A Summer Hello

I'm enjoying seeing everyone's take on slimline cards.  Here's one that reflects summer, based on the colors of the gorgeous zinnias in our garden this year!

supplies: white and Green Apple cardstock, Wplus9 Doodle Buds, Zig markers and water to color, sentiment from Simon's Sea You Soon (retired, from 2017), adhesive foam squares to lift flowers and leaves

These Doodle Buds have always been a favorite of mine - so glad they're still available!  I especially love those squiggles that I used as framing - they are so fun!

Here's a little snapshot of those zinnias that inspired me - I love running out to the garden and snipping a few stems for a little bouquet.  I added some dill flowers to these.

 

The Littlest Things

 Recently I was looking at the newest arrivals at the Simon Says Stamp store, and came across this quote from Winnie the Pooh.  I discovered Pooh Bear later than most and have a soft-spot in my heart for all things Pooh!  So of course, this stamp came home to live with me.  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: white, Green Apple, and coral cardstock, vellum, Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout, Impression Obsession Little Things cling stamp, flower and leaf sprig dies, Doodlebug tiny heart sprinkle

Since this sentiment is on the larger side, I decided I wanted it to be the focal point of my card.  I also remembered this amazing card by Wanda that I had pinned because I loved her choice of colors for the floral background.  So I made my background panel using Wanda's colors.  After all that work, I was hesitant to stamp my sentiment directly onto the panel, so to be safe, I stamped it on vellum, and then wrapped it around the floral.  Then I added a flower and some leaves.

In hindsight, I think I probably could have gotten away with stamping directly over the background - I'll try that next.

Simon Says.........Oh So Cute

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

This week our theme is "Oh So Cute", and the team will be playing with Picket Fence Studio products.  I chose their BFF Owl - isn't she cute with her string of pearls??!!

supplies: white and kraft cardstock, MFT Lucky Prints dp, Picket Fence BFF Owl clear stamp, sentiment from Simon Coffee and Tea, Sunny Studio Fancy Frames Circle die, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop Border die, Doodlebug heart sprinkles, adhesive foam to lift up owl and frame

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!

Don't forget about our Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, running all this month! 

Quilted Stencil

 I just received an order from Simon Says Stamp, and one of the things I got was a stencil that I have long had on my wishlist.  Here's my first play with it, and I love it - why did I wait so long?

supplies: eggshell and Lipstick Red cardstock, Quilted stencil, festive berries distress ink, blender brush, retired MFT sentiment, Sunny Studio Eyelet Frilly Frames die, adhesive strip to lift sentiment

The pattern on this stencil is a very close match to a traditional Ohio Star quilt, which is usually done in red and white, so that was my color decision made!  I used distress ink to stencil, and when dry, I embossed the stencil also.  This gives a nice subtle texture when you touch the surface, just like a real quilt!  The panel was trimmed to fit inside this lovely eyelet frame, and then I just popped my sentiment above the card.  

Here's version #2, using lots of fall colors of distress inks.

supplies: cream and Audrey Blue cardstock, Quilted stencil, distress inks, sentiment from Neat & Tangled Hello Fall, Audrey Blue ink, Stitched Rectangle die

I masked around each section and changed inks for each "block".  I always try to bring in some blue when I use these harvest colors. Once again, I embossed the panel before putting my card together. 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!

Old and New

I love cover dies and have been wanting this heart one forever!  Today I mixed it with some older stamps for my card.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Honey Bee Stamps Fluttering Hearts cover plate, Stampendous Jar Bouquet woodblock stamp, and a Tammy Tutterow sentiment, Zig markers 

This canning jar stamp has a date of 2013 on it - I still love the mix of flowers in it, like something a little child would pick for his Mom. Tammy's sentiment was a no-brainer to go with all the hearts.

As always, thanks for coming by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Becca Feeken's new Halloween collection!

I have some Halloween cards today using the new Becca Feeken Halloween Collection!  I received her Spooky Boo and Spooky Cottage dies.

For my first one, I decided to cut black silhouettes and make a fun scene using my go-to colors for Halloween cards: purple, green, gold, orange, and black, of course!

supplies: black, gold, purple, and Green Apple cardstock, cat and small bat from Spooky Boo dies, tree, fence, large bat and sentiment from Spooky Cottage dies, circle die, googly eyes

This was fun to put together!  I stamped a swirly magical background onto the purple sky, added some green ground, then cut a gold circle for my moon, shading it with ripe persimmon ink, and then added my black silhouettes. I pulled the bats' wings forward and stacked my sentiment for some added dimension; the googly eyes I have fit perfectly into the Boo!  There are lots of fun details built into these dies!  

There's a little 2-piece mummy die in the Spooky Cottage set that I wanted to use on my 2nd card.

supplies: white, kraft, pale grey, and black cardstock, scraps of Doodlebug Halloween printed papers, Spooky Cottage mummy dies, (retired) Hero Arts Halloween sentiment

A much simpler design this time - I dug out some ancient leftover scraps of printed Halloween papers to  showcase my fun Mummies!

Hope I've given you some smiles today - thanks for dropping by!

Simon Says............Midsummer Blues

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

Our theme this week is "Midsummer Blues", and the team will be highlighting Memory Box products. Blue has always been my favorite color, so I loved this idea, and used 2 lovely shades of it in a simple design for this week's cards.

supplies: white and white woodgrain cardstock, Memory Box Catalina Wreath die, Simon's Bold Hello and Butterfly Shimmer dies, blueprint sketch and mermaid lagoon oxide inks and blender brushes, aqua gems, adhesive foam strips to lift 2nd wreath

I blended blueprint sketch and mermaid lagoon oxides onto 2 scraps of white cardstock and cut out 2 wreaths.  I used the scraps of the inked panels to cut out my sentiment and the little butterflies, then attached them all to my woodgrain background, lifting the 2nd wreath above the first to give it some wispy-ness, if that's a word!  I love how this turned out!

I thought these 2 oxide blues looked so pretty together, that I made a 2nd card with them.

supplies: white cardstock, Memory Box Daisy Silhouette dies, Simon Smile Circle die, mermaid lagoon and blueprint sketch oxide inks, markers to color stems and daisy centers

I just blended the 2 inks, spritzed with water, then trimmed down my panel so that I had a wider than normal white border, and added the die-cuts.

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!

Don't forget about our Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, running all this month! 

One Big Hug

I got these Flower Frame dies earlier this year, and thought it was time to play with them again.

supplies: white cardstock, various Doodlebug Designs patterned papers, Lawn Fawn Stitched Flower Frame dies, (retired) Winnie & Walter Noel die, Sunny Studio Fancy Frame Circle die, (retired) Simon Says Stamp Happy Every Day sentiment, button and twine, adhesive foam to lift flower and leaves

I used the plaid patterned paper to pull my colors for the flower.  Since I didn't have any blue, I added the fancy frame die in that color to the center of my flower.......looks like it was made just for it!  It's too bad that this sweet sentiment is retired, as it's useful for so many occasions.  When everything was assembled, I thought the card needed a certain something - I tried heart sprinkles and sequins, but they didn't work. Then, since these dies all have stitched details, I added a button with a bit of white twine tied into a bow!  And it also brings in another color from the background panel.

As always, thanks for stopping by - hope your week is off to a great start!  Be safe!

Simon Says Stamp LET'S CONNECT Blog Hop, Day 2!

Welcome to Day 2 of Simon Says Stamp's blog hop for their new release called Let's Connect!!

You should have arrived here from Betty Wright's blog.  If you have just happened upon me today and want to start the hop from the beginning, go to the Simon Says Stamp blog to start.  We'll be giving away a $25.00 coupon at EVERY STOP on the hop, so don't forget to leave a comment!  The winners will be announced at the Simon Says Stamp Store Blog next Wednesday, August 12. Winners must email Simon to claim his/her prize.

And as you can see in the banner above, we have a free gift with any purchase made from now until August 9 at 11:59 pm: a Gina K Designs Dot Runner!  Just use the code GLUE when you place your order.

I have 3 cards to show off some of the fun new goodies that I was sent from this release.  

First up, my favorite is the new Crackle Background.  I think it's going to become a classic!

supplies: white cardstock, Bristol paper, Crackle Background cling stamp, Mom's Meadow flower sprig, (retired) Beautiful Day sentiment, Zig markers and water

I simply stamped with a medium grey ink onto a panel of white, then added the Meadow flowers, and my sentiment.  I love this background, very subtle but it definitely makes a statement!

Next up is a simple card featuring 2 of the 4 stencils in the Sunny Smiles set.  

supplies: white cardstock, Sunny Smiles stencils, mustard seed distress ink, sentiment from Hello Darling, cloud die, Doodlebug heart, adhesive foam squares to lift clouds

This is a set of 4 small stencils - I chose to use just 2 of them, centered on my card front, and then added a stamped sentiment and some embellishments. 

You can see another card  I made with these stencils HERE.

And lastly, I played with the new Toilet Paper Slider and sentiments from We're Like Toilet Paper.

supplies: white and metallic silver cardstock, kleenex tissue,  "tile" and "wallpaper" dps, Toilet Paper Slider dies and sentiments from We're Like Toilet Paper stamps, adhesive foam squares to lift tp roll

Edited to answer Theresa's comment: when I cut out the toilet paper dies, I just put kleenex over white cardstock and cut.  The pressure of the machine "melded" the tissue to the cardstock; I didn't have to glue the 2 together!  And the cardstock gave me some stability so that the whole thing could be popped above the card.  Thanks to my friend Mary Anne for this idea!

Don't forget to visit the blogs on Day 1, too, for even more inspiration and chances to win a $25.00 gift card.  Now you should hop on to Preeti Chandran's blog.

Click HERE for all the new goodies, and for more inspiration, don't forget to visit our Let's Connect Gallery.

Thanks so much for coming by today.  I hope you find something special just for you in this new release. Here's today's Hop Order.

Simon Says Stamp Blog   

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Amanda Korotkova

Caly Person

Heather Hoffman

Yoonsun Hur

Laurie Willison

Bobbi Lemanski

Betty Wright

Lin Brandyberry

Preeti Chandran

Dana Joy

Daniel West

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Karin Åkesdotter

Let's Connect release!!

There's a new release at Simon Says Stamp - it's called Let's Connect!

I have a happy card for you today using a new set of stencils in this release.

supplies: white cardstock, new Sunny Smiles stencils, mustard seed oxide and black soot distress inks,  (retired) Hello Sunshine Frame die, MFT Radiating Rays stencil, adhesive foam squares

This stencil set has 4 different parts so that you can customize your sun; here I used 3 of the 4 parts.  

Hope you'll stop by again on Saturday for my part of a Blog Hop celebrating this new release.

To see the entire release, just click HERE and you'll be able to get ideas for these products at our gallery HERE.  Enjoy, and happy shopping!

Simon Says.......Use Your Favorite Tool

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

This week we want you to use your favorite tool.  The team is playing with Tim Holtz products.  My favorite tool is my Big Shot machine - I use it for almost every card I make!  

First, some summer colors on a card that starts with a stencil.

supplies: white, black, and Green Apple cardstock, Tim Holtz Bouquet stencil, tan embossing mat, distress inks in ripe persimmon, mustard seed, and mowed lawn, applied with blender brushes, Tim Holtz Detailed Butterfly die, Simon Small Hello die

I first embossed the stencil into a panel of white cardstock, then added my inks through it, as usual.  I think embossing a stencil first just gives a crisper appearance to the finished product.  The panel was framed in green, and then I added my sentiment and butterfly.

I'd love to enter this card in the Double D Challenges: Butterflies.

Here's a 2nd card, using some Tim Holtz dies this time.

supplies: green, cream and Soft Navy cardstock, a music dp, Funky Wreath die, Feathered Friends die, blueprint sketch oxide, ripe persimmon, and ground espresso distress inks, small blender brushes, Hemstitch Rectangle die, sentiment from a retired Wplus9 clear set, Doodlebug Winter Hugs heart sprinkles

For the first time in the 40-some years we've lived at our house, we had a bluebird couple nesting in a box in our backyard!  To say that we were excited is putting it mildly - WOW, are these birds gorgeous - the most beautiful blue!  I did my best to simulate the male's coloring on my card today.  

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!

And don't forget about our Kid's Summer challenge, running now through the end of the month.  There are 3 prizes up for grabs - details HERE.

A Note to Say.......

When I saw this new Papertrey Ink bird die pop up at Simon Says Stamp, I swooped in and grabbed it!  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: white, navy, medium blue, green, and kraft cardstock, PTI Feathered Friends 2 die, Wplus9 Tossed Floral Background cover plate, Hand Lettered Hello stamp set and die, (retired) Folk Art Florals leaves die, adhesive foam 

I used colored cardstock for everything with the exception of a little inky shading on the bird's breast.  I love the effect of using a cover-plate as a background and I chose this one because I wanted to give the effect of the bird being in a tree.  After assembling everything, I lifted the background die above my card base for some shadows and dimension. 

We're off to another week - hope it's a good one for you!

For You

I love the dies and stamps from The Greetery!  Today I'm playing once again with Betsy's canning jar stamps and her sunflower dies.  I made my flowers peachy for a change.

supplies: white, kraft, 3 shades of peach/coral, 2 shades of yellow, 2 shades of green cardstock, Craft Consortium Wood Textures dp and a retired MFT plaid dp, The Greetery Botanical Sunflower dies, and Just Mason Around stamps, Tammy Tutterow sentiment, heart sprinkles, twine bow

I love this sentiment, as it can cover all kinds of occasions!

Thanks for coming by!  Be well.

Simon Says Stamp Summer Vacation Kid's Challenge!

It's time for our annual challenge just for kids aged 2 to 16!  Let your children loose into your craft room and let them explore their creativity!

The theme this year is Anything Goes With Sparkle/and or Shine.  The challenge will run all of August.  You can post their projects HERE until 6 PM EST August 29th.  When posting, please label with the child's name and age, for example, David, age 6.

Winners will be drawn at random soon thereafter, and there will be THREE winners of surprise crafty goodies packages!