this card isn't for everyone, lol!

Hello!  Popping in to share a card that I willing admit is not for everyone.  In fact I'm not sure it is for anyone, lol!  But here I am to share it.   It will be heading over to Freshly Made Sketches, Color Hues and Just Us Girls (stencil week).  Let's have a look at what I created. 

I have taken to calling this one "camo leaf" because it does look like camouflage to me.   Making this card was definitely a challenge when it came to the color combo!   I used the Simon Says Stamp Oak Leaf stencil and die set.  And I will admit it took me at least three tries to get the colors I was going for.  As you can see from the Color Hues badge artichoke has a gray undertone.  I don't have any inks in that color, but I think combining the purple with the closest green I had to artichoke provided me with a green more in line with artichoke.  All the inks I used are from Altenew.  I even inkblended on white cardstock so I could die cut out the word "blessed" in the same shade of purple I used on the leaf.    I decided to go with an embossed background (Simon Says Stamp Whirlpool Spinner).   Let me you what you think of my "camo leaf"!

 

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

bright side...

Hello!  I'm back with two more cards that I made with products from the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release.  One card will be heading off to the current Just Us Girls challenge (stencils), as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   Let's look at what I created.  (If you haven't yet, please check out my Simon Says Stamp day 2 blog hop post.)

This first card features the new Bellflower Blossoms stencil set, Chunky Ovals dies and a sentiment from the fun Positive Thoughts stamp set.   I stenciled the background using blue, purple and green inks from Altenew.   Once the stenciling was done I die cut the panel with a Chunky Oval die.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base.  Two of the smaller Chunky Oval were used to die cut some polka dot vellum and then the sentiment that was stamped in a dark purple ink.   This is the card that will be heading to the above mentioned challenges. 

For this card I used the new Sunflower Meadow stamp set, as well as the Chunky Ovals.   I also pulled in a die from the Sparkler Scallop frames set from last month's release.  I just love that die set!  I stamped the image on the white panel, die cut it and then used two Chunky Oval dies to create the kraft cardstock frame.  I adhered the frame, added the little twine bow and then finished with the sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamps set that was die cut with the smallest Chunky Oval die.

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

Long Stem Florals...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card that I made for the Paper Players challenge which is a color challenge this week (coral, pink, yellow and green).  The challenge closes in the next day so I needed to get it done.  I will also be adding it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge as well.  Let' see what I made.

The Simon Says Stamp August card kit is available for purchase and for about 30 seconds (actually a little longer than that, lol) I thought about purchasing it.  But then I realized that I already had several of the products included in the kit and a stamp set that was similar.  So, I didn't purchase the kit.  One of the items in the kit is a jar of Tim Holtz distress embossing powder and it got me thinking about what distress embossing powders did I have.  Off I went to look and low and behold I had all the colors needed for the Paper Players color challenge!  Yay!  The Long Stem Florals stamp set with matching stencil and dies was perfect for what I wanted to do.  I used Kitsch Flamingo, Fossilized Amber, Saltwater Taffy and Twisted Citron distress embossing powders.   I will admit that even though this card looks simple it was a bit labor intensive as I had to do some layering of the embossing powder due to the stencil.  I did discover in the process, as well, that the distress embossing ink dauber I bought years ago does still dispense embossing ink.  Another yay!  So, I stamped the stems in VersaFine Clair Nocturne, let them dry for a bit and then did all the inking and embossing using the stencil.  When finished I die cut the panel and adhered it to a white cardstock base.  Finished with a sentiment from the Long Stem Floral stamp set.   A simple, yet not so simple, card, lol!

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

Simon Says Stamp Shine On Release!

 Hello, hello!  There is a brand new release at Simon Says Stamp called Shine On and it is another stellar release.  You can see the entire release right here. (Using the shared links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.)  Simon Says Stamp was so kind and generous and sent me several products from this release to create with.  Today I'm going to share two of the four cards that I made.  Let's take a look at what I made.

This first card was made with the super fun Tall Happy Cover die and the pretty Dewdrop Daisy set set. I fell in love with both of these products the moment I pulled them from the package and couldn't wait to get started making a card with them.  I went really simple with this card by just die cutting out the Tall Happy from white cardstock and then inking it from the bottom up using Squeezed Lemonade distess ink.  My inking is kind of uneven, but I actually really like the look.  I adhered it to a white cardstock base and then worked on the daisy.  I diecut everything from white cardstock, trimmed off the stem and the leaves and then added Squeezed Lemonade to the flower and Mowed Lawn to the leaves.  I put the flower and leaves together and adhered it to the card front.  I finished with the tiny birthday sentiment that is from the EZ Stripes Birthday stamp and die set.   Going to add this one to the Die Cut Diva's June challenge of anything goes.

This card was made with the Clever Fox stamp set and the matching stencils.   This is another set that I love, too!  So perfect for masculine cards.  I stamped the fox and then used the stencils to ink him up.  I don't have a ton of inks in shades of brown (working on changing that!), but I do have a set from Pinkfresh Studio.  I used those to give the different shades to the fox.  For the kraft background I used the new Presto Pop embossing folder.  The background the fox is sitting on was created using the Forest Background die that was release during Diecember 2025.  I finished with the happy birthday sentiment from the Clever Fox stamp set.   Adding this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Since it is stencil week at JUGs I'm going to pop my clever fox into the gallery there!

Well, that's it for now.  I will be back in a few days with the other two cards that I made.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Birthday Wishes

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for a few challenges:  Sunday Stamps (sketch) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (food or drink - some people think candy is food, lol!).  I had wanted to enter this in the Color Hues challenge, but missed the deadline.  Shoot!  Going to add this to Seize the Birthday in the anything goes category.    Let's have a look at what I created.

This card came about because I really like the sketch at Sunday Stamps and I wanted to make something with it.  In fact I liked the sketch so much I made another card using that same sketch.  I will be sharing that one on Friday on the Birch Press Design blog so stay tuned, lol!  When I started this card I originally made a little cupcake using the Sweet Birthday stamp and die set from Simon Says Stamp.  I stamped the cupcake pieces and colored them with Copic markers.  Once I put the cupcake together I didn't like it.  I really didn't like it after I decided to add some glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter.  So I threw it away and started over.  This time with the heart shaped lollipop in the stamp set.  I stamped it twice and colored each one with Copic markers approximating the Color Hues colors.   Once that was done I added highlights with a white gel pen.  I think I added too many, but what is done is done, lol!  I then die cut a panel of white cardstock and stenciled tiny blue hearts using Chipped Sapphire distress ink.  To keep the heart theme going I used a Poppystamps circle die set that features hearts.  I adhered that to my panel and then added the two lollipops.   The die cut sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp and this was my first time using it.  I colored some white cardstock with two of the Copic markers used to color the fuchsia lollipop and then die cut the words.   I used extra heavy vellum to die cut the shadow layer, adhered the words with glue and then added the sentiment to finish the card.  

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

Simon Says Stamp In My Heart Release Day 1 Blog Hop!

 Hello, hello!  Simon Says Stamp's brand new release called In My Heart is now available on their website and today is day 1 of their two day blog hop!  I'm so excited to be participating in the blog hop this month.  Thank you to Simon Says Stamp for the opportunity.  You can click here to see the entire release.   As you can see from the banner SSS is offering an exclusive free set when you make any purchase from the new release.  And since this is a blog hop SSS is offering a $25 gift certificate at each stop on the hop!   You can find the full list of hoppers on the Simon Says Stamp blog.   You should have arrived here from Dana Joy's blog.

Simon Says Stamp generously sent me several products to work with.  My first card uses the fun new Scalloped Arches Frames dies, the Bows for Days suite of products (stamps, stencil and dies) and the Thanks, Mom stamp set.  I also used a SSS tag die and beautiful papers from the Paper Rose Studio collection called Arabella's Garden.  Let's look at what I made.

When I started making my cards using the In My Heart products I wanted to use some of the patterned paper that I have (which is a lot, lol!) and came across the Arabella's Garden papers.  I think I got them in a SSS card kit a few years ago.  I found one piece that had this pretty bouquet of flowers on it and decided to die cut out the bouquet.  After die cutting the paper with the Scalloped Arches Frames die I die cut additional sets using thin cardstock.  I cut more for the frame so that the piece with the floral image would be slightly recessed.  I glued everything together and set them aside to dry.  I used the SSS A2 Frames die set to diecut the background from a piece of the patterned paper with a light pink pattern on it.  I used the same paper to stamp the sentiment in gray ink and then die cut with the tag die.  I used the Bows for Days stencil to create a pink bow, stamped the image over the stenciling and then die cut it with the matching die.  I then adhered everything to a white cardstock base.   This card will be going to my mom for Mother's Day!

When I started this card I thought it would be an Easter card because of the cute little bunny but went with Mother's Day instead.  This little guy is called Flower Bunny.  I die cut him from light gray cardstock and white cardstock.  I used residual ink on my blending brushes to add light pink for the nose and ears and light brown for the eyes.  The flower was die cut from pink glitter cardstock, the stem from green and then assembled it.  I used more patterned paper from the Arabella's garden papers for the background that I then embossed with a SSS embossing folder called Bloom Field.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base and then added the arched piece that I created using more patterned paper and two of the smaller Scallopped Arched Frames dies.  I added the bunny and flower to the background.  I had done a test run of stenciling all the bows in the Bows for Days suite of products using blue ink for the stenciling.  I thought the bow you see on the bunny would be the perfect size and I was right!   I added the bunny and then the sentiments that are from the Reverse Mom preprinted strips pack.  I just love that sweet little bunny!

Well, that is it for me!   Your next stop on the hop is Carol Hintermeier.  Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Moments Release!

 Hello, hello!  Simon Says Stamp has a new release on their website and it is full of some beautiful products!  You can see the entire release here.  Simon was so generous and sent me several products to create with.  Today I'm going to share two of those projects with you.  Let's see what I made.

First up is a little decor piece that I created using the new Retro Daisies stencil, Ribbon Loop Frames dies and Inspiration Quotes stamp set.  Blue is my favorite color (along with green) and so that was my jumping off point.    I used Altenew Fresh Dye ink in Blueberry and Blue Horizon to stencil the daisies.  The Ribbon Loop frame was die cut from a bright green cardstock, as well as two additional layers from white.  The frames were then adhered together.  I tried several options of embossing on vellum and finally settled on white.  It is a little hard to read in the photo, but it looks really pretty in real life.  The frame is a Tim Holtz distress frame that I painted light blue.  Before the paint was dry I wiped some of it off for a little bit of a shabby look.   The stenciled piece was trimmed to fit behind the frame and then adhered to the backing piece using collage medium.   The frame was adhered using collage medium as well.  Once the main piece was dry I adhered the green ribbon frame using liquid adhesive, trimmed down the sentiment and adhered it using rolled up glue dots.  I finished things off with dots of Limoncello Nuvo jewel drops.  I will be sending this little gem off to the new Just Us Girls challenge as it is stencil week.  Thank you so much to JUGs team member Lisa for picking my card as the winner of last week's challenge! Will also be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

Now for my second project.  This one uses a fun new background stamp called Pinwheel Party and will be heading over to the current Color Hues challenge of peach and teal.  Let's have a look.

I'm going to be real honest and tell you that peach is not my favorite color to work with, but I always like a good challenge and so I was determined to make something with those two colors.  When I saw the Pinwheel Party I thought it would be perfect to use for those two colors.  I decided to go with using more peach than teal just because teal is a much stronger color.   After stamping both colors I diecut the teal one with a SSS tag die, layered it on a shadow layer tag and added the tab and twine.  The peach background was die cut with a rectangle die and then added to a white cardstock base.  I adhered the tag and then finished with a sentiment from the Inspirational Quotes and some Nuvo drops in Morning Dew.

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the new Beautiful Moments release!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Hello!  I'm popping in to share a little Valentine that I made for my great nephew.  I hadn't planned on it, but when I saw that the JUGs challenge was valentine I decided to share it.  I'm also posting it to Freshly Made Sketches because the layout of my card is does lend itself to the sketch.   Let's have a look at what I created.

Back in the summer my niece convinced her husband to fly to California and bring home a mini Aussiedoodle that they named Coco.  She is cutest little thing and my great nephew and great niece adore her.  I was thinking of Coco when I made this card for my great nephew.    The puppy face is from the Simon Says Stamp set called Hello Animals.  She fit perfectly on top of the happy Valentine's Day setntiment that is from a very old SSS stamp set called Hello Beautiful.  I stamped her using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored her with Copic markers.   I had just planned to stamp the sentiment and then place the puppy as you see it but decided to add the pale blue heart for a little bit more interest. I used a SSS stencil for the heart.  I like how it turned out.  I hope my great nephew likes it too!  Can you see the sketch in there?  Let me know.

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

Fall and Christmas...

 Hello!  Fall finally seems to be in full swing here in the south Puget Sound!  I do like it when we have what is called an "indian summer", but this year it was way too hot for way too long and I was over it!  Our usual rain has arrived, but it was kind of a crazy transition.  Hot one day, cold the next, lol!   Anyway, as my blog title suggests I have fall and Christmas represented in this post.  Let's look at what I made.

First up is fall.  This card is for the current Just Us Girls challenge which features a pretty mood board.  I went with the colors and some of the fall icons.  I used the Simon Says Stamp Full of Thanks stamps, stencils and dies and lots of fall colored distress inks.  I used Scattered Straw for most of the foliage and then added different colors on top.  The pumpkin was done in Carved Pumpkin and then a bit of Ripe Persimmon.  Using stencils to color everything makes for quick crafting!  Die cut all the images then arranged them on a kraft panel to get placement for the sentiment.  Once placement was set I removed all the die cut pieces and stamped the sentiment using Versafine CLAIR Acorn ink.  Also used Acorn for all the images.  Thought about using a embossing folder to add some texture, but was too lazy to go looking for the one I had in mind, lol!  Adhered everything with glue (nothing popped up as I want to mail it without extra postage), added to a card base and I was done.

These next two cards are for Christmas and feature more products from the PaperTrey Ink September release.  I have finally worked my way through the majority of the products.   Let's have a look at what I made.

This card features the Nutcracker Magic suite of products and I love them!  I took ballet starting at the age of 5 and ending shortly after I turned 19.  During that time, I was able to participate in the Christmas favorite Nutcracker Ballet during the last three years I took ballet.  At that time, I was an apprentice in a local ballet company.  So, the Nutcracker is near and dear to my heart!  These products brought back so many memories.  And no, I wasn't ever good enough to be the Sugar Plum Fairy featured on my card!  But I was happy with the parts that I did perform.  Kept things fairly simple.  I had previously hot foiled the background panel using the Merry Motifs hot foil plate using pink foil but didn't use it for the intend project.  Thought it was perfect for this card.  I did use the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches so will post it there.  Stamped the Sugar Plum Fairy and the little swag with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copics.  Die cut the pieces along with the sentiment.  A bit of sparkle was added to the edge of her tutu and the berries on the swag using Rock Candy glitter.  Die cut the medium sized oval frame from white cardstock to provide her with a subtle frame and then adhered everything to the foiled panel.  

My final card features the fun 12 Days of Christmas stamps and dies.  Let's have a look.

For this card I stamped all the images with black ink and then pulled out my polychromos color pencils and colored them.  I will admit that I started strong and finished pretty weak with the coloring, lol.  I really like how all the birds turned out especially the turtle dove.  As I was working on the coloring, I sang the song that inspired these products.  I was doing pretty well remembering all the words until I got to eleven.  I had to stop and look up the lyrics to see what number 11 was.  It is "eleven pipers piping" and that is when I realized the problem.  The PTI image for number 11 is a horn!  Totally threw me off, lol.  The suite of products comes with that grid background die.  I can see using it for many other things besides these stamps and dies!   I did die cut additional layers for each little icon and then adhered them together.  I die cut the sentiment from vellum twice and then adhered them together.   I like how you can see the sentiment, but it also allows the images to peek through, as well.  Going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Christmas.

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

Christmas wishes...

 I didn't do much in the way of "Christmas in July" this year.  Just wasn't feeling it.  But I recently purchased a stencil and die set from Simon Says Stamp called Festive Swag.  When I saw that it was stencil week at Just Us Girls, I decided to put my new products to use.   

I paired the stenciled piece with patterned paper and a pre-printed sentiment from the 49 and Market Evergreen Season collection.  I used distress oxide ink in Candied Apple, Lumberjack Plaid, Evergreen Bough, Rustic Wilderness and Pine Needles for the swag.  I used the Pinkfresh Studio Postage Edge dies for the two patterned paper layers.  Now I have one Christmas card ready to go!

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

Simon Says Stamp Moments in Time Release!

 Hey friends!  Popping in to share four cards that I made with a stamp set from the new Simon Says Stamp release called Moments in Time.    Simon was so generous and sent me the super versatile Banner Greetings stamp set.  Let's have a look at what I made.

First up is a sympathy card.  The stamp set has two different banners and then sentiments that fit inside. I used the Simon Says Stamp Etched Eucalyptus Wreath and the Blossom Swag embossing folder.  After embossing my panel I splattered it with watered down Bundled Sage distress ink.  The wreath was die cut from a mint green cardstock and vellum, layered and then adhered to the card front.  I stamped the banner and sentiment and trimmed it out.  I wish I had placed the banner a little bit differently, but overall happy with the design. 

I went with a more monochromatic look for this card.  I think it is perfect for a guy or a gal.  I die cut the Etched Berry Branch from dark gray cardstock and adhered it to a panel of light gray cardstock that I embossed with the Simon Says Stamp Geometric Lattice embossing folder.  The sentiment and banner were stamped on the same light gray cardstock as the embossed panel, trimmed out and adhered.  

This card happened because I already had the two little buttercups diecut!  I just needed to put them together, add some patterned paper, the sentiment and I was done.  I did add a little bit of interest by embossing the patterned paper panel with another Simon Says Stamp embossing folder.  I like the subtle look

This final card didn't start out being my favorite, but once I had it all put together I love it!  I started by stenciling a panel of white cardstock with a poppy stencil from Simon Says Stamp.  I used Candied Apple distress oxide ink.  I then die cut the panel with the Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frames die set.  I die cut a panel of white carstock and adhered the frame.  I then die cut additional panels to fit behind the inner panel so that it would be slightly popped up from the frame.  I adhered that to my white panel.  Then I die cut the flower (SSS Sunrise Stem) from white cardstock, inked up just the flower with Candied Apple and adhered the pieces to my card front.  I stamped the banner and sentiment, trimmed it out and then inked up the banner with the residual ink on my blending brush.  The banner was adhered and I was done.  I like the rather striking and unusual look of this card. 

Well, that's it for me.  Don't forget to check out the release.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

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!

Simon Says Stamp Sunny Vibes Release!

 Hello!  I'm popping in to share two cards that I created with a product from the Simon Says Stamp Sunny Vibes release.  Simon was so kind and sent me the Bad Days Good Vibes stamp set.  This set has lots of sentiments that will help you express your support for family and friends.  Let's have a look at what I made.  As with most Simon Says Stamp products you can also get a matching die set, as well as the products in a bundle.

For this card and the other card I made with the stamp set I used the Simon Says Stamp Groovy Blooms stencil set along with stencil pastes from the Crafters Workshop and the newly released Waffle Flower grip mat.   After stenciling a panel of white cardstock with the colors I chose I left the panel on the grip mat to dry.  During the drying process only one corner of the panel popped off the grip mat.   Once the panel was dry I die cut a portion for this card using the Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frames.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base and then added the sentiment.  I stamped the main sentiment and then added the subsentiment.   

Here is a photo showing the initial layer of stencil paste I laid down on my white panel.  You can kind of see spots where I got stencil paste on the grip mat.    The photo below shows the panel still on the grip mat after all the stenciling was done and I was letting it dry.  

Only one corner of the panel popped up even after I had added all that stencil paste to the cardstock.  I was impressed at the grip power of the grip mat!  

For this card I used a strip of the panel that was left over after I had die cut it.  I adhered that to a white cardstock panel and then added the sentiment that I embossed in white on vellum and die cut with a heart shaped die.  I added the sub-sentiment that I stamped in black on white cardstock and die cut with a sentiment strip die.    Adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to emboss it.

In this photo you can see all the stencil paste that I got on the grip mat.  I left the paste on the grip mat for a couple of days just to see if the paste would come off and it did.  I just used some warm water and a little bit of scrubbing to get the paste off.  I did take a photo of the clean grip mat, but it turned out blurry and I was too lazy to take another, lol!

That's it for me.  Don't forget to head over to the Simon Says Stamp website to check out all the new products in the Sunny Vibes release.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Floral Cards

 Hello!  Stopping in to share a couple of cards.  I will be posting one of the cards to the following challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown and Just Us Girls.    The other card will be going to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.   Here is the first card.

The challenge at JUGs is anything goes with stencils.  I have quite a few stencils, but don't often use them.  I looked through my stencils, but then decided to use an older Hero Arts stamp and stencil set that came from one of their My Monthly Hero card kits.  I don't remember what year or month.  I did the stenciling using the CTD colors, but accidentally got ink on the image during the process, so I set that one aside and decided to use the Simon Says Stamp Groovy Blooms stencil set with the CTD colors and the FMS layout.  I stenciled flowers and leaves and then die cut the panel down to fit the FMS layout.  I was able to trim out one of the large flowers and adhered that to the main panel.  I then decided to stencil some of the smaller flowers and leaves to add to the panel.  I used a scrap of the original stenciled piece to die cut the word "hello" from.  I die cut a few more of the hello from other scraps of cardstock, adhered them together and added it to the shadow die cut from vellum.  I used some pretty yellow glitter cardstock for the other elements in the sketch, then adhered everything to a white cardstock panel and then to a card front. 

This card was made with the first round of stenciling that I mentioned above.  After I finished the above card I decided to figure out a way to make this image work.  I thought about just trying to cover up where I had gotten ink on the image, but didn't really like that idea.  Then I covered up part of the image with a strip of cardstock and I liked that look.  So I cut the floral image into two pieces.  I cut the strip of black glitter cardstock and adhered it directly to a cardstock base using thin foam squares.  I added glue to the back of the floral piece and tucked it underneath the glitter strip.  I die cut the work thanks from the yellow glitter cardstock I used on the first card and vellum for the shadow and adhered it to the card front.  I think I was able to create a pretty decent save.   

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