Guest Designing for Not 2 Shabby!

Hello!  Popping in to share my first of four cards I will be sharing this month as a guest designer for Not 2 Shabby Shop.  They have lots of fun and playful branded products in their shop, as well as products from other companies.   You can check them out here.  I was contacted by them a few months ago about guesting for them and said yes!   This month I will be creating with products from their monthly paper pad club, as well as using some of their preprinted sentiment strips.  Let's look at the first card I created.

 Aren't those little turtles just the cutest things?  This card will be going to one of my great nieces for sure!  I did make a bit of a mistake in that I should have put the smallest turtle (the one with the ice cream cone) in the center, but sometimes you can still make a rookie mistake, lol.   The turtles are from the Sweet & Playful Turtles ephemera pack and the papers are from the Cute Sea Critters and Playful Prints 6x6 paper pads.  I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches (did flip it upside down, tho) for the card.  Finished with the sentiment (from Simon Says Stamp) that I stamped on the same paper I used for the main background.  I will also be posting this over at Seize the Birthday as it does have the topping of sweet treats!  This card just makes me smile.  How about you?

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

just for you...

 Hello, hello!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for a few challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches (two weeks in a row... yay me, lol!), Just Us Girls (stencil week) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (anything goes).  Let's look at what I made.

I hadn't bought a Simon Says Stamp card kit in several years and decided to purchase the one for May, 2026.  I was intrigued by the stamp set Long Stem Florals and the stencil that went with the stamp set so decided to save up my money and get the kit.   I was disappointed that by the time I got the kit it didn't include the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Junk Drawer papers, but some very unattractive Tim Holtz papers.  One of the patterns actually looks like a cross section of a lung dyed blue!  Yuck!  Anyway, I have lots of Simple Stories papers that will works so all is well.  Anyway, as you can see, I used the stamp set and stencils, but no patterned paper.  I also used the smallest tag from the die set included in the kit.  I had intended on participating in the most recent Color Hues challenge, but knew I wouldn't have it done by the time the challenge closed.   But I liked the color combo so much (violet and lime green) that I decided to use it anyway.  I thought the stamped and stenciled floral image, as well as the little tag were perfect for Cecile's super cool FMS sketch.  I went with vellum for the tag so you can still see some of the stem underneath.   The sentiment was heat embossed.  I finished with the white twine and some iridescent sequins.

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

Simon Says Stamp Always There Release!

 Hello!  It has been a while since the last Simon Says Stamp release, but they are back and better than ever with the Always There release!  I have two cards to share today that I made using products from this release that SSS generously sent to me to create with.  Let's have a look at what I made.

First up is this cutie patootie giraffe die set called Fable Giraffe.  I think this card will be going to my pink loving great niece when she turns five this fall.   I also used another new product from the release: Sparkler Scallop Frames die set.  I LOVE this die set and you will be seeing me use it alot in the future!  I die cut the giraffe from pink cardstock and then inked up pieces with Spun Sugar distress ink.  I adhered the pieces and then added Nuvo drops in black to the eyes.  I found some pretty pink gingham paper and die cut that with one of the Sparkler Scallop Frames.  White cardstock was die cut with a larger Sparkler Scallop Frames die and layered together.  I used the smallest die from the set, die cut it from white cardstock and then stamped it with the happy birthday sentiment that fit perfectly inside.  The balloon cluster is from the new Pawfect Together stamp set and was stamped on pink cardstock, some Spun Sugar was added to the balloons and then I covered that up with Nuvo drops in White Blizzard, lol!  I layered everything on a pink cardstock base.  Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

This card ended up being my favorite of the four cards that I made.  This card uses the Timeless Thanks die set and the CZ Design Mod Composition background stamp.  I hadn't done emboss/resist in a very long time and thought the Mod Composition stamp would be perfect for that technique.   I stamped the background on white cardstock with watermark ink, applied white embossing powder and then heat set it.  I used Altenew's Soft Lilac ink to bring out the white embossing.  I love the soft subtle color that was achieved.  For the Timeless Thanks I used a fairly new Simon Says Stamp cardstock called Moonflower.  I love this cardstock.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  I die cut the shadow layer from white and adhered them together.  The sentiment is from the CZ Design Thanks, Mom stamp and die set.  I stamped the sentiment on the Moonflower cardstock with VersaFine Clare Morning Mist ink, die cut it plus a couple other layers and adhered both to the background.  The background was die cut with the SSS A2 Frame dies set.  

That's it for now.  I will be back to share the other two cards that I made with products from the release.  Click here to see the full release or use the link on my sidebar.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Birch Press Design Blog Post #2

Hello, hello!  I'm popping in to let you know that I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I made:

Hope you will head over to the BPD blog to see what I made.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

best day ever...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for a couple of challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches and Card Concept.  I haven't participated in either of these challenges in a while.  Just haven't had the motivation to make cards (except for obligations) lately.   Trying to change that state of mind, lol!  Let's look at what I made. 

The FMS sketch is a simple one so that made things a bit easier for me.  Using chipboard and patterned paper helped speed things along, as well.  The theme at Card Concept is seaside/nautical and since I had recently made a couple of nautical theme cards, the 49 and Market Summer Porch products were still fresh in my mind.  Card is pretty straight forward:  Clean and simple with a few layers.  Die cut patterned paper to feature the sailboats, added the chipboard lighthouse and sentiment, a couple of pieces of cello tape and the butterfly.  Added that piece to more patterned paper, a cardstock base and boom... I was done!

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

Birch Press Design May Blog Post #1

Hello, hello!  Popping in to let you know that I have a blog post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I created. 

I hope you will head over to the blog to check out what I created.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.