Creative Team Friday

I have 2 really simple cards for you today as part of Tammy's Creative Team Friday post, using  new cling stamps from the May release: Happy Grams #3.  Tammy's cling stamps are perfect for working up a fast card - you can just stamp and color in details, or you can add a bit of paper-piecing for some extra dimension like I did on these 2 cards.

supplies: white cardstock, various Doodlebug patterned papers, Lawn Fawn Let's Polka 12" heart paper, Tammy's Shine cling stamp, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, gold sequins, adhesive foam squares

I paper-pieced the sentiment and sun in yellows and oranges, and added some gold sequins for extra bling!

Here's another:

supplies: white and Simon Schoolhouse Red cardstock, some small patterned paper scraps for piecing the ladybug, Tammy's Wishing You cling stamp, red, green and black markers to color, MFT Wonky Stitches rectangle die, adhesive foam squares

Please don't forget to visit Tammy's Blog to see what my DT sisters have created!

Simon Says.........Splatter It!

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

We have a fun theme for you - Splatter It!  My teamies and I are featuring Ranger products this week.

My first card features a controlled splatter in the form of a stamp.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Doodlebug gingham dp, Your Next Stamp Mini Flower Ink Splatter stamp, abandoned coral, mustard seed, carved pumpkin distress inks, Tim Holtz Wildflower die, Simon Painted Happy Birthday die and sentiment from Pool Play, VersaMark ink and Simon White embossing powder, flower sequins

After stamping the splatters on my white panel, I inlaid a black wildflower diecut into it.  I used the same distress inks to ombre my die, and added just 3 little flower sequins in the same colors.  

My next card uses distress oxide inks in cooler colors and real splatters.

supplies: white cardstock and Bristol paper, Tim Holtz Floral stencil, broken china, cracked pistachio, and faded jeans distress oxide inks, round blending tool, water, Simon's Fresh Daisies and Stitched Rectangle dies, Winnie & Walter Big Bold Friends cutaway, My Mind's Eye enamel hearts

I started by masking off a piece of Bristol paper, then sponging on my distress oxide inks.  I ADORE these 3 colors together!  I splattered some water droplets while the mask was still attached, and heat set everything.  Next I attached the stencil and sponged it over the masked panel with the same oxide inks.  Then I removed the mask and stencil, diluted the inks with water on my craft mat, and splattered them with a tiny paintbrush.  Again I dried everything, then the panel was die cut into a Stitched Rectangle and attached to my card base before adding my flowers and sentiment.

Here's a closer photo to show you the batik-like effect this technique gives:

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!

Simon's Summer Vacation Kid's Challenge!

I wanted to make sure that you knew that Simon Says Stamp is launching a month-long Kid's Challenge!

And the theme is Anything Goes with SPARKLE.  It's open to all children between the ages of 2 and 16.  You are allowed to help them a little bit, if necessary, but we really want them to create something all by themselves.

We have THREE grab bags of craftiness as prizes for 3 random winners.  The challenge will remain open until 6 P.M. August 31st, and the winner will be announced soon after the challenge closes.

This challenge is open for CHILDREN ONLY, and any entry from anyone over the age of 16 will be deleted.  Please make sure to add the child's age along with his/her name when you post your entry.

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

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

It's Anything Goes week once again, and the Design Team and I are playing with Wild Rose Studio goodies.  They make the most adorable stamps, it's hard to choose, but I ended up with some Teddies this time and made 2 cards with them!

supplies: white cardstock, (retired) Pebbles double-sided cardstock, Wild Rose Studios Bears on Swing, Zig markers to color, Simon's Smile Circle and Stitched Rectangle dies, adhesive foam squares

I decided to use some of my long-hoarded 12" scrapbook papers and thought this flowered one with a gingham reverse would be a good place to start.  After making that choice, I colored the image pulling my colors from the paper.  The image was first put onto the gingham paper, then I cut a stitched frame using the floral and popped it above the card base.  There isn't alot of room for a sentiment, but I think this one works well without taking away from everything else.  

This will make a perfect card for our granddaughter!

After finishing card #1, I got the idea to try and make the image actually kind of swing, and here's what resulted:

supplies: white and pink cardstock, green gingham from My Favorite Things Farm Fresh Gingham, Wild Rose Studios Bear on Swing, Simon sentiment from Beautiful Ride, Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine embossing folder, Simon Stitched Rectangle die

For this one I colored and cut out the bears first.  Then I die-cut a window into the card front and embossed the front.  The inside was layered with the green gingham, and to finish I glued the swing to the top of the window and added the sentiment at the bottom.

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!

A Beautiful Day

I really liked the Floral Sparkle die from Simon's last Cherished release - it makes me think of eyelet lace.  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: white, Simon's Audrey Blue, Green Apple, and Doll Pink cardstock, Floral Sparkle die, Paper Smooches Dots die, Memory Box Mini Hybrid Heirloom Rose die and Meadow Leaf die, flower button, Wplus9 Doodle Buds sentiment, iridescent sequins

I die-cut the floral sparkle and then the dots die on either side of it, then lined that part of the design with doll pink and green apple cardstock.  After stamping my sentiment, I attached that panel to an Audrey Blue base, then added my flower and leaves.

Hope your week is off to a great start - we're having some lovely cool weather here at the moment!

More Bamboo Roses

Still playing.......I love these colors together, so soothing!  This card started with this pretty plaid.......

supplies: white cardstock, dps from My Favorite Things Plaid Patterns Merry & Bright and Watercolor Wash Brights, Alenew Bamboo Rose, Zig markers and water, Tammy Tutterow Tiny Sentiments, Simon's Stitched Rectangles, aqua pearls, adhesive foam strips

These little posies may give my beloved Painted Flowers a run for the money - they are easy to color and cut out, and it's fun to arrange them!  And Tammy's darling sentiments add just the sweetest touch!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Rosy Smiles

I have had the Bamboo Roses on my wishlist forever, and I finally got them!  Here's my first play with them, mixed with elements from lots of other companies.

supplies: white and Simon's Khaki cardstock, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank cling, Tammy Tutterow Dear Ruby cling (script), Hero Arts Wet Cement ink, Simon's Stitched Rectangle die, Altenew Bamboo Rose, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, watercolored in Puffy Heart, Warm Sunshine, and Forest Glades inks diluted with water, Winnie & Walter Big, Bold Friends sentiment, VersaFine onyx black ink, adhesive foam squares, irridescent sequins for a little sparkle

I stamped my wooden plank, then overstamped the Dear ruby cling, both in the same ink - it's subtle, but that's the way I wanted it.......The flowers were white embossed, watercolored, and cut out, then arranged to fit around the stamped sentiment.

Hope you're enjoying your summer - it's flying by!  We're getting some rain here this weekend.

With Much Love

I'm back today with a card for Tammy Tutterow's Creative Team Friday post, using one of her stencil sets and 2 of her cling stamps.

supplies: white cardstock, Bristol paper, Tammy's Mad for Plaid two step stencil, cracked pistachio, broken china, and faded jeans distress oxide inks, Flower Swag 5 and Tiny Sentiments cling stamps, My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die, Simon's Stitched Circle, adhesive foam squares, ribbon

I used 3 distress oxide inks to stencil the plaid.  These stencils come in sets of 2, in this case, a vertical design paired with a horizontal one.  They are configured slightly different, so you could easily use just one of them and turn it 90 degrees.  They measure 5" X 7", so there's lots of wiggle room to get just what you want.  That panel was trimmed to fit inside an A2 white card.  Then I die-cut the scalloped rectangle from white card stock, and from that a stitched circle.  I stamped one of the absolutely darling Tiny Sentiments on the scalloped panel, and then separately stamped the flowers from a Flower Swag cling.  I used the same 3 distress inks, to watercolor the flowers, then selectively cut them out and attached them to my white panel, along with a teensy ribbon.  Then the panel was raised above my card base.

Please visit Tammy's Blog to see what my team-mates have made this week!

Simon Says..........Seeing Stars

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

Our theme this week is "Seeing Stars" and my teamies and I are playing with My Favorite Things goodies!  For my first card today, I used their star quilt die and some mini star-patterned papers:

supplies: white cardstock, My Favorite Things Lucky Prints (star patterns), Quilt Square Cover-up, Let's Get Cozy sentiment, Altenew Warm Sunshine, Hero Arts Cornflower, BubbleGum, and Green Hills inks, mini MISTI, tiny buttons, Stick It

I've done this star quilt before, but never in pastels.  I also used a sheet of Stick It, and it was so much easier to do my paper-piecing that way!  I decided to continue the pastel theme in my sentiment by stamping in different colors, with the help of some masking and my Misti. 

For my next card I'm sharing the birthday card I made for our oldest grandson earlier this year.  I'm CASEing a design by Yoonsun - loved her idea!

supplies: white cardstock and Bristol paper, My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Hero Arts Lower-Case alphabet dies, Simon's Birthday Bits sentiment, stitched star dies, Fossilized Amber and Broken China Distress Oxide inks, a puffy star sticker, Scrapbook Adhesive foam squares

I started by smooshing my distress oxide inks onto my craft sheet and spritzing them liberally with water, then I dragged my bristol paper through each one separately, drying each color before moving on.  I also wet a paint brush and flicked on some splatters before I finished.  After drying, that panel was die-cut with the Wonky Stitched rectangle.  Next I die-cut some stars from that panel, and then added my stamped and die-cut sentiment.  The panel was then popped above my white card base, and I popped up the stars, along with a puffy sticker to dot the "i".

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!

Summer Color Challenge

I see that Impression Obsession is having a Summer Colors challenge!  I took that as my sign to use these favorite Hollyhock dies!

supplies: white cardstock, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, and mustard seed distress inks, mini sponging tool, Impression Obsession Hollyhock dies, Paper Smooches sentiment from Summer Groves, embossed in white, Paper Sweeties flower sequins

I've always colored these dies, or cut them out of colored cardstock, but this time I decided to make them into a kind of bright silhouette against the warm colors in the background, and I added some fun flower sequins in colors to match!

It's been a lovely summer here so far, probably because of the rains we've had - they're keeping everything outside lush and green and also keeping down the humidity!

See you tomorrow!

A Birthday Card for our Nephew

I needed a masculine birthday card soon, and pulled out Tammy's plaid stencils to make it.

supplies: Hero Arts kraft cardstock and medium color in Pool Layering papers,  Bristol paper, Tammy's Mad for Plaid 2-step stencils, cracked pistachio, tumbled glass, and gathered twigs distress inks, mini ink blending tool, Winnie & Walter dotted line from Scenery Stripes stamp set, Lil Inker Boxed Up Birthday die, wood veneer leaves, sponged with cracked pistachio

I turned the stencils to make a diagonal plaid this time, and tried to choose some colors that most men would like, but I think that using the kraft stock and brown ink heads it in that direction automatically!  I also stamped a stitched stripe here and there to bring in a little more of that brown - you could easily do the same thing with just a ruler and a fine-tip marker......

I'll be featuring these stencils again on Friday, but with a feminine flair - I hope you'll stop by then, too.  Have a great week!

CASEing Kelly

Yesterday Kelly had an interesting post on "Distress Ink Watercolor Backgrounds on Bristol" and her results were so nice that I got right up and had to try it for myself.  Here's my first result, using some old favorite Hero Arts stamps.

supplies: white and periwinkle cardstock, Bristol paper, Hero Arts Hydrangea woodblock stamp and SparkleClear Simple Messages sentiment, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, embossed in clear, blueprint sketch and mowed lawn distress inks and water, MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die

The only thing I did differently from Kelly was to first stamp and emboss my hydrangea, but I followed her wet on wet technique to add color to it, using just 2 distress ink colors.  This sure is an easy way to color up a stamp, and this technique updates this older stamp.

Thanks so much for coming by to visit me.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

More Splatters

Here's another card using a splatter stamp, this time a flower one.

supplies: white, purple, Hero Arts Pool, Simon's Green Apple and Green Leaf cardstock, Lil Inker Perky Posies dies, Wplus9 Folk Art Florals leaf die, Your Next Stamp Mini Flower Splatter, broken china and wilted violet oxide inks, My Favorite Things All Occasion Sentiments and Blueprints 20 die, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, enamel dots and sequins to match

Since I used warm colors on yesterday's splatter card, I thought I'd use cool ones this time.  Violet and teal have become a go-to combination for me this year, and I like it here again.  These splatter stamps are fun to play with - there are also ones that feature stars, bats, leaves, butterflies and plain old splatters!

As always, thanks for coming by!

From My Heart

It's a little dreary here today, so I made a happy card.

supplies: white cardstock, Bristol paper for watercoloring flowers and leaves, Winnie & Walter Big, Bold &Extra flowers and leaves, Spectrum Aqua markers and water to color, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, Your Next Stamp Mini Heart Ink Splatters, worn lipstick oxide distress ink, Tammy Tutterow Tiny Sentiments, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, adhesive foam squares

I'm in love with Tammy's Tiny Sentiments, and they really aren't that tiny - I'm finding they work for almost any situation.  And aren't those heart splatters adorable?  Your Next Stamp also makes them in flowers and stars, butterflies and autumn leaves!  I think I need them all - I always hold my breath when I try to splatter ink on my own!

This works for Your Next Stamp's Color Challenge #68, so I'm entering it there!

Thanks for stopping by!