Last of the Roses.......

As I said earlier, we've been away for a few weeks, to Maine and Nova Scotia, trying to find some fall weather.  We were unsuccessful,  but enjoyed the change of beautiful scenery and wonderful fresh seafood!  Our daughter-in-law wondered if we would turn into lobsters, we ate so much of it!

As I always do after taking that much time off, I have a hard time getting back into creating.  So for these first few days I've been using materials that are no-brainers, and practically make a card themselves, like these amazing Altenew floral dies.  I paired them with some Doodlebug cardstock to allow me to use 3 shades of this corally pink, and made the leaves a darker green than I usually use.....I like the results!

supplies: ivory cardstock, Altenew Fantasy Florals dies, 3 different corals/pinks and a yellow from Doodlebug Rainbow Textured cardstock collection and an unknown dark green for the leaves, sentiment from Hero Arts Hello Sunshine Daisies, Winnie & Walter Audrey's Cutaways stitched scalloped rectangle die, Doodlebug enamel hearts sprinkles

This time I used some thin foam adhesive to separate the 3 layers of the roses from each other, and after arranging them I just added a sweet sentiment and some hearts that match perfectly in color, thanks to them both being Doodlebug products!  I was trying to recreate our knockout Rainbow roses, which are still blooming.

A Grateful Heart

Here's another card using the Brushstrokes Messages stamp set from Simon's October Card Kit.  This time I used fall colors.

supplies: white cardstock, brush strokes and heart from Simon's Brush Stroke Messages clear stamp set, Simon's Fresh Fruit ink cubes and VersaFine Onyx black ink, sentiment from a (retired) Hero Arts September 2016 card kit, gold glitter hearts

I used just one of the brush stroke stamps repeatedly, using fall colored ink, shortening the strokes as I went upwards.  I stamped the sentiment, then added a heart from the set stamped to give a feel of falling leaves, and a bit of glitz with the heart stickers to finish.

Hope you're having a great Sunday - thanks for stopping by!

Simon's October Card Kit: Brushstroke Messages

We've been on our annual September getaway these last few weeks, and returned to find my Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for October waiting for me!  It's always hard to get started creating after a layoff, so I decided to dive right in using this kit.  Here's my first card using it:

supplies: Simon's Brushstroke Messages Card Kit for October, which included Soft Navy cardstock, My Mind's Eye Blush paper pad, Simon's Spiral Flower die, Brushstroke Messages clear stamps, Simon's Steel Navy embossing powder

I used one of the foiled patterned papers for my background, and stamped the sentiment with Versamark and the new Steel Navy embossing powder.  I die-cut 3 of the Spiral Flowers from pink, white, and navy and mixed and matched the frame and inner parts of them, and added some leaves fussy-cut from another of the patterned papers.  Then the panel was added to a Soft Navy card base.  Everything was in the kit except the center dots of my flowers.

It looks like the kit sold out, but I've listed as many of the elements that I could up there under supplies.  Here's what the kit looks like - it has some beautiful My Mind's Eye foiled copper patterned papers, and a fabulous new stamp set that includes lots of brush strokes!  Can't wait to play with them next!

Five for Friday!

Tomorrow is Five for Friday at Tammy Tutterow's blog, and I've made a favorite kind of card - an autumn wreath, with her Bitty Posies dies!

supplies: kraft, white, Simon's Green Apple, Green Leaf, Sunshine, Orange Peel, Burnt Orange, and Lipstick Red card stock, Tammy's BITTY POSIES dies, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank cling stamp, Hero Arts Wet Cement ink, Simon's Chisolm Wreath and Stitched Rectangle dies, sentiment from Newton's Nook Autumn Newton, buttons, May Arts natural twine

After stamping my plank background, I cut the twig wreath and the flowers and leaves, adding tiny buttons to the flowers, and then played with them until I liked the arrangement.  I wanted the wreath to be the star here, so I kept my sentiment small, and garnished it with some more little buttons.

I encourage you to visit Tammy's Blog to see what my talented sisters have done this time!

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

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

As always at the end of each month, our theme is Anything Goes!  You can make anything you'd like!  My teamies and I are playing with Stampendous products this week.

Stampendous has a stamp series based on the art of Laurel Burch, and these stamps are so different from what I already have, that I wanted to try one of them.  If you like to color, you will love these!  This one's called Lion with Bird.   I added my own sentiment, one from a Simon set.

supplies: white card base, Bristol paper, strips of Simon Sunshine, Island Blue, Orange Peel, and Green Leaf cardstock, Stampendous Laurel Burch Lion with Bird, Spectrum Noir Essentials and Primaries colored pencils, sentiment from Simon's Wild Cuddly Critters, Die-Namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Uniball white pen, adhesive foam squares

I tried coloring this image 3 times, once with alcohol markers, once with Zig markers, and lastly with colord pencils.  I chose that last option because I had more color choices that way, and could do a little bit of shading.  After stamping and coloring the image, I added in white dots where there were any in the design, then trimmed it out with a wonky stitched die.  The bird was stamped and colored a second time to pop him above the card, as was the flower, and I added some card stock strips as a border to pull the colors outward.

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!

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!

Five for Friday!

Here's a card that I made for the Five for Friday post at Tammy Tutterow's blog  - - I'm playing with some more of her newest Happy Grams 4 release!

supplies: Bristol paper, Bazzill Candy Necklace card stock, Tammy's Nothing But Love cling background stamp, Sentiments 2 stamp and die, and smallest Prim Heart die, twisted citron, lucky clover and mowed lawn distress ink with water to watercolor, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, Doodlebug Rainbow Heart sprinkles

I'm so pleased that she's given us another text background to play with!  Since I did a heart/love-themed card last time in traditional pinks, I thought I'd choose some very non-traditional colors for this kind of card - it may appeal better to guys in these colors.  So I stamped and white embossed the background, then diluted my 3 distress inks and washed the colors over the stamped panel.  That was trimmed, attached to my card base and then I just added Tammy's Prim Heart, sponged in lucky clover and spritzed, some little enamel hearts, and the sentiment.

I hope you'll visit Tammy's Blog to see what my talented sisters have done this time!

Simon Says...........Clean & Simple

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

Our theme this week is Clean & Simple, and we are being sponsored by CASual Fridays!  They were so nice to let us each choose a stamp set for this challenge!   Here's the card I made with mine - it's September, so I'm running with a fall theme!

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, and Burnt Orange cardstock, Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Fall dp, CASual Fridays Calm & Loving stamp set, Simon's Watermelon, Lemon Zest, and Orange Slush mini inks, and a brown ink, My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Scallop rectangle 

I love that the "leaves" are all hearts, and there are lots of sentiments in this set that will work for lots of occasions.  And you wouldn't necessarily have to use the tree trunk each time, either, just the circle of hearts would be fun to stamp as confetti.  There are also several sizes of tiny hearts, which I used to make my tree even denser.  And can you see that the sentiment has teensy hearts dotting the "i"s?  For this heart girl, this set has it all - I know I'll be using this one lots!

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!

More Lace!

I've always loved lace, so when I saw the new Altenew cover plate Doodle Lace die, I had to have it!  Here's my first card using it:

supplies: white and black card stock, script design paper, Doodle Lace cover plate, Zig markers in pale colors, Simon's Thanks dies, white pearls, Darice adhesive strips

This makes a fairly easy card, and those adhesive strips are exactly right for lifting the panel above your card.  Too bad they've been sold out forever!

Hope you're off to a great week!

Hello Fall

Still playing with my (new to me) stitched leaf wreath......here's another card featuring it!  (I probably should have combined both posts today into 1)

supplies: Hero Arts pool layering paper, watercolor paper, kraft card stock, and lots of printed design papers, Simon's Stitched Leaf Wreath, Stampendous Autumn Words background, VersaMark and white embossing powder, peacock feathers distress ink diluted with water, sentiment from Sugar Pea Fall Fox, twine, MFT stitched tag, adhesive foam squares

I started by cutting out my wreath die from a panel of watercolor paper.  After removing the leaves, I overstamped the panel in VersaMark, heat embossed it in white powder, then washed it with some diluted peacock feathers distress ink.  Then I cut more leaves from a plaid paper, and popped them into place above my stitched wreath, and then fit more leaves (left over from this card) under the plaid ones to fill the wreath out.  Here's a closer shot to show you the dimension.  At this angle, you can see in the bottom right where the wreath die originally was cut from the background.

To finish I just stamped and cut a stitched tag and tucked it in, along with a twine bow.

I'm pleased with the way this turned out - love the combo of fall colors and aqua/teal/turquoise, and mixing text into anything always pleases me!

Wreath of Leaves

It's taken me 2 years, but I finally brought home Simon's Stitched Leaf Wreath. (It debuted in STAMPtember, 2015).  This die cuts out stitched leaves, and leaves a wreath shape outlined by stitches.  I pulled out my fall paper pads, and cut a bunch of them using subtle prints in fall colors.

supplies: ivory and kraft cardstock, various fall design papers, Simon's Stitched Leaf Wreath, Chisolm Wreath, and Autumn Blessings dies

First I cut the wreath in a variety of patterned papers, then I trimmed my ivory panel, die-cut the wreath again, and inlaid some of  the leaves back in.  Next I added a double layer of the Chisolm twig wreath, and then another layer of the leaves, using just the maple ones.  The Autumn Blessings die finished the panel, which was then popped above my card base.  I like the way the stitching around the wreath looks!

Hope your weekend goes well; let's all send up a prayer for Florida!

Anemones & Lace

I recently bought myself a pretty rectangle lace/doily die and here's my first play with it:

supplies: ivory, black, and Cotton Candy card stock, Bristol paper, PTI Mix & Mat Scallops dies, Wplus9 Modern Anemones, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, My Favorite Things Beautiful Blooms sentiments, Winnie & Walter Audrey cutaway, adhesive foam squares

This little doily is actually 3 separate dies, but I left them attached for this card, and popped it above the pink backing.

I'd like to jump into Kathy's current 30 Day Coloring Challenge with this one!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Simon Says.........Stamp It!

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

It's STAMPtember!  And our theme this week is "Stamp It!"

STAMPtember is a very special month on the Simon Says Stamp calendar and this week we are showcasing some of the latest STAMPtember products.  You may not yet have any of the new products, but we would appreciate your using Simon's Exclusive Products if you have them, although it isn't necessary to join in with the challenge.

I was thrilled to receive this labrador die!  Although both my husband and I had dogs growing up, we have had only 1 dog in our marriage, a yellow lab mix that we named Brandy.   Brandy lived to be 16, and was spoiled rotten!  I cut this die out in colors that most look like his coloring, and gave his head that tilt that was so endearing.  His scarf is not part of the die - I added that myself - you'll see why as you keep scrolling.

supplies: cream, beige, kraft, dark brown, black, and Schoolhouse Red cardstock, MFT Watercolor Wash Brights dp (blue), Doodlebug Gingham paper pad, Tim Holtz adhesive cork, Simon's Picture Book Labrador die, punched hearts, sentiment from Newton's Nook Fetching Friendship, innermost ovals from Impression Obsession Ornate Oval Frame

Here's an old snapshot of our boy.

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!

Grateful Wreath

I haven't entered a challenge in awhile, so when I came across the sketch for Taylored Expressions 9th Birthday, I had to have a play!

supplies: white cardstock, design papers from Echo Park Perfect Autumn, Lawn Fawn Knock on Wood, and Doodlebug Flea Market, Frogs Whiskers Bittersweet Wreath cling stamp, Taylored Expressions grateful die, My Favorite Things bow die from retired Spring Wreath die set, Simon's Stitched Circle die, tiny pearls

When I saw the circle in the sketch, my mind went to a wreath, and I chose this Grapevine Wreath for the season.  I got the grateful die with an order from Taylored Expressions, probably last year, and I cut it out 3 times for this card, since the blue was on the pale side......

I'm grateful that TE doesn't require us to use any particular products to enter their challenges.  I love to pull out my oldies that may have been discontinued, like this wreath, and give them some love again!