Woven

 Simon Hurley's new collection, Spring Sampler, debuted at Spellbinders about a week ago, and I asked to play with his new Woven 3D embossing folder.  I'm so glad I did!  Look at the detail!

I mixed it with several older Spellbinders dies.

supplies: kraft, black, greens, yellow, and orchid pink cardstock, Woven 3D embossing folder, Sealed Blooming Stems and Leaf Sprigs dies, bow from Garden Wreath Add-ons, sentiment from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops dies

Be sure to give Simon's collection a look!  

Thanks for dropping by today!

More October Birthdays

Here's some more birthday cards for this month.

First, I used the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit from September once again, this time working on kraft as my background and bringing in a magenta/color in place of the red I used last time.

supplies: kraft cardstock, Simon pink/apricot Color Blend Pastel cardstock, Hero Arts September Card Kit: window wreath die and stencil set, Simon Joys of Spring sentiment, Gelli Roll white pen

Next is a much simpler design, letting design paper and a large die do all the work.

supplies: kraft and cream parchment cardstock, Paper Rose Autumn Plaid design paper, My Favorite Things Big Birthday Wishes die

I trimmed the plaid paper and cut out the large die, then mounted it onto a cream cardstock matted with kraft.  Since this is for a guy, I decided to keep it simple and just finished by paper-piecing the letter details back in. 

Hope you're off to a great week - thanks for visiting!

Christmas Flourish

 Today's card makes use of a new embossing folder from Bekka Feeken's Christmas Flourish collection, which launched a few days ago.

supplies: Cream, Schoolhouse Red, green, and a kraft white core cardstock, Holly Flourish embossing folder, Mix & Match Holiday Greetings dies, holly leaves dies from Joy die set, tiny red pearls

I decided I wanted to make this into a mini slimline, so I cut out my white-core kraft panel, ran it through the new embossing folder, and then gently sanded the details to bring them out.  Then I just framed it up in red, put it onto a cream card base, and added my sentiment, holly leaves, and pearl "berries".

This new embossing folder measures 5 3/4" X 8 3/4", so making a slimline card with it is a nice option to our usual A2 ones.  Big thanks to Spellbinders for sharing it with me!

Simon Says.......Anything Goes

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

It's an Anything Goes week, and the team is featuring CZ Design products.  You don't need to use this brand in order to enter, but if you do have any of them, we'd love to see what you do with them!

supplies: kraft, black, and Green Apple cardstock, a text patterned paper, CZ Design Silhouette Sentiments clear stamps, lime enamel dots

I have a bonus card this week, simply because this CZ Design Just Because die is a favorite of mine.

supplies: white, various shades of mint to navy cardstock, Just Because die, Hero Arts butterfly die, sequins to match

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!

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?

Thankful Wreath

I love making wreaths at this time of year.......here's a card that mixes lots of different companies' products with a gingham background.

supplies: white, kraft, various golds, oranges and greens cardstock, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, Spellbinders flowers, and Memory Box (?) berry sprig dies, Sugar Pea Fall Fox sentiment, Impression Obsession Gingham background cling

 And once again, it appears that most of these supplies have been discontinued; sorry about that.  

Thanks for stopping by today!

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

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

It's Anything Goes week, and the team is playing with Concord & 9th goodies!  I chose a turnabout set with a coffee theme and made 2 cards this week.

supplies: white, kraft, and Lipstick Red cardstock, Concord & 9th Coffee Blend Turnabout stamps, Coffee Break, Tide Blue, and Heart Beat inks, adhesive foam

This stamp set has everything you'll need to make coffee-themed cards - besides the turnabout stamp, there are several sentiments, this large mug, and several other coffee cups, even some coffee beans!

supplies: kraft and Audrey Blue cardstock, Concord & 9th Coffee Blend Turnabout stamp set, Coffee Break and Sweet Dreams mini inks, MFT Mini Stitched Square die, a Doodlebug heart sprinkle, adhesive foam

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!

Bluebird of Happiness?

One of my summer joys is waking up with the windows open and hearing the birds singing.  Here's a card that embodies that feeling, using some Tim Holtz Chapter 2 dies.

supplies: woodgrain kraft, corals, greens, and a pale gold cardstock, Tim Holtz Feathered Friends, Funky Wreath, and Funky Foliage dies, tumbled glass, broken china, and vintage photo distress inks to color bird, one of Tim's Small Talk Occasions stickers, adhesive foam to lift bird

I die-cut the leafy wreaths in 3 different greens and stacked them randomly, then made my flowers and bird.  The woodgrain cardstock was part of a Simon Card Kit from 2016!  

What's your favorite thing about summer?

A Set of Cards

Today I'm playing with The Greetery's Botanicut Sunflower dies.  After I'd made the first card, I really liked how the color looked so much richer against the kraft cardstock, so I decided to make a set of 4 cards, each using the common element of kraft cardstock plus another pastel, and changing up the sentiments for each.

supplies: kraft, Cotton Candy, yellow, Lavender, Surf Blue, and Green Leaf cardstock, plus darker shades of pinks, yellows, purples and aquas, The Greetery Botanicuts Sunflower dies, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangle die, sentiment dies from My Favorite Things and Winnie & Walter

Here are my cards one by one.

Each of these uses the same recipe, to start with the palest of each color, and use it for the base of the flowers, the sentiment, and the card base, then use darker shades of that color for the flowers.  The Hemstitch Rectangle, a workhorse for me, helps to break up the kraft just enough.

We're off to a new week, another week closer to returning to normal, I hope!  Stay home, please!

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!

Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #2: Never Seen Ink

Hero Arts is kindly giving us a challenge once a week.  This week the theme is "Never Seen Ink": to use a stamp that you've never inked before.

Years ago a sweet friend was de-stashing, and sent me her Hero Arts flower stamps.  This woodblock stamp is one of them.  It's called Tall Flower, and is dated 2010.

supplies: white, orchid pink, and Desert Storm cardstock, Hero Arts K5431 Tall Flower woodblock stamp, sentiment from their All Occasion Messages, CL272, Sunny Studio Frilly Frame Lattice die, Nuvo markers in Flamingo and  Lucky Clover, pink pearls as berries/buds, adhesive foam to lift up flowers

I added one of my all-time favorite Hero Arts sentiments, and popped up the flowers which had been stamped and colored on white cardstock and added some pearls for a bit of dimension.  

It's feeling like I've come full circle with Hero Arts.  Back when they started their blog, they used to have challenges for us on Flickr once a week or so, and that's where I had my education in stamping.

More Blooms Turnabout cards

I have 2 more cards today that I made last weekend during my play with the Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout set.

supplies: white, dark kraft, and a scrap of turquoise cardstock, Blooms Turnabout stamp set, Deep Blue Seas and Coffee Break mini ink cubes, Impression Obsession Top Edger die

I wanted to make something towards the masculine side, so I chose tans/browns and blues for this one.

Then, of course, I had to do a girly one!

supplies: black, white, and Doll Pink cardstock, Blooms Turnabout, Cherry Blossom and Sea Shore mini ink cubes, sentiment from Simon Hello Darling, Sunny Studio Frilly Eyelet Lace die, black pearls

The sentiment with it's little flowers and leaves is a good match for this background, I think.  I clear embossed it to bring it out as much as I could against the busy background. 

And I couldn't resist a shot of all 4 of my cards using my new favorite turnabout stamps!  You can see the details for the other 2 HERE.

Simon Says.......Besotted with Our Pets

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

The theme this week is Besotted with Our Pets, and the team is showcasing Clearly Besotted goodies!  I come from an animal-loving family, especially my youngest sister........as a child, she had pets ranging from mice to a turtle, 5 baby raccoons, a porcupine named Barney, a squirrel, and as an adult, fish, doves, ferrets, a hedgehog, and always a dog or 2.  We all thought she'd become a veterinarian, but she's a fitting model and a musician!

I've had dogs during most of my life: our Dad's hunting beagles, and dachshunds, then a lab mix when our boys were with us, so I chose this darling Puppy Love set.  Who can resist a puppy?  I couldn't decide which of these I liked best, so I used all 3 of them.

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, Clearly Besotted Puppy Love, Cookies & Cream markers to color, Simon's Stitched Circle and MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle dies, adhesive foam to pop up puppy inside circle

I'm no colorist, but I think you can still see how adorable these puppies are - the sentiment and the paw print are also part of the set, along with more sentiments, a ball, and a bone.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 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!

Some New Dies

I recently treated myself to some new goodies from The Greetery.  Today I'm playing with Betsy's Pine Bough dies, and I'm in love!  Here are my first 2 cards.  The first is a bit more elegant.

supplies: Desert Storm, Green Apple, Green Leaf, gold mirror, and 2 other kraft cardstock, Pine Bough dies, MFT Joy die, bow from PinkFresh Studio Bow die, Penny Black Stitched Stackers die, glue pen and glitter

My second card has a country feel to it.

supplies: 2 shades of kraft, Peacock Teal and a darker green, Schoolhouse Red cardstock, a plank dp, Pine Bough dies, Tim Holtz Holiday Words and Funky Festive berries, clear rock candy distress stickles and clear rock candy distress glitter, bow made from crinkle paper

These dies are so realistic - Betsy used several layers for both the pine and the cones.  I'm sure you'll be seeing lots more of them from me!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Simon Says.......Traditional Christmas

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

This week our theme is Traditional Christmas, and the team is highlighting Tim Holtz goodies!  

I paired some Funky dies with a Simon sentiment and a lovely cling background.

supplies: cream, Schoolhouse Red, Green Leaf, kraft, yellow, brown, various other green cardstock, Tim Holtz Funky Festive dies, Simon's Rejoice die, Impression Obsession Joy to the World cling stamp, antique linen distress ink

These pieces are on the small side for these old eyes, so it took me a little bit to piece some of the elements, but I love the results. Using Press 'n Seal really helped me to make my arrangement, too.

My next card is a bit more whimsical.

supplies: kraft, Peacock Teal, Schoolhouse Red, and gold foil cardstock, Tim Holtz Gingham Layering Stencil, festive berries distress ink, Mini Holiday Greens and  Holiday Words dies, twine, jingle bells

I used Tim's new Gingham stencil, and added a touch of peacock instead of the more usual green.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift certificate 

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