Houses Built of Cards: June 2020

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Special Delivery Duo - Simon Says Stamp July 2020 Card Kit

Good morning! I'm stopping by with a couple more cards created with the July Simon Says Stamp Card Kit - Home Sweet Home! This kit is such a fun kit at a time when many of us have been spending lots of time at home! The included stamp set by the same name has a lovely and versatile cityscape, and is and filled with fabulous sentiments, there is some fabulous pattern paper, fun die set - not to mention the Cardstock, stickers, and more!

Today I'm sharing a simple duo of cards that looks rather complicated...but thanks to the lovely pattern paper in this kit, came together SOO quickly and easily with minimal effort!

I love the gorgeous Waffle Flower Special Delivery pattern paper in this kit - both of these panels were trimmed from one of the pieces of paper.

I trimmed them a bit smaller than my white cardbases, and adhered them directly onto the cardbases.

I then added a few sparkly white jewels in varying sizes to the flowers and the stamp on the envelope for a bit of sparkle and simple dimension.

And just like that - these easy peasy cards were done! Almost embarrassing to post them since they were so easy! :)

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Happy Happy Happy - Simon Says Stamp Send Happiness Release

Good morning! I'm back yet again with another card today using the fabulous Sending Happiness Release from Simon Says Stamp! I recently picked up some of the Karin Brushmarkers I have been seeing used lately - so hard to resist a new toy, don't you think? So I put them to use on this card to add a bright and happy pop of color, and play with a bit of blending of the markers!

I started off by stamping the big happy from the new Happy Days stamp set 3 times on some Bristol Smooth watercolor paper using my MISTI and Versafine Ink.

I then added two different shades of each color to each word - a lighter shade at the top, and a deeper shade at the bottom, and blended them together with a wet paintbrush in the center. I also added a bit of gray for shadows around the outside of the words - hard to see in the photos though I'm afraid! I rounded a corner, and adhered it to a gray cardbase with the same corner rounded as well.

I added some supporting sentiments from the stamp set, a few sparkly jewels, a few of the images from the same stamp set scattered around the bottom, and a good thick coat of Glossy Accents over the large happy words for some shine!

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means that if you use one of the links below, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my blog, and stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Monday, June 29, 2020

Watercolored Front Door Card - on the Unity Stamp Company Blog

Good morning! I'm back with another card for my series on the Unity Stamp Company Blog this morning! I'm so excited to be featuring the amazing Kit of the Month on Monday's on the Unity Stamp Company Blog! Since the Kit of the Month was the first thing I purchased from Unity, and what got me hooked to begin with, they hold a special place in my heart, so I'm super excited about this opportunity to give these kits some love! You can check out all the details HERE for today's card!

Thanks for stopping by today - have a WONDERFUL day!!!

Sending Happiness - Simon Says Stamp Send Happiness Release

Good morning! I'm back with another card today using the fabulous Sending Happiness Release from Simon Says Stamp - today I'm sharing a super clean and simple card!

For this card, I actually used a leftover practice piece from the card I posted yesterday for the blog hop (you can see it HERE). I had blended Mermaid Lagoon Distress ink in the corners of a panel of watercolor paper, and misted with water to give a loose watercolor effect.

I die cut the new Chunky Flower die from white cardstock and layered it in the corners, trimming the excess off the edges. I mounted it on a a white cardbase, and stamped the sentiment from the new Happy Days stamp set in the center using my MISTI.

Finally, I flooded each of the sections inside with Glossy Accents and a detail applicator. A bit slower and tedious than it looks - but SOOO worth the effort! Love the almost stained glass effect it gives - and yet it is still a nice flat and easy to mail card!

Always in My Heart - Simon Says Stamp July 2020 Card Kit

Good morning! I'm stopping by with another card created with the July Simon Says Stamp Card Kit - Home Sweet Home! This kit is such a fun kit at a time when many of us have been spending lots of time at home! The included stamp set by the same name has a lovely and versatile cityscape, and is and filled with fabulous sentiments, there is some fabulous pattern paper, fun die set - not to mention the Cardstock, stickers, and more!

Today I'm using the stamp set to create this bright and colorful design with distress inks!

For this card, I stamped the fun row of houses along the bottom edge of a panel of white cardstock using black pigment ink so it would be water friendly. I then used an ink blender to blend some distress inks over portions of the image, then misted with water and let the color run as they wanted. Once it dried, I repeated to deepen the color a bit - blending over it then misting with water again.

I added some white splatters using some thinned down white acrylic paint, and again let that dry, before matting with some black cardstock and mounting on a white cardbase!

Here is a closer look at the entire kit contents - you can find all the details HERE:

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Make Me So Happy - Simon Says Stamp Send Happiness Release Blog Hop

Good morning! I'm thrilled this morning to be joining Day 2 of a Two day Blog Hop to celebrate the Fabulous NEW Send Happiness Release from Simon Says Stamp!!! Make sure and check out all the inspiration with this new release AND link up your creations as you receive your orders HERE in the Gallery created just for this release! And check out the graphic below to select a a FREE enamel pin with any order using one of the coupon codes through Monday, June 29, 2020 as well - while supplies last (code expires at 11:59 PM EDT)!!!

Today I have a mostly die cut card - with a a lot of distress ink fun as well!

I started off by creating an ink blended background using Mermaid Lagoon distress ink and blending it on watercolor paper with a blending brush. I then misted it with water so it could soften out to a watercolor look, and set it aside to dry.

I die cut the gorgeous new Etched Peony die from white cardstock, and blended Abandoned Coral and Festive Berries distress ink over the top. I also smooshed some of those inks on a clear block, mixed with water, and flicked over it with a paint brush for some splatter. And finally, also added some splatters with white paint thinned with a bit of water.

I die cut a couple of the beautiful new Leafy Branch die from white cardstock, and tucked those behind the flower. Before adhering both of those down, I added some black splatter with Pinkfresh Licorice liquid watercolors.

Added a sentiment from the new Happy Days stamp set, heat embossed in white on a bit of black cardstock, trimmed down, and mounted with foam adhesive. Finished off with a few white jewels from Pinkfresh Studio Essentials: Jewels Mix for just that little extra bit of sparkle!

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Simon Says will be giving a $25 gift certificate to their online store at each stop along the hop - so make sure and leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win! Winners will be announced next Wednesday on the Simon Says Stamp Blog.

Here is the entire blog hop line up in case you get lost along the way:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Debby Hughes

Laura Bassen

Heather Hoffman (you are here)

Friday, June 26, 2020

Pinkfresh Studio + Altenew “Celebrate” Collaboration Blog Hop + Giveaway

Good morning! Today is an amazing blog hop to celebrate Collaborative Release with Pinkfresh Studio and Altenew! You aren't going to want to miss a stop along the way - TONS of inspiration and prizes up for grabs! YAY! You also might want to pop over to the Pinkfresh Studio Facebook Page at 10 AM Pacific Time this morning - I will be going LIVE featuring some of the new releases and there will be a gift certificate up for grabs as well!

You can also receive free shipping on any US order of $50 or more through July 2nd - or discounted international shipping - so a great time to pick up anything you have your eye on!

I have a few cards to share using the beautiful new stamp sets in the release!

Both Pinkfresh and Altenew are known for their beautiful floral designs, and this collaboration really celebrates that love of all things floral!

First off, I have this card featuring the large gorgeous floral bouquet from Celebrate Today, watercolored with lots of our beautiful Pinkfresh Liquid watercolors in nice bright, bold, and happy colors! I stamped with Black Detail ink on watercolor paper, die cut with the coordinating dies, and then added color with a rainbow of bold happy colors.

Once that dried, I layered it over white cardstock die cut with the largest Essentials: Braided Oval die, and layered that over a soft gray cardbase that I added some black splatters to with Licorice liquid watercolors. Finished off with a sentiment from the set, heat embossed on a strip of black cardstock then trimmed into a banner shape.

Next up, I couldn't stop stamping the beautiful layered flowers from Celebrate Us, so I have two cards to share using these beautiful images!

Such a simple, gorgeous, and fun flower to stamp I can tell you that! I loved using bright, bold, and happy Pinkfresh Studio dye inks to stamp these out.

Once I stamped all four of them, I die cut them with the coordinating dies, and paired them up with a couple of frames cut with Essentials: Ornate Oval Frame Die.

I also used gray cardbases for these with the same black splatters, and layered them all on with foam adhesive. The coordinating dies for this set has that fun layered thankful word, and it was perfect to finish these off with the small additional sentiment in the stamp set.

Definitely looking forward to playing more with this fun and fabulous release!

Make sure and leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate to Pinkfresh Studio! You have until July 2nd to leave comments for a chance to win. All winners will be chosen and posted on the Pinkfresh Blog on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 - so make sure and check back to see if you were a winner! Winners must check that page and claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here is the entire blog hop line-up so you don't miss a single stop - and product links are below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Sending Vitamin Sea - Simon Says Stamp Send Happiness Release

Good morning everyone! Simon Says Stamp has an awesome new release today called Sending Happiness - so I thought I'd pop in to share a quick card with you using some of the new release! There is also a two day blog hop over the weekend, so keep your eyes open for that as well!

I used two new products from the release - the fun new In The Round Stencil, and the darling new Be a Mermaid stamp set!

I started off by stenciling on a white cardbase, then added the image and sentiment stamped over the top. Wouldn't this be fun in all kinds of different color combos?!?!?

I love a good one layer card that still can have some fun layers and dimension - and stencils are a perfect way to add that...as well as Nuvo Glitter Drops and Glossy Accents! Can you see the mix of sparkle and shine I added to the tail?

Monday, June 22, 2020

Sunbursts, Stripes, and Florals - Facebook and YouTube Live Cards

Good morning! Today I'm going to do my recap last week's (and the week before) Pinkfresh Studio Facebook Lives and YouTube Live! If you missed the Live videos and want to take a peek, you can find them on the Pinkfresh Facebook Page and Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel- I will post a link to each video below. As always, there was one giveaway for someone who watched live for each video, so make sure and pop in each week to win that live giveaway - 10 AM Pacific time on Thursday morning for Facebook Lives and Tuesday afternoons at 1 PM Pacific Time for YouTube Lives!

I've started just posting photos and listing the main supplies I used - with a link each week to the proper videos, just to save a bit of time! So - here is the card we made on June 12th's Facebook Live - you can find the video HERE (and I shared another fun stamping technique on the live as well!):