Simon Says Stamp Sending Cheer Day 2 Blog Hop!

 Hello, hello!!  I'm so excited to be participating in the Simon Says Stamp Sending Cheer day 2 blog hop!   You should have arrived here from Kim Hamilton's blog.  Head to the Simon Says Stamp blog to get the complete list of blogs on the hop.  And since this is a blog hop there are prizes to be won!!  Leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.   Simon Says Stamp also has an opportunity to receive a free stamp set (see graphic) with any purchase from the Sending Cheer release.  This offer ends on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 11:59 pm EST.   The complete Sending Cheer release can be found here.  (Compensated affiliate link.  Using my link allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.)

Isn't that little hedgehog just the cutest thing, ever?  Today I have several cards to share so let's get started.

First up is a card that I made using the new Simple Trees die set and a sentiment from the Christmas Ornaments set.  I will be sharing a card made with that set at the end of this post.  I used patterned paper from the Simple Stories Vintage Old Fashioned Christmas 6x paper pad.  The paper is thin so I did die cut multiple trees and adhered them together to give them a little more weight.  The little bows and stars were die cut from a matte gold cardstock.   I used my favorite Sparkler Scalloped Frames rectangle dies to die cut the background and adhered it to a dark green cardstock base.  The trees were adhered with a combination of glue and various heights of foam squares.  I finished with the sentiment. 

For this card I used more Simple Stories Vintage Old Fashioned Christmas and used the Wild Berry Vines embossing folder.  I put the paper in on the debossed side instead of the embossed side, but I actually ended up liking how this looked!  I finished with one of the extra trees I had from making the first card and sentiments from the CZ Design Christmastime EZ Strips.  

This card uses the Christmas Ornaments stamp set.  Layering up the ornaments is so simple as Simon Says Stamp has numbered all the layers on the stamp set.  I did do a test run of the ornaments just so I could make sure I got everything correct.  I used the Sparkler Scallop Frames dies, again, and stamped two of the ornaments on the panel.  I stamped the third ornament on white cardstock, trimmed it out and adhered it with thin foam squares.  The fussy cutting was quite easy, but I will be getting the matching dies to make it even more so! I used a multi-liner pen and a ruler to draw in the ornament strings and then finished with the sentiment that I stamped on white cardstock, die cut and popped up.  

Well, that is it for me.  The final stop on the hop is Nora Noll.  You can find the complete release right here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

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!

Simon Says Stamp And Everything Nice Release!

 Hello, hello!  It has been a while since I last posted.  Been in a bit of a creative slump when it comes to card making.  But I did get three small cross-stitches that I completed turned into little pillows!  I did, however, manage to make two cards using the sweet Nutcracker Christmas stamp set from the new And Everything Nice release from Simon Says Stamp.  You can find the release right here.   Let's look at what I made.

One of the images in the set is Clara dancing with her nutcracker.  I decided to color her up in a pretty shade of purple using Copic markers.  The nutcracker was colored simply in a red and black combo.  After I finished coloring the image I trimmed her out with my scissors.  I also added some highlights to her.  I die cut a Simon Says Stamp tag and adhered her to the tag.  For more interest I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Branching Corner Holly die from white cardstock.  I added glossy accents to the berries and then covered the berries with Rock Candy glitter.  After the pieces were dry, I arranged them behind the tag, adhering everything with glue to the purple cardstock I die cut using a Simon Says Stamp A2 frames die.  For a little more interest, I stamped one of the candies from the set and colored it using the same grouping of markers that I used for Clara's dress.  Glossy accents was added to the candy along with Rock Candy glitter.  When it was dry I carefully trimmed it out and adhered it to the top of the tag.  Because I glued everything flat on the card I was able to add my sentiment at the end.  Sometimes I get so into creating the overall design I forget about where to put the sentiment.  Thankfully there was room in that corner!  The Just Us Girls challenge is celebrating their 800th challenge!  I'm going to add this little cutie to the challenge gallery.  Congrats to JUGs!  Here's to 800 more challenges!

Now on to my next card!  

It was at the point when I started to make this card that my creative slump really kicked in.  I stamped the colored the little candy prince (at least that is what I'm calling him) in shades of blue using Copic markers, but then I just couldn't figure out what to do with him.    Let things go for awhile and then decided to stamp the drum on a die cut panel of white cardstock and place my little candy prince that I had fussy cut out on top.  I colored the drum using the same blues as I used for the prince to keep things cohesive.   I also decided to stamp the little candies from the set around him, color them with the same blues and then add glossy accents to the candies along with Rock Candy glitter.  The feather on his hat and his scepter also received glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter.   Now what to do about the sentiment, lol!  Almost let it off, but then decided to go a little "old school" and stamp it on white cardstock, trim it down and add a layer behind it of the same blue cardstock used for the base.   

Well, that is it for me.  You can find the entire And Everything Nice release here on the Simon Says Stamp website.   If you wish to shop the release you can use the link over on the sidebar.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Simon Says Stamp Sugar n Spice Release!

 Hello, hello!  I know that Simon Says Stamp just had a fantastic month of exclusive released for Stamptember, but they have a new release that dropped today called Sugar and Spice!  Simon was so kind and provided me with the absolutely adorable Cool Birthday stamp set.   This set features sweet little polar bears, penguins and seals and a cute little iceberg with an igloo and banner complete with a disco ball!  How fun is that?!  Let's have a look at what I created.

First up is a card featuring the two polar bears and a seal carrying a present.   I'm a stickler for things being correct and for my card to be correct I had to put the polar bears and seal together because despite what you see during Christmas and winter polar bears and penguins do not live in the same hemisphere!  Penguins only live at the south pole and polar bears only live at the north pole.  Seals, however, live at both the northern and southern poles so they can be used with the polar bears or the penguins.  Got it, lol?   Now that we have that out of the way let me tell you about the cards.  I stamped the images using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored them very simply with Copic markers.  I then stamped the iceberg/igloo image on a white cardstock panel and colored it simply as well.  It is hard to tell put I did use a very light blue Copic to create the water the iceberg is floating on.  I did use some Memory Box snowflake rub ons in the background, as well.  For a little sparkle I added some glue to the disco ball and the little pompoms on the party hats and then added some Rock Candy glitter.  Finished with the sentiment that I stamped and die cut with a sentiment strip.

For the second card I did some selective inking up of the iceberg image to remove to make the scene a little different.   I stamped the iceberg image a little too off center so I had to die cut it down alot more than the first card so I die cut a light blue cardstock panel and then added Memory Box snowflake rub ons.  I stamped the little party goers in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored simply (again) with Copic markers.  As with the first card I added Rock Candy glitter to the disco ball, and pompoms on the party hats and the sentiment that was stamped and then die cut with a sentiment strip.

That's it for me.  You can see the full release by clicking here.   I also have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today that you can see by clicking here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful 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!

sweet wishes release...

 Hello, hello!  Did you see?  Simon Says Stamp has a brand new release called Sweet Wishes.  You can find the complete collection of products right here.  Simon Says Stamp generously sent me the beautiful Sketched Leaves stamp set and I created two projects with the set.   I went full on autumn colors mode for both projects.  Let's have a look at the first one.

For the card I started off by stamping the maple leaf on watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink, applying gold embossing powder and then heat setting it.  I then used my Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens in autumn shades of red, yellow and brown for the background.  Once the piece was dry, I die cut it with a rectangle die and then sprayed it with distress mica sprays in Harvest Moon, Mulled Cider and Fallen Acorn.  I roughed up the edges for a more rustic look.  I embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and tore one edge.  I wrapped the other edge around the back of my panel, secured it with glue dots and tied the bow.  The panel was then adhered to an off-white cardstock base.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  

I really had alot of fun creating my next project.  Let's have a look at it. 

When I first saw the stamp set I knew that I wanted to create a decor type piece with it.  I went with a tag design using a Stampers Anonymous #8 thick board tag with a distress #8 heavy stock tag on top.  For this piece I used distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs.  I blended on the inks to my liking and then splattered the tag with water.  I let the tag dry for a bit and then stamped on the three leaves using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I finished the tag with lots of splatters foundry wax in the color Gilded.  I heat set the splatters to give them shine and make them permanent.  The edges of the tag were also roughed up for a more rustic look.   You don't see it in the photo, but I used some Tim Holtz washi tape to cover the sides of the thickboard tag for a more finished look.  Then I adhered the inkblended tag using Multi Matte Medium and let it dry.  

For the leaves I used the same oxide inks on a piece of cream colored heavy stock cardstock.   Once I had the inkblending done I stamped each leaf using the Acorn ink and then trimmed out each leaf.  There are matching dies that you can find right here, but I don't have them (yet!).  Since the leaves are fairly large, trimming them out was pretty quick and easy!   I also splattered the leaves with lots of the Gilded foundry wax.  The edges were roughed up and then I glued each leaf on top of the image stamped on the tag by adding glue down the center of each one.   To finish I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink, applied gold embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was then die cut with a cute little fancy shaped tag from Simon Says Stamp.  The edges roughed up and it was adhered to the tag.  I also added a little bit of inking to the edges of the leaves before gluing them on.  Some Memory Box fairy drops in autumn shades were added, along with the ribbon bow.  I custom colored the ribbon using the mica sprays in Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider.  I really love how this tag turned out!

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to create a project based on the word leaves.  My tag fits the challenge perfectly so I will be posting it there.   Love it when things work out like that!

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.