autumn frame...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for Color Throwdown and Paper Players.  Will also add it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Let's have a look.

I used the Simon Says Stamp Autumn Frame stencil and inks from Altenew (Terracotta) and Pinkfresh Studio (Doe and Sweet Mustard) to create the autumn frame.  Once down with the stenciling I die cut it with a rectangle die.  The sentiments are from the SSS stamp set Cozy Autumn Hugs.  I stamped them with the PFS Doe ink and die cut with matching dies.  I die cut additional layers and layered them behind the sentiment.   I added the panel to a kraft cardstock base, adhered the sentiments and then added some tiny gems. 

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

fall cards...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a couple of fall themed cards to share.  I thought our normal wet and dreary fall weather had arrived the other day, but nope!  We are back to sun and relatively warm temperatures.  It's a little annoying as I really want to wear my warm and cozy tops, but some days it is too warm!  Oh well, I'm sure the wet and cold will be here soon enough, lol!   And I should not be complaining anyway, my corner of the world has not faced the devastation that the southeast has!  Absolutely sickened by the response of the current administration, as well!   Anyway, you came here to see cards, so here they are.

This one will be heading off to Freshly Made Sketches.  I generally don't make cards as busy as this one, but felt in the mood, lol!  All the papers, stamps and dies are from a Simon Says Stamp fall themed card kit I got last year.  Finally putting it to good use!  I used distress oxide inks for the leaves.  I inked up the leaves using the tiny distress ink blenders and they worked like a charm.  I pounced on one color and then was able to add the secondary color exactly where I wanted it to go!  To make things easy on myself I die cut all the images first, left them in the cardstock and then lined up the images.  It worked perfectly.   I trimmed down the background paper, added some additional pieces behind it for strength and adhered it to my card base.  The gingham paper was die cut with a tag die from the kit, the leaves adhered along with the sentiment.  I finished everything off with the two little bows.  I really like how it turned out.  Will add this one to the current Time Out challenge, as well.

This card is for Color Throwdown and as you can see I used that pretty tag again!  It was right there at my finger tips so why not?   The mushrooms are from a die set from the Greetery.  I inked them up with distress oxide inks and then adhered them together.  I had the embossed background panel on my desk as well so decided to use it, too.  I went with the debossed side as sometimes I like that look better than the embossed side.  The embossing folder is from Simon Says Stamp and came in the card kit that I used to make the first card.  I die cut the tag from off white cardstock, inked up one corner with distress oxide ink that was left on the blending brush and then added the mushrooms.  The sentiment is from the Greetery Oakwood sentiment set.  I finished off the card with the double bow at the top of the tag.   More my usual clean and simple style!   Adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp World Card Making Day line up.  

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Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. 

hello... you're amazing

 Hello, hello!  Hope all is well in your world.  Autumn is on the way in my corner of the world and with that in mind I decided to take up the Color Hues challenge and create a card with the colors of rust and green.  Let's have a look at what I made.

Back in July, I think, I got a Simon Says Stamp card kit and instead of letting it sit around like I did with one I got last year I decided to use the beautiful floral image in the set for my card.  I used Tonic Studios aqua flow pens and a wet paint brush to do the coloring.  I first stamped the image on watercolor cardstock using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then got to coloring.  I laid down a layer of yellow and then layered red over the top to get the rusty color I was going for.  For the flower centers I used a combination of the yellow and red along with some brown thrown in for a rust that was more brown than orange like the flowers.  

I have only one green in the Aqua Flow pens, but was able to get a bit of shading on the leaves by drawing the color out or removing some of it.  Overall, I pretty pleased with how the coloring turned out.  I die cut the panel with a Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frames die that cuts a thin border.  I used the same die to cut glossy black cardstock to get the frame that I glued to a cardstock base.  I glued the leftover rectangle and two more to the back of my watercolored piece and then inserted that inside the frame after I had stamped the small sentiment from the same stamp set that the floral image came from (Graceful Flowers).  The A2 Nesting Frames set comes with the "hello" word die so I die cut that three times from the glossy black cardstock and adhered them together and then adhered it to my card front.  

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Happy Monday!

 Hello everyone!  Popping in to share a card and a tag that I made with a stamp set from Simon Says Stamp's Stamptember release.  I was supposed to be part of a blog party today, but for some reason Blogger flagged the post as against community guidelines.  I got it republished, but then they flagged it again.  So, I finally deleted the post.  So very frustrating to say the least as I was never in violation of their community guidelines!  Anyway, I did want to share what I had made so here they are.

The stamp set they sent me is called You Matter and it has two pretty floral images and several individual images.  One of the image is rather long and so I decided to make something other than a A2 sized card with it.  At first I was going to make a slimline card and then I decided not to as I honestly don't like making slimline cards.  So I got out a #8 distress heavy stock tag and created what you see.  I got some of the new distress spritz sprays in a Simon Says Stamp card kit so I used those on the tag.  I laid the image on the tag so I could figure out where to spray each color of spritz, removed the image and sprayed the tag.  I let it dry and then stamped the image and the sentiments with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I applied clear embossing powder and heat set.  A piece of cream heavy stock was also spritzed with each color, dried and then stamped with the individual images with Nocturne ink, embossing powder applied, heat set and trimmed out.  I layered those images on the tag, added the ribbon and I was done.

For my card I placed the smaller image in my MISTI toward the bottom of the panel and stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I then flipped the panel and stamped the image again leaving a nice opening in the center of the panel. I stamped individual flowers on a piece of cardstock with the Tuxedo Black ink and then colored all the images with Copic markers.  The individual flowers were trimmed out and popped up.  I stamped the sentiments, trimmed out the "you" and then die cut the "matter" with a sentiment strip die.  Those were popped up in the center.  So glossy accents were added to the flower stamens and to the little berry like images.   Going to add this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.

you got this...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.   I will also add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Let's have a look at what I made.

I used products from two different Simon Says Stamp card kits.   The sentiment and the die cut flowers are from one kit and the embossing folder is from another.   I believe the kits are the August and June kits, but I'm not entirely sure, lol!  Anyway.  I did some inkblending on the die cut flowers using Pinkfresh Studio Lemon Whip and Sparkling Rose inks.  I used Pinkfresh Studio Grassy Knoll for the stems.  I adhered the flowers together using thin foam squares and liquid adhesive.   The little "string" tied around the flowers is from the Greetery and was die cut from patterned paper, as was the green love and the strip along the side.  All the papers are from P13's the Four Seasons: Summer 6x6 pad.   For a little more interest I embossed the white panel using and embossing folder from the Simon Says Stamp June kit.  I finished with a sentiment from the August kit stamp set and a few little sequins in green, yellow and pink.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

hello... friend

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.    Will also be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Let's have a look.

I got a "bug" to do a little organizing the other day and went through many of my craft supplies.  One of the things that has been sitting around for way too long was a Simon Says Stamp card kit that I bought LAST YEAR!   The kit has a fall theme to it, and I think I got it at the last minute.  Obviously once I got it I didn't make a card with it, lol!  But now that has been remedied... YAY!   I inked up the leaves with yellow ink, stamped them.  I then used a blender brush to add green ink to the stamps and added that to the leaves.  I finished with the veining that was stamped in brown.  Die cut with the matching dies.  The kit came with a set of three tag dies.  I used the middle sized die for the label element in the sketch and added some twine through the hole and then the leaves.  Before adding the leaves to the tag I did apply glue to the veining and then added Rock Candy distress glitter to the leaves.   During my little organizing stint I found a couple of pieces of burlap and decided to trim off a piece for the background strip to add a little texture to the card.  The card is pretty clean and simple so I really love that little bit a added rustic texture.  I thought about stamping the sentiments in black, but decided to keep with the colors from the CTD palette.  

 

I'm in a card making mood, so I may be back with another one!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

fun, bright cards...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a couple of fun, bright cards that I got a chance to make.  The first one is for Freshly Made Sketches.  Take a look.

Back in May I purchased the Simon Says Stamp June card kit as I thought it would be a fun one to have for making birthday cards for my little nieces and nephew.    This card will be going to my little niece, Mia, who turns three in September.  I used the Simon Says Stamp Instagram colors of aqua, pink and green for the card.  I stamped the cupcake and candle images on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic markers.  I stamped the heart shaped swirled sucker on to a die cut rectangle with Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copics, as well.  I stamped a confetti image from the stamp set over the sucker with VersaMark watermark ink, sprinkled on a glitter embossing powder and heat set it.  I then layered on the cupcake pieces and candles using liquid adhesive and thin foam squares.  Finished with the sentiment stamped in black.   Perfect for a little girl, don't you think?

This next card is another one for the Altenew July challenge and it was super quick to put together.  Have a look.

It was quick to put together due to the fact that I had created these pieces at the time I made the first card.  I used an Altenew debossing plate for the background and then simply layered on the different leafy pieces.  I finished with a sentiment strip from Memory Box.  Clean and simple!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

sweet winter wishes

 Hello!  I'm back with another card.  What???!!  Two cards in two days!  Haven't done that in a long time, lol!  Anyway, I have a card today for several challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches (layout), Time Out (theme of new), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (something new) and Color Hues.   My in real life friend, Greta, is now a member of the Time Out design team so I just had to play along with their challenge.  Here is what I made.

The Color Hues challenge is to use light blue and dark blue.  Couldn't pass that one up and I really like the sketch at FMS so I decided to put them together.   My new item is the cute little tag that I placed my Birch Press Design Felicity Snowflakes on.  It came in a Simon Says Stamp card kit that I purchased in the fall and had never used.  After die cutting the tags and the snowflakes I adhered everything together and then added the white twine to each tag.  I decided to have the center tag sport a bow instead of the way I did the other two.  Thought it looked cute.  Then I had to find a sentiment that would work with the small tags.   I hunted through my supplies and finally found this cute little sentiment set from My Favorite Things called Snowglobe Sentiments.  The size of the sentiment was perfect for the size of the tag.  I stamped it using a dark blue ink on the same light blue cardstock I used for the tags.  I adhered everything to a white cardstock panel and then added light blue gems to the center of the snowflakes and to the sentiment strip.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

consider this...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a quick share that I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown using the Simon Says Stamp Happy Hello stamp set and the matching dies.  I absolutely love this stamp set!  The fun folk art design just makes me so well, happy, lol!  Take a look at what I made.

I definitely took a bit of license with the FMS layout by using the large heart die from the Happy Hello set.  But I thought it would be perfect to use for the layout.  I stamped the flowers and stems using Pinkfresh Studio ink in Ballerina Slippers and Key Lime and die cut with the matching dies.  I die cut a white rectangle and then adhered the heart so that it hung off the edge.  I stamped the sentiment, then I wrapped bright green twine around the panel and tied it in a bow.  The flowers were arranged on the heart and adhered with liquid adhesive and foam squares where needed.  I finished with a scattering of light pink sequins.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Simon Says Stamp Just For You Release!

 (To see my Birch Press Design post, please click here.)

Happy Thursday everyone!  The new Simon Says Stamp Just for You release is now available!  Simon was so kind and sent me the lovely stamp set called Herb Labels.   I have created two cards using this fun set and I have a few other ideas percolating in my little brain, lol!  Let's have a look at my cards.  

As you might have guessed, the stamp set Herb Labels features images of different herbs, two label images and lots of sentiments.  Several sentiments in the set are punny.  I just had to use the image of mint with the sentiment "Mint to be".   I couldn't stop there... I had to the color mint for the card, as well, lol.   I went a little "old school", too, and used a vellum overlay that I attached to the main panel using a length of white satin ribbon.   Back when I first started stamping I would often see people using this method.  It was also (and may still be) very popular on wedding and/or baby shower invitations.  I stamped the mint image all over the mint cardstock using a green ink that was just a little darker than the cardstock.  I initially tried an ink that was very close in color to the cardstock, but once I laid the vellum on top, the stamping disappeared.  Not the look I was going for!  I die cut the vellum panel to be about a quarter inch smaller than the background panel and then using some repositionable adhesive I layered them together as you see and die cut two small holes.  I removed the repositionable adhesive and then secured the panels together with the ribbon.  I adhered the panel to my card base and then got started on the final part of the card.  For this I die cut more vellum using a very small rectangle die from a classic Spellbinders rectangle die set.  The mint image was heat embossed in white on vellum and then I colored the back with a mint green Copic marker.  Once the piece was dry I trimmed it out and use rolled up glue dots to secure it to the vellum piece.  The sentiment was stamped in black ink on white cardstock, trimmed out and then adhered.   I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps so I will be adding the card to their gallery. 

My second card is somewhat similar to the first card, but this time I used one of the labels images and did a little watercoloring. 

I used some patterned paper from the Simon Says Stamp March 2023 card kit for my background and adhered it to a kraft cardstock base.  I stamped the label on kraft cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink an then trimmed out the label.  The sentiment was also stamped on kraft with the Acorn ink and then die cut with another small rectangle die.  I stamped the tomato image on watercolor paper with the Acorn ink and then did some simple watercoloring.  Once dry I trimmed it out.  I decided to add a little distressing to everything using Vintage Photo distress ink for a more vintage look.  I then adhered the patterned paper to the card base.  I popped the tomatoes image up on the label and then tucked the sentiment in slightly behind the image.  The piece was then adhered to the center of the card.  I finished with three Memory Box Fairy jewels in a pretty red/gold color.  

Thanks for stopping by, make sure to check out the release and have a lovely day!

happy thanksgiving...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for Color Throwdown and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to use stencils.  The card also works for the current Card Concept challenge using the Thanksgiving inspiration.   I think my card would be considered clean and layered.   I will explain how I used stencils down below!  ETA:  At the urging of Darlene from Stencil Fun to enter their November challenge.  Thanks for letting me know about your challenge, Darlene!

I couldn't resist the Simon Says Stamp November card kit as it is full of wonderful products including a beautiful stamp set.  I have used a couple of the sentiments from the set, but not any of the stamps.   When I saw the colors for CTD I just had to use them to color up one of the images.   And I used stencils!  Yep... the stamp set has a matching set of stencils.  I stamped the image in VersaFine CLAIR Arcorn ink and then used distress inks in Fossilized Amber, Festive Berries, Carved Pumpkin and Brushed Corduroy to color up the image.  Once the stenciling was done I fussy cut the image.  The window backdrop is a Tim Holtz Ideaology piece that came in an earlier Simon Says Stamp kit.  That was adhered to off white cardstock that I embossed with the embossing folder from the Spellbinders October club.  I inked up the edges with a little bit of the Brushed Corduroy and then adhered it to my card base.  I added the window and the stenciled image.   The sentiment was also stamped in the Acorn ink, trimmed out and the edges inked.  I almost added some dark brown gems, but in the end didn't really like how they looked so I left them off.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I have a guest post up on the Spellbinders blog.  You can check it out here.

 Have a lovely day!

happy thanksgiving...

 Hello everyone!  Hope things are well in your world.  I'm popping in with a card for a few challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, the Paper Players and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I had started working on the card on Saturday but decide to wait to finish it to see if what I had started might work for the Paper Players challenge and it did!  Let's take a look. 

I bought the Simon Says Stamp Pumpkin Set quite a while ago, but never got the chance to make anything with it.  When I saw the FMS sketch, I thought it would be perfect for the circular element on the card.  I didn't make my card square, but I don't often make square cards to begin with, lol!  I used a Spellbinders embossing folder called Falling Leaves to emboss the kraft cardstock and then cut it apart to create the two other elements.    The pumpkin, stem and leaves were die cut from bristol cardstock and then I inked up the pumpkin with Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge distress oxide inks.  The leaves were inked with Bundled Sage and Rustic Wilderness.   I used different levels of foam squares to create a bit of a curve to the pumpkin, but not sure I succeeded.  The sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Full of Thanks stamp set.  I stamped the sentiment with green ink and then die cut it with an AJVD label die.  I purchased the SSS November card kit and was set to get it on Oct. 29th.  The mail came but the kit was delivered to me.  According to the tracking info the delivery person delivered it to the wrong address where it was refused.  So, I thought it was going back to Simon Says Stamp.  However, on Monday we had a different delivery person, and I got my kit!   So glad it came, and I was able to use a sentiment from the set.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Simon Says Stamp July Release!

 Hello everyone!  Did you see?  The July release from Simon Says Stamp is now available.  You can find the Dream Big release here.  Simon was so kind and sent me the beautiful Fab Floral Plate to create with.  I made two cards that I'm sharing in this blog post.  (A list of affiliate linked products is at the end of this blog post.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.)  Here is my first card:

The first card shows the die as it was intended to be used.  I die cut it from some of the Simple Stories patterned paper from the July Simon Says Stamp July card kit and white cardstock.  I adhered them together and then added the piece to the front of a white cardstock base.  I saved all the little petals that were die cut from the patterned paper so I could use some on my second card.  I then die cut the SSS Etched Berry Branch from a buffalo check and light greenish patterned paper that is also from the card kit and layered the two.  They were adhered to the card front.  I stamped a sentiment from the You Shine stamp set in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink, trimmed it down and adhered to the card.  I thought the front looked a little plain so I added Trinity Stamps Rainbow Reflections jewels to the card.   The sparkle is so pretty in real life.

For this card I wanted to go a little bit outside the box and so I decided to use those leftover petals to create some flowers.  I die cut part of the main die from scrap white cardstock to use to help me get the right spacing for the petals.  The flower stems were die cut using the Simon Says Stamp Etched Layered Daisy Stem dies.  The stems were cut from the patterned paper from the July card kit.   I will admit it took me awhile to get the layout of the flowers the way I wanted it to.  At first I only had the two taller stems, but after I stamped the sentiment from the You Shine stamp set I got the idea to just use a few of the petals.  I think it worked fairly well.  The flower centers were die cut with a small circle die from black paper, adhered to the flowers and then covered with Nuvo crystal drops in Morning Dew.  I really like the whimsical look of my little flowers. 

Affiliate linked supply list:

Spellbinders Platinum 6

Simon Says Stamp Fab Floral Plate

Simon Says Stamp Etched Layered Daisy Stem dies

Simon Says Stamp Etched Berry Branch die

Simon Says Stamp You Shine stamp set

Bearly Art Glue

Trinity Stamps Rainbow Reflection jewels

Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist 6x8 paper pad

VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink

Nuvo Crystal Drops Morning Dew

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the new Simon Says Stamp release!

rainbow leaves...

 Hello!  Seems like forever since I last posted on my blog.  I'm popping in today with a card for the current PoppyStamps challenge, as well as a card that I made for last week's Paper Players challenge that I posted on Instagram in order to get it entered in time.  I was excited to see that the card earned an honorable mention from one of the design team members.   

I think it was last fall or early winter that I picked up this PoppyStamps Maple Symphony die from a sale that they had.  They had tons of great deals and I got several more dies along with some freebies!  Gotta love freebies, lol!  Well, I hadn't had the chance to use it until now.  I don't often recreate cards using rainbow colors, but my sweet friend Greta is guest designing for this month's PoppyStamps challenge.  I just had to play along.   This gave me a chance to pull out this die and create a little rainbow of leaves swirling down my card.  And wouldn't you know it?  There were enough leaves for all the colors of the rainbow:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet!  I used distress oxide inks for the leaves.  Since they are so small for the most part I was able to use residual ink left on various blending brushes!   I adhered a few layers of cardstock to the back of my top panel to get it more stability.  The leaves were inked and then popped back into their spots using thin foam squares.  The sentiment is a new Memory Box foil plate and die set that I foiled using matte gold foil.   Aren't you supposed to find gold at the end of a rainbow?   Very clean and very simple. 

My next card is the one that I shared on Instagram.  Take a look:

I used products from the Simon Says Stamp July card kit and did some very simple watercoloring with my Jane Davenport watercolors.  I just love the vibrant colors I get from her palettes!   After coloring the images I fussy cut them out as I don't have the dies, yet!  Again, another simple card, but I love how it turned out. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!