Simon Says.......White on White

Welcome to another challenge at Simon Says Stamp!  This week we have a gorgeous photo collage inspiration that our Joy made up for us, and the challenge is White on White!  The design team is using Cuttlebug products - I know you'll want to play along, too!  Here's Joy's inspiration piece:

My eyes fastened on the whitewashed woods and all the flowers and here's what I came up with this week:

I started with a piece of paper from My Mind's Eye Bramble Rose pad and built up from there, using my Cuttlebug machine for almost everything else on my card.  First I embossed the trellis design (a cuttlebug embossing folder called Wicker Weave) on a vellum panel and attached that to my white-washed boards background.  Next I die-cut some Sizzix Sizzlits Branch with Leaves and added them.  The roses are My Favorite Things large and mini Rolled Roses.  And to finish, I made a little banner using a sentiment from Hero Arts Friend You're the Best stamp set. 

Heidi has again provided another $50.00 gift voucher for the random winner of this challenge.  I know you're going to fill the gallery with beauty this week!

Each Day

I wanted to highlight this beautiful doily that is included in the Simon February CardKit - the center of it is so delicate and unique.  And I recently received this amazing Penny Black stamp called Bed of Roses.  Yellow roses have always been my favorite, so that's how I colored these.  I thought they'd look pretty against the Bazzill Stonehenge cardstock included in the kit.  I glued the doily to my card, popped the trimmed roses at the top and added a banner with the sentiment from the Like Your Style stamps in the Kit.  Pearls seemed the perfect touch to this feminine card.

Love You

I've had so much DT work lately that I haven't really played for myself in awhile.  I've seen some beautiful cards recently as a result of the Clean and Simple Card Class and decided to do something using a mask.  Here's my result:

I simply made a mask from a Nesties Scalloped Heart die, centered it over my white card, and overstamped  this Edged Fabric with Flowers stamp in black, then quickly clear-embossed it.  Then I colored in the flowers and leaves with markers and stamped the sentiment (from Simon's Just a Love Note).  Doesn't this remind you of something from Mary Engelbreit?   I think this will be going to a certain little granddaughter.......

Missing You

My favorite dp in the SSS February Card Kit is this pretty cloud one.  Here's a card I made using it:

I don't think I need to explain anything......everything is in the kit except for that sentiment, which is from a Hero Arts set (CL583 Right at Home) and the cloud dies.   I used HA Latte chalk ink to stamp..

Cross My Heart

supplies: white cardstock,  pool layering paper, Nesties scalloped heart die, Hero Arts CL586 XO, bubblegum mid-tone ink, VersaFine onyx black ink, Recollections paper roses

Here's my entry for the current Tuesday Trigger - isn't it a great inspiration picture?

Hugs to a Friend

Seems ages since I've played along at the monthly Hero Arts contest.  This month the theme is Love and Lace, and we have a sketch to follow also. 

The background paper is from Authentique's Lovely collection, and the stripe is from Simple Stories SN@P color vibe pad.  My stamps are all Hero Arts, from these sets: AC002 Untitled Heart, CL564 Friend You're the Best, and the sentiment from CL586 XO.  The felt button is from my stash, and I added those 3 tiny red hearts from Simon's Just a Love Note set in 2 different places.  I stamped in Red Royal ink, a perfect match to the papers.

You should give this contest a try!  Each month Hero Arts gives away a $50.00 shopping spree to 10 judged winners and 2 random winners!  

Hey Girlfriend!

Here's another card using the supplies in the Simon Says Stamp February 2013 CardKit.  I decided to make a little flower bouquet with the adhesive buttons, and used the stamp set to make some tiny leaves to go with them.  I pierced the adorable envelope to pull the long string attached to the tag through to the back, tying the ends into a bow, so that the tag can be inserted into the envelope and closed for mailing.  

Just look at all of the fun items in this kit!  Such a fun set!

Valentine Blog Hop at The Craft's Meow

Hello! Today is the day for our monthly blog hop at The Craft's Meow!  Each month on this date we'll have a hop with a different theme; this month it's Valentines or Love.  There are many stamps at The Craft's Meow that can be adapted to this theme, and this blog hop will hopefully give you some new and fun ideas.

You should have arrived here from Karen's blog.  If you'd like to start from the beginning, just go to The Craft's Meow for a list.  Here's my card for today:

I love this little butterfly girl from Butterfly Kisses and for this card I stamped her in red.  I also stamped the largest heart from Valentine Wishes, and cut it out, then covered the dandelion she's holding.  I used a Nesties Labels Twenty die to cut her out, framed it, and then attached it to a white card along with a panel of printed paper from Doodlebug Designs Sweet Cakes.  The sentiment is also from Valentine Wishes.  And to finish I punched out some little red hearts.  I know just who I'll be sending this to!

                      

Your next stop is at Lindsay's blog; I know she's made something sweet for you!  And don't forget to leave a comment at the Craft's Meow blog, because one lucky person will win a stamp set of your choice!

Simon Says......Have a Heart

Happy Wednesday, friends!  Wednesdays mean a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog, and this week our theme is "Have a Heart" - make a Valentine or use a heart on your creation.

The Design Team and Guest Designer Sem are all using Simon Says exclusive dies or stamps this week; we'd love to see some of yours, too, but it's not necessary to enter the challenge, as long as you follow our theme.  Here's what I made this week:

I really had fun with this one!  I used my newest SSS die called String of Hearts, cutting out several different red prints from a doodlebug designs Valentine pad from last year, and "tied" it between 2 Small Forest Trees.  Then I used the smallest hearts from Holiday Shapes to make my leaves, using both solid and dotted green papers.  I stamped the sentiment from Just a Love Note using Hero Arts Red Royal mid-tone ink, and stamped my faux-stitched "grass" using Hero Arts Grass chalk ink.

I originally stopped at that point, but felt that I needed something else, and then I remembered my new Studio Calico Birds wood veneer shapes.........I rubbed them right onto my barn door distress ink, let them dry a bit, then popped them onto my trees.

Generous Heidi has given us another $50.00 gift voucher for the random  winner of this challenge, to spend on whatever your heart desires!  I can't wait to see what you make us this week!

Feminine Valentne

I wanted the Simon Says Stamp February 2013 CardKit to make mostly Valentines, and here's another one, using the one of the gorgeous papers, along with the doily from the kit.

The sentiment comes from the Simon stamp set Just a Love Note - love the script font and it goes along with all the other girly elements on my card.  The pink rose is from my own stash.  

Hey Girlfriend!

I am playing with the newest CardKit from Simon Says Stamp - LOVE all the papers in it!  Everything on my card is included in the kit except for the little pearl in the flower center:

This could be for any occasion, but I'll be using it for a girlfriend Valentine, because of those sweet dangling hearts; the new Hero Arts Pale Tomato mid-tone ink is a perfect match to the papers!  I hear that this kit is getting close to selling out, so better hurry if you'd like it!

Pure Play

When I saw the adorable Tuesday Trigger that Cath posted for us this week:

my mind went instantly to making a card using ONLY die-cuts.  I don't have all my supplies here in Florida, but I do have most of my dies, so I pulled out a Doodlebug Design pad called Hello Spring, and started die-cutting these elements in the soft spring colors of the papers.  Here's my take on the Trigger:

I used the Oh Happy Day, an exclusive Simon Says Stamp die along with the Wplus9 dies called Folk Art Florals, adding some natural twine to hang the birdhouse, and some small buttons in spring colors.  

This was really fun, thanks, Cath, for the inspiration!  Happy Birthday to your Mom; I hope that her birthday was a happy day for her!

And since this incorporates letters, I'd also like to enter this into CAS-ual Friday's Love Letters challenge.

Snip and Stick

If you're here to see my card using the February sketch at The Craft's Meow, please click HERE.

Happy February, all!  Today I'm thrilled to share that I'll be a Guest Designer at A Blog Named Hero this month; thank you, Mary Dawn and Linda, for this honor!

The challenge for this first half of the month is paper-piecing, one of my favorite techniques.  Playing with fun printed papers is just like playing with fabrics like I did when I was a quilter.  Today I used a 6" paper pad from pebbles called "Family Ties", and 2 of my favorite Hero Arts stamps, Pattern Hearts and Flowers and Made with Love.

I used a 3/4" square punch for the squares that I used around the border on my card, which I cut to 4 1/2" X 5 1/4" to make everything fit, and a Nesties Scalloped Rectangle die for the white panel.  The flowers were stamped on 4 of the papers, then pieced back together as shown, and then popped up above the card.  To finish I added some pearls.

Please visit A Blog Named Hero to see the Design Team's projects for this challenge - I know you'll be blown away!   And I hope you'll make something, too!

February sketch at The Craft's Meow!

It's the first day of a new month and that means another sketch challenge at The Craft's Meow!  Nina has given us another beauty:

I just got the new pad of Farm Girl papers by October Afternoon, so I pulled those out for my card.  So glad I also got the matching brads - they fit perfectly in the centers of my flowers!

I used 2 TCM sets for this card, Stitched Sentiments II and Stitched Flowers.

   

I hope you'll visit The Craft's Meow blog to see some more examples from the Design Team using the sketch, and then enter!  The winner will receive a TCM set of her choice!

You can enter as often as you like, and it's not necessary to use TCM stamps, although if you do and win, you'll also get a 15% discount on a 2nd set of your choice!  You have all month to enter; the deadline is Feb. 28 at 9:00 PM Pacific.   Hope to see you there!