Halloween and Christmas

 Hello!  As my post title indicates I have cards for Halloween and a card for Christmas.    The Halloween card is one that I actually made back in September using products from the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember release but never shared here on my blog.  The modified version is going to the SSS Wednesday challenge.  The other card is for the PaperTrey Ink monthly challenge, as well as the Sunday Stamps challenge (a sketch).  Let's look at what I made.

Can you believe that Halloween is just a week away?  Time is flying.  I'm not huge on Halloween, but I do like to make cards for my great nieces and great nephew.  I originally made the above card for the Stamptember release, but the card did not have the little pumpkin or the ghost on it.  I thought I had shared it on my blog, but I only shared it on Instagram.  You can see the original card here.  I used the super cute SSS Halloween Collage embossing folder and the Opulent Happy die.  The papers I used are from the 49 and Market Stardust Dreams paper pack.   As I was trying to figure out what to make for the kids I remembered this card and decided to create three more and then added the little ghost and pumpkin.  These are from an older Simon Says Stamp Halloween stamp set.  

For the Happy Halloween cards, I used a different background paper and then used the Halloween sentiment instead of Hauntings.  I think the cards are very cute (my kind of Halloween!) and they were super easy to put together.  This card will be heading to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Halloween).

For the PTI challenge card I used the Rustic Barn Star die set that I have had for about two years now.  I have always wanted to use it but never had the right project.   The PTI challenge colors are dark red, cream and kraft.  Perfect for this die set.  I did add in some gold foiling, gray and a little bit of dark green.  I just love the bow that comes in the die set.  Need to find another way to use it on a card and soon, lol!

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

Birch Press Design October Blog Post #1

 Hello!  I'm over on the Birch Press Design blog today and here is a little peek of what I made.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

sunflowers...

 Hello!  I'm back with a card for two challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches and Sunday Stamps.  Sunday Stamp has a beautiful fall color palette for the current challenge and I just couldn't pass it by!  Let's see what I created for the challenges.

A few Simon Says Stamp releases ago one of the products I received from them to create with was the super pretty Sunflower Meadow stamp set.  At the time I didn't have the matching dies, but knew I wanted to get them.  I finally did about a month ago.    Stamping the images without the dies made me realize that this would be one of those sets that you should probably die cut first and then stamp.  I was correct in my assessment!   I have to let you know that I messed up the stamping multiple times.  Mainly because my stamps were too sticky and kept pulling my die cuts off the sticky mat I had placed them on.  Finally after three attempts I was successful!  I used inks from Pinkfresh Studio for all my stamping and I hope I got most of the colors close to the Sunday Stamps palette.    I placed all the images on a Simon Says Stamp tag using glue and finished off the tag with some black twine.  I was gong to leave the background panel plain white, but then decided to find an embossing folder that I thought would work with the images.  I found a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder and ran it through my machine without any shims to provide more pressure.   Doing this allowed me to end up with a panel that had only some of the embossing.  I really like the partial embossed look.   Everything was adhered to a white cardstock base and I was done.

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

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.

Peace on Earth

Hello, hello!  Been awhile again, but I'm back with a card for a few different challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Hues, CAS Christmas challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.    So, let's have a look at what I made.

The CAS Christmas challenge is to use a poinsettia on your card.   I love me some poinsettias, so I had to play along.   Birch Press Design has a new poinsettia die set called Block Print Poinsettia Vase and it is gorgeous!  I used the vase dies and the poinsettia dies along with an oldie, but goodie notebook paper die from PTI for my elements.  To get the Color Hues colors (burnt red and amber) I used direct to paper inking using Fired Brick and Fossilized Amber distress inks.  The Poinsettia Vase die also includes stems with leaves, but since I was trying to use only the Color Hues colors I left them out.  The vase was cut from the Fossilized Amber and the two pieces layered together using thin foam squares.  I die cut the flowers from the red and the centers from the leftover amber.  I then layered the flowers and centers together.  I die cut the notebook page from white cardstock and adhered the vase and flowers.  This was then added to a white panel layered on a white cardstock base.  I finished with the sentiment from the new Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp Season of Wonder stamp and die set.

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

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.