A Simple Birthday Card

 August is a big month in my family for birthdays, so I'd best get going!  This one is for my purple-loving sister.

supplies: white, and shades of purple and green cardstock, Altenew Mini Flower Cluster dies, Simon Joys of Spring sentiment, an old Sizzix embossing folder

After constructing 2 sets of the flower clusters and leaves, I embossed the lower 2/3 of a card panel, then stamped my sentiment.  Then I added the flowers, and put the whole panel onto a card base.  

You could make a whole set of these, just varying the flower colors and sentiments!

Simon Says......Summertime Blues

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

Our theme this week is Summertime Blues, and the team is featuring My Favorite Things products.  You don't have to use this brand to play along with our challenge, but if you do have any of their products, we'd love to see them used.

I used a variety of MFT products and my favorite color of blue to make my card this week.

supplies: white, blue, and kraft cardstock, cloud and blue woodgrain dp from Happy Patterns paper pad, Doodlebug grass and petite patterns dps, Home Tweet Home birdhouse and Heartfelt Fence dies, Lawn Fawn vine and flower dies, Simon Beautiful Butterflies sentiment, Spellbinders Sweet Birds on a Branch dies

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!

Floral Arch Hello

 Betsy has done it again with her latest release which included these Floral Arches and Arched Sentiments!  Here's my first play with them.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, The Greetery Floral Arches stamp/stencil set and matching die (to cut out arch), Sea Shore and Golden Sunset mini ink cubes, Dark Chocolate mini ink cube, Arched Sentiments stamp set and matching die, Memory Box Fairy Jewels, adhesive foam

I stencilled and stamped the arched floral design on an A2 panel of white cardstock, then trimmed it very slightly so that I could mat it with an Audrey Blue panel.  I cut out the arch from the stamped panel, and stamped the arch on the blue one, then popped up the white panel above the blue one.  To finish I stamped and die-cut the sentiment, and popped it also, then added 4 tiny jewels to the centers of the biggest flowers.

I wanted to use colors that would work for late summer into fall, and I really like this aqua and gold/orange combo! 

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day!

Garden Note

 Playing today with my old favorite Flower Garden cover die.

supplies: white and Cotton Candy cardstock, Hero Arts Flower Garden cover die, Simon Stitched Oval die, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamp and matching die, enamel dots

I found these already-colored scraps in my basket; they were cut apart from the Flower Garden cover die at some time in the past.  So today I just affixed them to an oval with a sentiment and put it over a fresh cutting of the Flower Garden die, then backed it all with pink.  

This card makes me happy - hope it does the same for you!  Thank you for coming by today.

A Mix of New Things

 Today's card is a real mix of some new-for-me items that just recently came to live with me.  

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Simon's Picnic Floral embossing folder, Pink Fresh Studio Ornate Oval Frame, Sending Phrase Builder dies, Joyful Bouquet stamps and matching die, markers to color

I played a few days ago with the largest floral from the Joyful Bouquet set, but there are also 6 little sprigs in that set that can be colored.  Today I did just that, coloring them in warm tones, then adding 2 of them to this pretty frame and putting everything over a floral embossing folder.  The scale works well, and I like the blue mixed with the warm colors.

I think this works for the current Pink Fresh August Challenge, so I'll try my luck there!  It is called Beautiful Backgrounds.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday, many thanks for stopping by today!

For My Sister

 Here's a card that I made for my sister's birthday yesterday.

supplies: white cardstock, Pink Fresh Studio Stitched Scallop Rectangle die, Stitches Background die, Joyful Bouquet stamp and matching die, markers to color, Hero Arts sentiment from Sending Love Mail, fishtail die from Boutique Accessories, small adhesive foam squares

I've had the matching die from when I bought the washi tape from the Joyful Bouquet suite, so I decided I "needed" the stamp set so that I could make my bouquet and little swags different colors.  I popped the frame, bouquet, and sentiment above the stitches background for a bit of dimension, and Simon's new little adhesive foam squares were the perfect size to do so!

I think this works for the current Pink Fresh August Challenge, so I'll try my luck there!  It is called Beautiful Backgrounds.

Hope your weekend is a lovely one!  Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says.......Emboss It!

Welcome to the new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

 The theme this week is "Emboss It!", and the team is featuring Tim Holtz products.  I took this as my cue to grab his 3D Impresslits Floral Frame.

supplies: Simon Cream and Slate cardstock, Tim Holtz Floral Frame 3D Impresslits die/embossing folder combo and a Small Talk sticker, silver metallic watercolor, (retired) Hero Arts Old Letter Writing background, clear embossing powder, purple ink and a blending brush, Picket Fence Studios Lavendar Frame sprigs, Zig markers and water to color them, adhesive foam

I began by cutting/embossing the frame from Slate cardstock - this tiny folder does both at the same time.  Then I wet my finger and applied some silver pearlescent paint to it to help bring out the details.  These lavender sprigs were the perfect size to put into the frame.  I made a background with an embossed script and found a combination of purple inks to compliment the lavender, scruffed up the edge of the panel with my finger nail, and then popped up the frame and added one of Sir Tim's stickers.  

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!

Spellbinders Glimmer of the Month Kit for August: Illustrated Floral and Solid

 This month's kit is exciting to me because we get a pretty spray of flowers and matching die, a solid oval glimmer plate, and 2 sentiments that can be foiled, with dies to cut them out.  Here are my 2 cards using these new supplies, and black foil.

supplies: white and black cardstock, black and white Petite Patterns floral print, Spellbinders August Glimmer of the Month kit, black foil, Glimmer Hot Foil system, Platinum 6 machine

Did you know that you can get black foil?  That's useful for floral sprays like this that you want to be the center of your design; see my 2nd card.  This foil is not as metallic as most others, but it is shiny, so it's still a nice option for our foiling.

So for this card, I foiled the spray and one of the sentiments with black foil.  I set aside the floral image that resulted for my 2nd card, and placed the "used" black foil over the oval foiling plate and foiled again.  That foiled panel was trimmed to a smaller rectangle, matted in black, then placed onto the floral print background, along with the foiled sentiment which I trimmed out with its matching die.

For my 2nd card, I used the matching floral die to cut out the previously foiled floral spray and colored it with markers.  That was attached to a pretty lacey oval and then adhered to my card base which was inked in an oval shape.  To finish I just added a fussy-cut stamped sentiment.

supplies: white cardstock, August Glimmer of the Month floral spray, matching die, and black foil, Picot Petite Oval die, a retired sentiment from Tammy Tutterow's Tiny Sentiments

You can find all the information you'll need HERE to get this fun kit for yourself.  You'll have until August 28 to join the club, and you can "unjoin" at any time!  And don't forget that each month you'll also get a roll of glimmer foil!

Thanks for stopping by today - beginning of a new week AND a new month!  Enjoy!

My July Favorites

 Here are my favorite cards that I made in July.

A real mix this month - summery flowers, a bit of Christmas, and a cow!!

Summer Coneflowers

 Our coneflowers started blooming earlier this month, which reminded me about these pretty paper ones!  Here's this year's version.

supplies: Cream, kraft, pale yellow, light coral, and green cardstock, a script printed paper, markers to shade, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Coneflowers dies, Spellbinders Picot Edge Oval die, Simon Miss You die, adhesive foam squares

I wanted to give this a bit of a vintage feel, so I used a script background and a lovely oval to set off the flowers. Each of the 4 flower layers is separated with adhesive foam for lots of dimension.  

I used the reverse (solid) of some BoBunny Double Dot 12" cardstock for my flowers and leaves today.  Since so many scrapbook stores have vanished, I wonder if these are even available anymore?  I used to get mine in a store in Florida when we would be snowbirds each winter, but haven't been back since 2018, I think, thanks to Covid.......

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Simon Says..... Anything Goes!

Welcome to a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

It's Anything Goes week, and the team is featuring our exclusive Simon Says Stamp products.  You don't have to use this brand to enter the challenge, but if you do own any Simon products, we'd love to see them being used.

supplies: white cardstock, Sunny Studio Gingham Pastels yellow gingham, Simon You Shine clear stamp set, Stitched Rectangle die

I stamped out most of the lemon elements in this set, cut them out, and played with them until I had an arrangement that pleased me.  I love them paired with yellow gingham!

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!

 

Flourish Glimmer Tree

 Here is my last card that uses the new Christmas release from Spellbinders.  This one features their Flourished Tree glimmer plate and some green glimmer hot foil.  I kept the design CAS and let the foil be the star!

supplies: white and kelly green cardstock, Spellbinders Flourished Tree glimmer plate, sentiment from Merry Glimmer Sentiments, Viridian Green glimmer foil, gold sequins

Part of the design of the tree is tiny little diamonds - I used those as places to add my sequin "ornaments".  I chose to to use a green foil for this first time using this plate, but I think it would look really elegant done in gold foil on a cream background, too.  Once again, I used the glimmer sentiments; the size of them is perfect!

I think I'm finished for this month with Christmas designs, but I'll have some more in August!

A Summer Card

 With all the Christmas stuff I've been posting lately, I felt a real need to return to present day, so today's card feels like summer to me!  There have been lots of lemon-themed cards showing up lately, which reminded me about this washi tape.  Love this sweet shade of yellow, too!

supplies: yellow, white, and metallic lavender cardstock, (retired) Lil Inker Circles and Diamonds cover plate, Pink Fresh Studio Ornate Oval Frame and Lemons and Blueberries washi tape, Memory Box Just Because die, adhesive foam

This Ornate Frame is new to me, and I think it's the perfect vehicle to pair with all of the washi tape sprigs that I have.  I cut my sentiment from a foiled lavender kraft cardstock to bring out the blueberries in the design.  I wanted to pop the frame above something subtle and this cover die that is sadly retired fits the bill perfectly!

My mouth is watering thinking about some sweet concoction that blends lemons and blueberries!  I have a story to share about a baby blueberry bush that our oldest son brought home from a nursery that he was working in for the summer, probably 28 years ago.  We planted it, but probably in not the best location at the time.  Over the years it has come back year after year and gotten bigger and bigger, but until this year it's never produced any fruit.  This year it did (it's in a sunnier location now)!!  Now all I need is a lemon tree - unlikely in our northern location here in Ohio!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Winter Welcome Sled

Today I'm playing with another fun set of dies recently released by Spellbinders this month as part of their Celebrate the Season collection.  I've always wanted a sled die set so I was thrilled to get this one!

supplies: white, grey, kraft, red, green, and pool cardstock, gingham dp for bow, Spellbinders Winter Welcome Sled dies, sentiment from Mix and Match Holiday Greetings, bow from Parcel & Post Christmas Decorations, a snowflake embossing folder

This die set consists of the sled parts plus a nice mix of winter greens to decorate it with if you'd like to.  The wood parts of the sled (those in red here) are even incised with woodgrain, such a nice little touch!  I brought in the little bow from the Mail Box set that you saw earlier this month, cutting it from gingham.  "Joy" is what I remember feeling as a child when we sledded down our hill at home, so that was my choice this time for a sentiment.

Many thanks to Spellbinders for sharing these new sets with me!