Simon Says Stamp World Cardmaking Day!

 Hello, hello!  Today is World Cardmaking Day and I'm sharing a card that I made for a special event happening over on the Simon Says Stamp blog.  Crafters from around the world are sharing Christmas/holiday themed cards on the Simon Says Stamp blog.   So excited to be representing the good old USA!!  Here is what I made.

I used the super cute and fun Holiday Ornaments from Simon Says Stamp.  Have to share a funny little story about this set.  I received this set from Simon Says Stamp to create project with for a previous release.   Because I liked the set so much and knew I would use it, I decided to get the matching dies and purchased them when the full release was available.  Well, months later Simon Says Stamp offered the dies at a "super sale" price.  I had totally forgotten that I had already bought the dies and bought them for a second time, lol!  I realized my mistake when the second set arrived, I put them with the stamp set and the first set was already in the storage pouch!  I decided it was a good mistake because now if I decide to stamp two of each image I have dies for each one.  Anyway, for my card I stamped the three images using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored each one with Copic markers.  I then die cut a panel of white cardstock and embossed it with a SSS snowflake embossing folder.  The EF isn't available any more, but they do have a couple that are similar.  I die cut the strings from silver cardstock and then arranged all the ornaments on the front.  I finished with a sentiment from the set that I stamped and die cut with a small rectangle die.

That's it for me.  Don't forget to head over to the SSS blog to check out all the other holiday projects!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful World Cardmaking Day!

Friend... thankful for you

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card for a few challenges:  Just Us Girls (die week - leaves), Sunday Stamps (sketch), Color Throwdown (colors) and Die Cut Divas (anything goes).  Let's have a look at what I made.

So happy when I saw the challenge at JUGs was to use leaf dies.  I love leaf dies as they are so versatile.  You can use them any time of the year, but especially during the fall!   Because I wanted to make a card using the Sunday Stamp sketch I knew I needed a smaller scale leaf die and pulled out a favorite from Simon Says Stamp.  I have had them for along time and don't remember the name.  Not sure if they even carry them anymore, either.  I die cut them from white cardstock and then inked them up with the colors from CTD (orange, red and green).  I used some small postage stamp dies from Waffle Flower and die cut kraft cardstock to use to layer on my leaves.   The main panel was die cut with a Pinkfresh Studio postage stamp die.  I almost added little postmark images to the smaller stamps, but got sidetracked at one point and didn't go back to that idea.  Layered the postage die cuts on to the main panel and then added the leaves.  Finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set called Cozy Autumn.  

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

Papertrey Ink September Release - Part 2

 Hello!  I'm back to share three more cards that I made with products from the Papertrey Ink September release.   With all these beautiful Christmas themed products to work with I'm sure to get most of my Christmas cards made for the season!  Let's have a look at what I made.

This first card was made with the new Into the Blooms: Snowdrops die set, the This is Big Happy Holidays stamps and dies, the Stitched Snowflakes cover plate die, Rounded Rectangle dies and In Frame: Ovals dies.   I die cut the snowdrops from green and white cardstock and then added a little bit of Broken China distress oxide ink to the white pieces.  The stems were die cut from a medium green cardstock.  I adhered all the piece together with liquid adhesive and thin foam squares in a few places.  I then die cut pale blue cardstock with the largest In Frame: Ovals die.  I kept the two pieces together by securing them in place on the back with washi tape.  White cardstock was die cut with the largest Rounded Rectangle die and then run through my die cutting machine with the Stitched Snowflakes die.  I adhered that to a pale blue cardstock base and then layered on the ovals and the snowdrops.  I finished with the Happy Holiday sentiment.   I didn't stamp the sentiment and then die cut it as I wasn't sure I could get the die to line up correctly.  So, I die cut first, left the die cut in place, aligned the sentiment on top and then stamped using black ink.  Worked like a charm.  I die cut additional layers, adhered them together and then adhered the sentiment to the card front with liquid adhesive and thin foam squares.   A little bit of sparkle was added as well using Rock Candy glitter.   Going to add this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

For this card and the third one I went with a traditional red and green theme with kraft instead of white as the background for a more homespun feel.  This card uses Love to Layer Christmas Tree dies, Fresh Greens hot foil plate, Rounded Rectangle Pierced dies and a sentiment from the Merry Motifs stamp and die set.    I had recently found a sheet of watercolor cardstock that I had used to create this dark green backgound using distress mica sprays.  I decided to use it for my Christmas tree.  I used Memory Box patterned paper from one of their Christmas pads for the garland and little ornaments.  I decided to bring gold into the mix with the star, little sparkle ornaments and the gold hot foiled frame.  The background needed a little something else, so I used one of the smaller pierced Rounded Rectangles to die cut the patterned paper I used for the garland to place behind the tree.  The sentiment was stamped in a dark red and die cut.  I then die cut a second layer from gold foil cardstock and adhered it behind the sentiment slightly off set.  It looks so pretty in real life. 

 I think this final card really has a homespun feel too it.  Again, done in red and green with kraft.  I think I should have maybe embossed the sentiment black, but there it is in white!  This card was made with Build a Christmas Tree dies, This is Big:  Happy Holidays sentiment set and the Rounded Rectangle Stitched dies.  Memory Box plaid cardstock was used for the background.   After die cutting the garland from a red cardstock I decided to jazz things up a bit by using red glitter cardstock for the ornaments.  The kraft bows dial the glitz back a little for a more homespun fell.  After layering everything on the tree and adhering it to the plaid background I stamped the sentiment on vellum and embossed in white.  Again, thinking maybe I should have used black, but what is done is done, right? 

Well, that is it for me.  I have made it through a large portion of the September release, but still have several more products to share.  So, I will be back later in the week with more Christmas cards!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

September BPD Post #2

 Hello!  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 my card.

Hope you will head over to see the whole design.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

PaperTrey Ink September Release!

 Hello, hello!  Have you seen the September release from PaperTrey Ink?  It is absolutely amazing!!  PaperTrey Ink generously sent me products from the release.  I will be sharing projects that I have made with the release over the next few weeks.  Let's take a look at the first set of cards I made using release products.

Who doesn't love the Christmas poem Twas the Night Before Christmas?  When I opened the package from PaperTrey Ink and saw the Twas the Night Before Christmas products I was in heaven!  I loved reading the poem to my boys when they were little.  I would read it almost every night until Christmas day arrived.  I read it so much I could recite it from heart!   Besides using the Twas the Night Before Christmas products I also used the new, Nutcracker Magic stamps and dies, Storybook Scroll die collection and the Cover Plate:  Stitched Snowflakes die.   Kept things simple by using PTI Rustic Cream cardstock for everything.  The scroll and accompanying pieces were diecut and then inked with Antique Linen distress ink for an aged look.  I then assembled the scroll.   The Twas the Night Before Christmas stamp set includes the main sentiment and then a few small images to use with the sentiment.  I used one to place at the bottom of the scroll.  For the top of the scroll, I used an image from Nutcracker Magic for the swag at the top.   The sentiment and the larger swag were stamped in brown ink to keep the aged look going and then inked with Antique Linen distress ink. The larger swag was colored with Copic markers.  I stamped the smaller swag in green ink and the berries using a light red.  I then added red berries using Nuvo drops.    Rustic White cardstock was die cut with the Stitched Snowflake die and then I assembled the card.  Thought about adding some glitter, but decided against it.  Maybe next time!

For my second card I used the 2 Corinthians stamp, outline die and background dies and the Merry Motifs hot foil plate.  I used the color palette from Color Throwdown so I will be posting this card in their gallery.  I hot foiled the Merry Motifs on light blue cardstock using Skybright hot foil.  The larger of the two background dies was used to cut dark blue cardstock and the smaller one die cut the same light blue cardstock used for the foiled background.  The sentiment was stamped using Altenew Terracotta ink.  I did also use an image from the Merry Motifs stamp and die set stamping the image with the Terracotta ink.  Die cut the image and the sentiment and then layered everything on a card base. 

That's it for me, but I will be back soon with more projects made with this fabulous release.  Stay tuned, lol!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Every Leaf...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in to share a card that I made for the current JUGs challenge.  This week it is mood board week and it is a beautiful fall themed one!   I have had some lovely fall themed Greetery products on my desk since they arrived in the mail a few weeks ago and I have been wanting to use them.  So thankful for the JUGs fall themed challenge so I could finally get something made, lol. At JUGs design team member Bobby's suggestion I'm going to add this to the gallery at Time Out - Favorite Season.  Let's look at what I created.

Even though we sometimes don't have the best weather during the fall here in the PNW fall is my favorite season.  I love seeing all the pumpkins appearing at farmstands and in the stores and the leaves changing colors.   When the Greetery came out with the Autumn Harvest die set I knew I wanted to add it to my collection.  I mean just look at those pumpkins!  I was finally able to at the end of August.  At the same time I also purchased the Autumn Bliss stamp and die set.   Because they just go together like peanut butter and jelly, lol!

I die cut the wheat stalks from kraft and the pumpkins and gourds from white cardstock.  I inked up the wheat stalks with scattered straw and bundled twigs distress inks.  For the pumpkins and gourds I started with scattered straw as well and then added in carved pumpkin and spiced marmalade for the pumpkins and a little bit of carved pumpkins for the gourds.  I did also add a bit of gathered twigs to the pumpkins for more depth.  I absolutely LOVE how the pumpkins turned out!   I stamped the leaves from the Autumn Bliss set by pouncing scattered straw on to the leaves, stamping and then pouncing on carved pumpkin to some and gathered twigs to others for that layered look.  The leaves were die cut with the matching dies.  I used a Memory Box arched die for the stamped sentiment.   For the sentiment I also started with pouncing scattered straw onto the whole sentiment and stamping.  I then added carved pumpkin down to the word fluttering and stamping.  I finished with some gathered twigs at the top for the variegated look I wanted.  Again, I love how the sentiment turned out.  Now it was time to put the card together.  I used liquid adhesive to adhere everything as I wanted a relatively flat card that I could send in the mail. 

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

Simon Says Stamp/Memory Box STAMPtember Collaboration Release!

 Hello friends!  I'm popping in to share a couple of cards that I created with the new collaboration stamp and die set from Simon Says Stamp and Memory Box!   This super cute set is called Good Cheer and you can find it here.  Don't forget that it is a limited edition set so once it sells out it is never coming back.   Let's have a look at what I made.

This card was made with the sweet little snowman from the set along with the cute little tree and snowflake images from the set.  I also used the Birch Press Design Wavy Hillside die set.  Memory Box glitter cardstock with a light blue sparkle was die cut with the Wavy Hillside die for my snowy background.  I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored them with Copic makers.  I arranged the hillside pieces and then stamped the snowflakes.  Once that was done I adhered the hills using thin foam tape for the bottom hill so I could slip the snowman behind and glue for the rests of the pieces.  I stamped the sentiment, die cut it with the matching die and then adhered it with thin foam squares.  I finished with a little bit more sparkle from distress Rock Candy glitter.

The stamp set also has two cute penguin images.  I did stamp and color both images with Copic markers, but I haven't gotten around to make a card with the second image.  I just love this cute little penguin holding a cup of hot cocoa!  There is even the image to stamp the steam... love it!  I used Memory Box Yuletide Plaid patterned paper for the background.  Die cutting the papers with Poppystamps Simple Rings (top circle) and Nordic Heart Pattern Rings dies.  I adhered them to a kraft cardstock panel die cut with a Memory Box rectangle die, stamped the sentiment and then added my little penguin, cup and the trees.  To give the card a little more of a Christmas feel I added the little yellow stars to the tops of the tree.  

That's it for me.  Make sure you check out this limited collaboration stamp and die set here on the SSS blog.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

September BPD Post #1

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

I hope you will take the time to check out what I created.  I also wanted to let you know that Birch Press Design is sponsoring the Die Cut Divas challenge this month.  You can find out all the details here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

fall leaves...

 Hello!  Fall is on its way.  I can feel it in the mornings when I walk the dog, but by mid-morning summer has come roaring back, lol!  Weather here in the PNW has been all over the place this year!  However, despite it feeling like summer I am ready for fall and with that in mind created this card for Color Throwdown and Just Us Girls - anything goes with dies.  Let's have a look at what I made.

A few weeks ago I received the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Leaf Fragments die set in the mail.  It has been sitting on my desk waiting for me to make something with it.  I thought the CTD combo was the perfect vehicle.  I started by spraying a panel of ivory heavystock with distress sprays in Festive Berries and Rustic Wilderness.  I was careful to let each layer dry first before adding the other color and I didn't do a lot of overlapping of colors.  Meaning if you saw the panel I created one side was mostly red and the other side mostly green.  Then I spritzed on bits of green on the red side and bits of red on the green side.   If there was excess color on one side I dabbed it up and pounced it on the other side to get the mix I wanted.   I finished with a light spritzing of Harvest Moon distress mica spray.   Once the panel was completely dry (ie the next day) I die cut my leaves.  I die cut the entire panel so that I had enough leaves to determine which ones to use. I tucked the extra leaves into the envelope with the dies to use in the future.   As I was determining the layout I thought about a very old Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set I have called Mixed Media.  I pulled that out and decided to use one that you see in the background.  As I was die cutting the kraft panel the washi tape I used to hold the dies in place pulled off some of the cardstock.  I decided to go with it and roughed up the corners where the cardstock was damaged with a distressing tool.   I determined where the panel would be placed and then spritz more Harvest Moon on to my card base for more yellow.  The sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp stamp set was stamped in the corner using VersaFine Clair Acorn ink.  I then glued the panel to my card base, added the leaves and the yellow twine bow.  Also going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to stamp it since I did stamp the sentiment. 

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

It's a STAMPtember Blog Party!!

Hello, hello!  Can you believe that it is already September?  And with the arrival of September that means STAMPtember has also arrived!!  Today I'm participating in a BLOG PARTY hosted by Simon Says Stamp to celebrate the start of STAMPtember. And because it is a celebrate there are party favors!  I have a code to share that allow you to get a free word die with ANY PURCHASE!  Check out all the deets in the banner at the end of this post.  Simon Says Stamp was so kind and provided me with the super adorable Best Witches stamp set to create with.   You can kind all the new STAMPtember products right here.  Let's have a look at what I created with the Best Witches stamp set.

When I pulled the stamp set out of the mailer it arrived in, I saw the stack of books and thought how fun it would be to create a little scene with one of the critter witches (that's what I call them, lol) sitting on top of the stack.   I love this card turned out.   A little side note, thanks to Simon Says Stamp I have done more masking and coloring of images in the last two months than I have done in the last FIVE years!   I figured out my scene, created my masks and then stamped all the images.  Once stamped I colored everything with Copic markers and then die cut the panel with a SSS A2 Rectangle frames die. I stamped the little book in the magic spell (or at least that is how I see it, lol!), colored it and then trimmed it out.  To finish the card I placed the masks back on the images and then used some distress mica spray in Harvest Moon in the approximate spot where the little book would be floating.  Once everything was dry I stamped the sentiment and then added the little book.   

As you can see, there is a bit of similarity between the two cards.  This card is the one that I actually made first and it gave me the idea to keep going in the same vein with the card shared above.   I created the tag using the largest Simon Says Stamp Label Tag die.  I stamped the little critter witch on the tag and colored it with Copic makers.  I then made a mask of the little critter witch, covered up my coloring and spritz the tag with distress mica spray in Bubbling Cauldron and Fortune Teller.  I stamped and colored the bubbling cauldron with Copics, trimmed it out and then adhered it to my tag.  To keep the sparkle going I trimmed down strips of purple, bright green and black glitter card stock and adhered them to my rectangle panel.  The tag was added to the card front along with a bright green twine bow.  I stamped the sentiment, die cut it with a sentiment strip die and adhered to the card front. 

That's it for me!  Make sure you check out the full release at Simon Says Stamp.  There is a link in my sidebar that will take you directly to Simon Says Stamp.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

two cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards.  One card is for the Altenew August challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  The other card will be heading off to the current JUGs challenge and Color Throwdown.  Let's look at what I made.

I often think I would like to participate in the Altenew monthly challenges, but then the month goes by and I don't.  I decided to make sure that I did participate in the August challenge and here I am, barely getting it in on time, lol!   Only took me four days to get the card done!  I used the Japanese Mum Build a Flower stamp set (Does Altenew even still have that line of stamps?  I don't know because all my Altenew products are several years old!).  It is a favorite.  I paired it up with one of their dotted impression plates (don't know the name because it is old, too, lol!) and a sentiment from their Versatile Greetings 2 die set.  That isn't super old having been released in 2023.  All the inks are from Altenew, as well.   Won't win any prizes, but I thought it turned out well.  

It is stencil week at JUGs and lucky for me I got the PaperTrey Ink In the Meadow stencil set this week!  I immediately put it to use with the Color Throwdown colors to create this card.  The sentiment is the January 2023 Psalms Reflection stamp.  This is one of my favorite Bible verses.  Sometimes when I'm having a not so great day, I remember this verse and it makes me feel so much better!   So you could still see all the stenciling I did with Altenew inks in reds and aquas I embossed the sentiment in white on vellum.  It was a bit tricky to get the panel adhered, but I think it turned out okay.  

That's it for me.  Don't forget about the sales at Birch Press Design and Poppystamps.  You just might find something fun to buy.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Labor Day Sales at Birch Press Design and Poppy Stamps!

 Hello!  I'm popping in to let you know that Birch Press Design and Poppystamps are having sales this weekend to celebrate Labor Day!

Both sales feature 25% off your order, free shipping (US only) and a FREE GIFT!  Make sure you check out both sales.  

Birch Press Design August Post #2

 Hello, hello!  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 created:

Hope you will head over to the blog to check out the full project.  Does it remind you of anything?

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

fall themed thinking of you card...

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a card for the August Pinkfresh Studio challenge.  The theme is pattern play and I thought that meant patterned paper.  Oops, I was wrong, lol!  Good thing the challenge is anything goes.  Have a look at what I made.

Because I thought the theme was playing with patterned paper I immediately thought of my nice stash of 49 and Market papers.  Fall is coming (even though it is kind of warm here in the PNW!) and that is where my mind went.  So, I got out my 49 and Market Vintage Orchard patterned paper as it has a fall feel to it.  The next product I pulled was my PFS Berry Branch stamp, die and stencil suite of products.  The stamp set is actually a Christmas themed one, but I think I have used the stamp for more fall themed card than Christmas ones, lol!  I love that the stamp is versatile like that.  I stamped the image using PFS Doe ink and then used distress inks in Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Scattered Straw and Aged Mahagony for the stenciling.   Once the stenciling was done I die cut the image with the matching die.  The patterned paper was die cut using a PFS Folk Art Rectangle die and then layered on a card base.  The sentiment is from the PFS Amazing Things stamp set and was stamped in the Doe ink.  I die cut the sentiment and additional layers to give the sentiment a bit more stability.  Simply layered on the elements and I was done!

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

majestic heron...

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card that I made for the Paper Players challenge to make a clean and simple card with a critter.  I will also be posting this to the Memory Box August challenge since I did use a Memory Box die on the card.  The other dies are from Birch Press Design.  Let's have a look.

The most recent Birch Press Design release is beyond amazing.  I have been having a ball creating cards with the dies.   Most of the dies are aquatic in nature, but there are several different bird die set.  Two featuring cranes and one featuring a majestic heron.  We have herons here in the Puget Sound region and it is always fun seeing them slowly moving through the shoreline looking for little fish swimming in the shallows.  That was what I was going for when I created my card.   For my heron I used direct to paper inking to get the colors I wanted.  Once I was happy with the colors die cut the pieces, let them dry and then assembled my heron.  For his "shoreline" I die cut white cardstock using a Memory Box Curved Cap Pinpoint layer die and then inked the bottom with Broken China and Tumbled Glass distress oxide inks and the top with what Broken China ink was left on my brush.   The little shore waves were created by using the Sea Kelp die.  I then inked up the pieces with the residual ink on the brush used for the Tumbled Glass.  The little fish are also from the Sea Kelp die set.  I inked them up with residual oxide ink from my green brush.   Everything was adhered to my background piece and I finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp stamp set.  

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

Birch Press Design Post

 Hello, hello!  Can't believe that August is almost half over!  Time sure is flying by.  I'm stopping 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 created.

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

a circle card...

 Hello!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for a couple of challenges:  Just Us Girls (die week - floral dies) and Sunday Stamps (color challenge).   Simon Says Stamp has a challenge on Instagram this month to make a circle card and since I haven't made a shaped card in a long time I decided to go for it.  Here is what I made.

I used the super pretty Memory Box Gentle Blossom Watercolor Floral die set.  Full disclosure I almost destroyed the smaller floral die.  I wasn't paying attention, had my diecutting sandwich ready to go and then placed a second plate on top of the sandwich.  Tried running it through my diecutter, then realized that it was alot of work trying to get it through.  Caught my mistake, but I had already bent the die.  Thankfully I was able to bend it back into shape and it still cuts fine!  Disaster averted, lol.  Anyway, back to the card.  I used direct to paper inking to create the layers of colors that I wanted for the flower and leaves.   Diecut everything, created the flower and leaves and set aside to dry.  Die cut a circle card from white cardstock.  Die cut a second white circle for the front of the card and then embossed it with a pretty SSS embossing folder called Wistful Leaves.   I'm pretty sure that my sweet friend, Greta, gifted me this lovely embossing folder.  It has been on my desk for along time so glad that I was finally able to take it out for spin!  After embossing the circle I used the leftover ink on my purple blending brush to add a tiny bit of color to the leafy stems.  Finished with the sentiment from the SSS stamp and die set called Sweet Birthday. 

by the water...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with two cards for two challenges and both feature water, sort of, lol!   First up is my card for the Paper Players.   Their challenge is "by the water", thus the title of my blog post.  Here is what I made.

Last week I was able to make a day trip to the Washington coast with my boys and when I saw the challenge at the Paper Players, it had me thinking about my trip and seashells!   A few months ago, I was able to purchase a die set from Waffle Flower that features seashells that fit perfectly inside their postage collage die.   I die cut all the images and then used just three colors of oxide inks to ink up my shells and starfish.  I die cut the postage collage and then inked up each little panel with Salty Ocean and Antique Linen oxide inks and the coordinating stencil to create a sandy beach with water in the background.   The sentiment is also from Waffle Flower and that was stamped in one of the postage openings.   The small "sending" is from a Simon Says Stamp set.  I stamped it and die cut it with small strip die.  Everything was arranged on the panel and then it was added to a kraft cardstock base.  

My next card is for Color Throwdown and uses a die set from the most recent Birch Press Design release.  This one is called Koi Duo.   Here is what I created. 

One of my favorite places is Kubota Garden in the Seattle neighborhood of Rainier Beach.  My mother-in-law was friends with the granddaughters of the creator of the garden, Fujitaro Kubota.  It is so serene and peaceful there.  There are several ponds and all of them have koi swimming around.  It is kind of relaxing watching them moving slowly through the water.  So, that is what I was thinking when I created this card using the CTD colors.   The water element is represented by the grouping of black hexagons.  I used another Birch Press Design die called Honeycomb Cutout.  I used glossy black cardstock to give the hexagons the look of wet tiles.   I wasn't sure how the koi would turn out done in hot pink, peach and green, but I think I was able to create a harmonious look.    Let me know what you think.   Arranged everything on a white panel and finished with the small sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set. 

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

Simon Says Stamp Happy Camper Blog Hop - Day 2!

 Hello everyone!  I'm so excited to be taking part in the Simon Says Stamp day 2 blog hop celebrating the new Happy Camper release!  I have three cards that I will be sharing that I created with the super sweet Cute Campers stamp set.  For the release Simon Says Stamp has a promotion going on.   Purchase any item from the Happy Camper release and receive the brand new, never been release Sunflower Dance stamp set!  This promotion runs through August 3rd at 11:59 pm EST or while supplies last.  Also, one lucky commentor on this blog post will receive a $25 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate!  YAY! (Winners will be contacted via email by Simon Says Stamp.) You should have gotten here from Karin Akesdotter's blog.  Now, let's have a look at what I created. 

For this card I did several different techniques:  masking, ink blending and coloring.  I don't often do a lot of masking, but this fun little stamp set is made for masking!  I figured out where I wanted all the images and then created the masks.   Once I had all the images stamped I covered them with their respective masks and did some ink blending for the sky and ground.  I did create additional masks for the horizon line so there was a defined line between sky and ground.  Once the ink blending was done I colored the images with Copic markers.  I did remask the fire so that I could ink blend the glow from the fire.   I die cut the panel, stamped the sentiment and then added the "stars" with a white gel pen.

While I'm super pleased with how the first card turned out, this card is my favorite of the three I made.  The clean and simple scene that I created is more my style.  I started by stamping the main scene image across a panel of kraft cardstock using kraft ink for a tone on tone look.  I die cut the panel down using a Simon Says Stamp A2 frames rectangle die.  I did some selective inking of the large scene stamp so that I only had the two trees, bush and camper.  I stamped that on a white cardstock panel and then die cut it down with a tag die.  The little puppy and fire were stamped on a scrap of white cardstock.  I colored everything with Copic markers.  The puppy and fire were fussy cut and added to the tag along with a twine bow.  I adhered the background panel and tag to a card base and then added the fun sentiment that I die cut with a little banner die.  

My last card was made in a similar manner to the second card.  I inked up the portion of the largest image that featured the tent and stamped it.  I also stamped the little critter.  He looks like a little chipmunk to me.  I then water colored the images with my Jane Davenport watercolors.  Once dry I fussy cut them out.  I used a piece of left over water color cardstock to create the background.  I thought it would be fun to have him sitting beside a little lake or stream.  Once the panel was dry I die cut the panel with a smaller A2 frame die, stamped the sentiment and then adhered it to a kraft cardstock base.  I then added my little scene. 

Well, that's it for me.  I'm the last stop on the hop.  If you started with me, the entire blog hop link list is below.   Make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win the $25 gift certificate.   

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Nina-Marie Trapani

Suzy Plantamura

Cathy Zielske

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Lisa Addesa

Emily Midgett

Heather Ruwe

Sandi MacIver

Tina Smith

Hanh Nguyen

Barb Engler

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Karin Åkesdotter

Rosemary Dennis

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!