.  

supplies: white cardstock, vellum, Hero Studio Hydrangea Layering Stencils, 2 shades of blue, lavender, pink, and green inks, stamp/die from The Whole Studio bonus: HiYa Friend Stamp and Cut, clear ink and white embossing powder

For my sentiment on this one, I used one of the large block stamps and its matching die from The Whole Studio bonus item for this month: HiYa Friend.  I clear stamped it onto vellum, white embossed it, then cut it out with the die and glued it right to my card base.

Oh both cards, after finishing my stenciling, I put the first floral stencil back over my panel and ran it through my machine with an embossing pad and plate.  That gives a subtle dimension to these simple designs. 

Now here are some cards made with the Card Kit for June.  First I played with the Beach Bag Fancy Dies set in the kit, called Beach Bag.

supplies: cream and various colors of cardstock, peach gingham dp, Studio June Card Kit (Beach Bag fancy dies and sentiment from Summer State of Mind clear stamp/die)

Here I used stand-alone fancy dies in the kit; besides what you see here, there are also a loaf of bread, 2 wine glasses, a tassel, a bow, a whale, a crab, a seashell - 20 pieces in all!  It was really fun to make this straw tote, and then fill it with fun goodies!  The sentiment comes from the stamp set/matching dies in the set, more of which you'll see below.

Next are 2 cards using the Summer State of Mind stamp/die set from the kit.  

supplies: colored cardstock, watercolor blue and striped dps, Hero Studio June Card Kit Summer State of Mind stamps and matching dies

I really did try to color these, but did not like my results, so I stamped over colored cardstocks and printed papers instead, paper-piecing a few of them.  Then I chose just a few of the stamps to construct my little beach scene.  The set also includes 6 other sentiments.  And there are dies for everything!

Here's another using the largest stamp and die. This time I used markers to color, and popped some flowers in the basket.

supplies: white cardtock, Summer State of Mind June Studio Card Kit stamps/dies, sentiment from Whole Studio Bonus HiYa Friend

And finally, I went back to the Whole Studio Bonus item for an easy simple design.  I started with an interesting printed paper, stamped "friend" in the center of a trimmed panel, cut it out with a rectangle die, matted it, then popped it back onto the card front, along with one of the smaller sentiments from the same stamp set.

supplies: cream cardstock, printed dp, June Whole Studio HiYa Friend stamps/die, cream embossing powder, Nested Rectangle dies

The Studio Collection is available now through the 27th of the month.  This is subscription-based, discounted from retail, and includes FREE shipping (for US customers)!  

You can subscribe anytime and cancel hassle-free.

Currently the Studio includes 5 separate kits: a Card Kit, Layering Stencils, a Cling stamp, Fancy Dies, and a Clear Set of Stamps and matching Dies.  You can also get The Whole Studio, which includes all of the kits at a discount, plus a bonus item each month.  

A really nice bonus is that, once you subscribe to any of the kits, you also will get free shipping on all orders that you make at Hero Arts between the 1st and 5th of each month!

Spellbinders February Club Kits: Large Dies, Stitching Dies, and Embossing Folder

 Here are some more cards using more of the Spellbinders Club Kits for this month: Large Dies, Dancin' Happy Bunnies Everywhere, Stitching Dies, Stitched Scallop Card Front, and the regular Embossing folder, Wicker Basket.

supplies: white, blush, and various colored cardstock, a printed design paper, Stitched Scallop Card Front die, white embroidery floss, teeny Peach Blush gems, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies

The Stitching set comes with a smaller frame, and a tag.  

Don't you love those flirty little eyes we got this month?  Here's a little boy bunny to go along with her, paired with this month's embossing folder..

supplies: kraft cardstock, various colored cardstock, Dancin' Hoppy Bunnies Everywhere dies, Wicker Basket embossing folder

There are so many fun accessories in this Large Die kit: clothes to dress your bunnies, or bows, this fun chick, a carrot, flowers. I adapted the paint can to a little basket for the bunnies to collect their flowers or carrots. And I didn't even use the eggs that you can decorate!  The bunnies are called "Dancin'" because they are made with a separate die for their legs, with the hinged dancing feature that Spellbinders has used before.  Today I chose not to use that feature, and just glued the legs on to their bodies.

Here are the Kits I used today: 

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Happy Easter!

 I recently "discovered" this lovely cling stamp from Penny Black in my supplies, and decided to give it some love!

supplies: white and pink cardstock, (retired) Penny Black Easter Basket cling stamp from 2011, (retired) Hero Arts sentiment from Celebrate Everyday, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle stackable die

I know the main elements of this card are retired, but it is just too pretty of an image to ignore!  

I'm entering this into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes.

Hope you have a blessed Easter!

Spellbinders Club Kits for February: Dies of the Month and Embossing Folders

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for February are now available!!  The overall theme this month is spring and Easter, and the products are amazing!  

My first card features the Dies of the Month: Rainboot Bouquet.  The card base is embossed in the new Swirling Blooms folder.

supplies: white, greens, yellows, cream, pinks, blue and kraft cardstock, (new) Rainboot Bouquet dies, (new) Swirling Blooms embossing folder, sentiment and matching die from  (new) Lily Arch stamp/die of the month, adhesive foam squares

I adore spring flowers, and this set has them........daffodils, tulips, and what I thought looked like forget-me-nots.  And how fun to be able to put them into these cute rain boots!  I chose pink for mine,  but wouldn't they be cute in a ditzy floral print?  

Next up is the Large Dies of the Month kit.  They're called Floral Bunny Basket.  I couldn't wait to play with these once I spied that bunny butt!!!

supplies: various colors of cardstock, plus white and kraft, Floral Bunny Basket dies, new Easter Egg Hunt 3D embossing folder, sentiment and matching die from new Lily Arch clear stamp and die set

My basket covers up most of the embossed background, so here's a card that uses that Easter Egg Hunt 3D folder as the focal point.

supplies: white and purple cardstock, Easter Egg Hunt 3D embossing folder, white pigment ink, foiled sentiment and matching die from this month's hot foil glimmer kit: Daffodil Spray, Champagne glimmer foil

Now you can see more of the amazing details in this 3D folder.  I simply embossed it on colored cardstock, then gently swiped white pigment ink across it to help the elements stand out better, then added a foiled sentiment from the new Hot Foil Glimmer kit (you'll see that here in the days to come)

And finally, I love the sweet little lilies of the valley from the Floral Bunny Basket set and used only them to make a little bouquet.  The Swirling Blooms embossing folder even mimics them!

supplies: white, Green Apple, Audrey Blue, and Cotton Candy cardstock,  Floral Bunny Basket dies, Swirling Blooms embossing folder, sentiment from Lily Arch Stamp/Die, embossed in white, bow from Garden Wreath Add-Ons die set

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!  (and this will also get you a free bonus that will coordinate with the theme each month!)

Give Thanks

 I have another new release set of dies from Spellbinders today.  Nichol Spohr designed 3 sets of dies for her Happy Harvest Collection.  I'm playing with her Welcome Fall set.

supplies: cream, kraft, and fall colors of cardstock, Lawn Fawn (retired) Perfectly Plaid Fall dp, Spellbinders Welcome Fall dies, tumbled glass distress ink, Sugar Pea Designs Fall Fox sentiment

Nichol thought of everything we'd need for fall cards - pumpkins, apples, a bushel basket, and leaves!  There's even a wooden sign, which I didn't use this time.  For today's card I paired the dies with a plaid backing, and had a ball making my little harvest scene!

Once again, I thank Spellbinders for sharing these with me!

A Basket of Posies

It's April, and we are in need of some color!  Spring is progressing here, but not quite fast enough for me, so I made myself a little basket of what might be primroses!

supplies: all Tammy Tutterow Designs goodies: Crafter's Edge Posey Basket, and Posey Flowers, sets 1 - 4, sentiment from her Happy Grams #4 stamp and die set, kraft cardstock, and Doodlebug Designs Rainbow pads in ginghams, dots, stripes, florals, tiny yellow button centers, vintage photo distress ink to edge basket parts

My basket measures about 4 1/4" wide by 5 1/2" tall, and I made it into a card by tracing just the shape of the body of the basket, scoring it at the top, and gluing it to the top of the back of my woven basket.  I used the smallest flowers and leaf from the die sets, which are really made for cutting fabric for quilting, etc, but work just as well using paper.  

Here's a closer picture to show you all the darling little patterns in these Doodlebug pads.  I used both front and reverse of the papers.

If you'd like to see these die sets used for a similar card I made about a year ago, please click HERE.

It was a dreary day when I made this, but I spent some happy hours putting it together.  I hope you are finding some happy hours, too, during this challenging time.  Be well!

Pink Poseys

Here's another creation using some of Tammy Tutterow's dies from Crafter's Edge.

supplies: kraft and cream cardstock, lots of pink and green prints from Doodlebug and Sunny Studio paper pads, Vintage Photo distress ink, Tammy's Posey Basket, Posey Flowers Sets 1, 2, and 3, small yellow buttons, natural twine

The Basket die set cuts several pieces so that you can weave your basket.  I die-cut the pieces from kraft and then sponged each of the edges with distress ink to make them show up a bit better.  There are 2 long handles on this basket - for this card they provided a base to attach my flowers, so you don't see much of them.   The little tag and heart are also part of this die set.  I made this into a card by attaching a traced basket shape to the back of my woven basket, scoring the back about 3/4" down from the top and then gluing that section only to the back of my woven basket.  

I filled my basket with some 2- and 3-layer die-cut flowers, mixing up the tiny patterns, and adding little yellow buttons into their centers.  The finished card measures about 4 1/4" wide by 5 3/4" tall, so it will need its own envelope.  But if you bring the flowers down more over the basket, I think you could adjust this design to fit into an A2 envelope.

What a fun project this was to pull together!  These dies are designed primarily for use with fabric or felt, but as you can see, they translate nicely for paper, too.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Simon Says.......Pop It Up!

Happy Wednesday!  Welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our challenge this week is to "pop it up"!  And my teammates and I are playing with Lawn Fawn goodies!

It's September, so I take that as my okay to start making fall cards, and I have 2 for you today.

supplies: kraft and Audrey Blue cardstock, Bristol Paper for leaves, Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves dies, various distress inks, inking tool, Simon's Autumn Blessings and Small Forest Tree dies, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank cling stamp, Audrey Blue ink, May Arts natural twine, Little B acorn stickers, adhesive foam squares, Glad Press & Seal

I adore this Stitched Leaves die set, and use it every year!  The stitched accents hold up really well to inking, and give a nice detail to the leaves. This time I decided to make a spray of autumn leaves against a bright plank background (I love teal/aqua with fall colors).  So after sponging my leaves with lots of distress inks, I arranged them as you see, adding some branches here and there, and then pressed some Glad wrap over them to hold them as I wanted.  That was turned upside down so I could add some tape to hold everything together on the reverse.  When I had constructed the rest of my card, I added my favorite "popping" squares, attached the spray to my card, and then peeled off the wrap.

Up next, another thing I love about fall - fresh, crisp apples!

supplies: white and red cardstock, a kraft wood-grain embossed paper (for the basket), dps from Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Christmas and SN@P Wood and Notebook Basics pads,  Lawn Fawn's Thanks a Bushel stamp set, Simon's Stitched Rectangle and Circles dies, adhesive foam squares

I followed a sketch and used more planking and this bright cheery plaid for the panels, and to piece my apples.  The stitched circle and apple are popped up.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  Heidi has provided another $50.00 gift voucher

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

And don't forget about STAMPtember!

Birch Bouquet

Just sharing a card using a brand new stamp I just got.  It is definitely for spring and Easter!

supplies: Surf Blue card base, watercolor paper, Stampendous Birch Bouquet cling stamp, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, water brush, Simon's Painted Hello die, Winnie & Walter scalloped rectangle from Audrey's Cutaways

When I saw this stamp, that pussy willow handle just melted my heart!  And of course, I love the spring flowers that the basket is filled with!

Hope you're enjoying your Easter weekend!

Simon Says............Easter or Sweet Treats

Happy Wednesday!  That means it's time for a new challenge from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week our theme is Easter or Sweet Treats......and the design team are using products from Basic Grey.  I went with the Easter theme this week:

When I went looking in the Simon Says Stamp store, there were lots of possibilities for stamps with an Easter theme, but when I saw this Penny Black Easter Basket I stopped dead in my tracks and put it into my cart.  It's a nice size for cards, and was fun to color with my Spectrum Noir markers and a cream colored pencil.  I paired it with this pretty paper from Basic Grey's Fresh Cut 6" paper pad and some of their candy buttons in the corners.  My sentiment is in a Hero Arts set called Celebrate Everyday.  

If you haven't already, don't forget to visit the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog also, as my teamies once again made some fun cards this week!  What will you make for us?

We have another $50.00 gift voucher to be used at the Simon Says Stamp Superstore  for the random winner of this challenge.

Gingham Daisies

What's better than a basket of daisies?  Gingham daisies!!  As soon as I saw this inspiration picture of summertime colors for the Play Date Cafe Challenge this week, my mind went right to ginghams.

I already had the hot pink and orange ginghams, but not the turquoise. I remembered a site of printable ones.  They have 3 color families, with about 8 shades in each and 2 sizes of gingham in each shade.  Here it is, if there's anyone else out there who's batty about ginghams like me.

supplies: Hero Arts Cerulean layering paper, Core'dinations hot pink and orange card stock,  printed turquoise gingham, Making Memories Orange and Rasberry gingham dps, Hero Arts H3125 Heart Leaf Sketch, CL199 Sunny Smiles (basket), Papertrey tiny tags and stamp, Prismacolor spring green pencil for leaves and stems, hot pink ribbon, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, pearls.

CR84FN#26 and happy news!

I am so very excited to share with you that Mona Pendleton has asked me to be her guest designer for the month of May for her color challenge blog, CR84FN!  I am over the moon to be playing with Mona and the other members of her fabulous design team!!  Thank you, ladies!

Here are the colors we will be working with this week, and as a bonus, we're also celebrating Stephanie's birthday!

And here is my take on them:

supplies: kraft and white cardstock, yellow embossed and gold dotted dps (older scraps, sorry I can't identify them), BoBunny Mellow Yellow dot, (scalloped circle),  Papertrey Ink Vintage Picnic (basket and tulips) and Vintage Picnic Sentiments, versafine onyx black ink, Prisma colored pencils, Nesties circle and scalloped circle, paper doily, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Wraphia bow, brown button, twine


Happy Birthday, Stephanie!  To see this week's cards made by the Design Team, please visit their gorgeous blogs:  Mona, Suzanne, Deborah, Heather, Sue, Andrea, and Lisa.  I guarantee that you'll come away with inspiration overload!!  Thanks so much, ladies for allowing me to play with you this month!

CASE Study #8

This is our card this week by Mariana Grigsby that we are to CASE.  I love the flowers in the pitcher; it's something I do IRL when our gardens are blooming.  I also really like the lace below the ribbon and the button attached with twine.  Here is my submission this week:

Supplies: white and kraft cardstocks, designer papers from Cosmo Cricket Togetherness (thanks, Tif!)and My Little Shoebox, Versafine onyx black ink, Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, PTI Vintage Picnic, Hero Arts CL307 Sparkle Clear Mini Messages, scrap of loopy trim, pink gingham ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, button, twine

I used a basket of tulips, colored in pink and yellow, a combination I saw in a local garden a few springs ago.  I carried these colors throughout the card, adding some pink gingham ribbon and a bit of loopy trim.  I really like how this one turned out!

CASE study challenge #4

The CASE Study challenge gives us a card and we are to CASE it.  This is Makiko Jones' last card for us this month:

I love the autumn feel it has!  I had just been playing with my PTI Vintage Basket set, and had colored what are actually apples to make them look like peaches, so this was a case of being in the right place at the right time.  I used many of Maki's elements, the oval scallop, a flower, kraft cardstock.  I really liked the way she added her sentiment, by scalloping the designer paper and then adding a kraft panel with a ribbon to the bottom of the card......I followed suit.  I love the shade of these buttons, so I had to use them, and my sentiment is computer generated using 2 fonts.

Supplies: PTI Vintage Picnic, white, green, kraft cardstock, Heidi Grace designer paper (Jeepers Peepers reverse), peach buttons, flower and ribbon colored pencils, tiny olive button, twine

Daisy Basket

I made this card with 2 challenges in mind, the brand new CASE Stidu, to CASE this card by Makiko Jones:

.....and to use these colors from The Play Date Cafe:

Supplies: PTI Vintage Picnic and Vintage Picnic Sentiments, creamy ivory parchment and kraft cardstocks, papers from K&Company's mat pads called Bailey and by Susan Winget, versafine onyx black and Memories artprint brown inks, raffia ribbon, tiny green buttons