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!

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.  

yellow bird...

 Hello!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, Color Hues and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Let's have a look at what I made.

As you can see I took a bit of license with the sketch!  I was inspired by the pretty card that my friend, Greta, made to send to a friend through the Card Chain Challenge.  She used the Memory Box Magnolia Leaf Branch die along with a Simon Says Stamp bird die for her card.  I have the Magnolia Leaf Branch die, but hadn't used it.  When I saw her card I just had to use my die.  For my bird I used the Poppy Stamps Nordic Bird die.  The Color Hues colors this go round are yellow and blue.  I had some scraps of yellow cardstock on my desk so I used those for my little bird.  I added some additional color to the bird by inkblending on some distress oxide ink in Mustard Seed.  The branch was die cut from cream woodgrain cardstock.   To keep with the sketch I inkblended distress oxide ink in Salty Ocean in an approximate circle and then layered my branch and bird over that.  I finished with a Memory Box Happy Birthday tab.  

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

a nordic bunny...

 Hello!  I'm popping in to share a card I made for a few challenges:  Color Throwdown, Seize the Birthday and Poppystamps.  I don't often participate in the Poppystamps challenge, but the challenge this month is cute critters and a few months ago I purchased the super cute Nordic Winter Rabbit.  I have been wanting to make something with the dies and the Poppystamps challenge was the perfect vehicle.  The CTD combo was perfect, too!   Let's have a look.

For my bunny I went with a combination of solid cardstock and a bit of patterned paper.  The patterned paper is from the Memory Box Poinsettia Plaid 6x6 pad.   I used the same patterned paper for the circle that the bunny is sitting on.  That was die cut with the Poppystamp Scallop Pinpoint Rings set.  The main body of the bunny was die cut from kraft, as was the outer scalloped ring.  I used my favorite light blue cardstock to die cut the main parts of the bunny's sweater and hat.  I also used the light blue to die cut the background using the Scandinavian Snowflake background die.  I layered that on my white cardstock base, centered my circle element and then finished with my little nordic bunny and a Memory Box preprinted happy birthday label.   

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

Birch Press Design...

 Hello everyone!  The Birch Press Design blog is still down so here I am with my first of two BPD blog posts.  I hope you enjoyed what I made.  Let's have a look.

Memory Box recently released two new fall themed 6x6 paper pads (Nutmeg Forest and Nutmeg Plaid) and I just had to use them for my card.  I used a plaid for the background and one of the gold foiled patterns for the scalloped circles (Poppystamps Scallop Pinpoint Rings).

For the acorns and oak leaves I used the new Oak Leaves Contour Layers die set.  I had a piece of cardstock that I had layered several different distress mica sprays on and used that for the acorns and leaves.  The hello sentiment is the brand new Hello Scripted die and I die cut that from kraft cardstock three times then layered together.  

I layered on the plaid background and the die cut circles on to a kraft cardstock base.  I arranged the acorns and leaves and then added the sentiment.  I love the rustic look of this design. 

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

celebrate today...

 Hello friends!  I'm popping in to share a card that was supposed to be posted to the Birch Press Design blog on Wednesday, October 16th.   Unfortunately, the BPD blog was hacked and Dave, the owner of Birch Press Design was forced to remove the entire blog!    I decided to share what I made here so those of you who aren't on Instagram or don't want to go to the BPD Facebook page can see what I made.  So here we go!

I used the recently released Meadow Berry Branch Contour Layers and Evening Moths dies set for my card.  I wanted bit of a fall/rustic feel for the card so I used orange Memory Box cardstock for the berries and two red Memory Box red cardstocks that are more on the coral side of red.  

I used glossy accents on the berries and moth and then sprinkled on Rock Candy glitter for some subtle sparkle.  I used a Poppystamps circle die set for the two circles in the background.  They were die cut from cream Memory Box woodgrain cardstock.   The background rectangle was die cut from Memory Box kraft woodgrain cardstock.  

After adhering all the pieces as you see, I finished the card with the Celebrate Today Noted Script hot foil plate that was foiled using matte gold foil.   A little side note about hot foiling.  I haven't done it in ages so I was a little worried that I had forgotten how.  Thankfully I remembered and my foiling turned out perfect!  

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

Guesting at Color Hues!

 Hello, hello!  I have the distinct pleasure of being the guest designer over at Color Hues today and if you are looking for a color combo to help create some "Christmas in July" cards then Color Hues is the place to be!  The combo for the next two-ish weeks is red and green!   Take a look at what I created with those colors.

As you can see from my card I went with dark shades of the red and green.  My most favorite red in the crafting world is Stampin Up's Cherry Cobbler.  It is the most gorgeous dark red and it pairs perfectly with PaperTrey Ink's Pinefeather, a gorgeous dark hunter green.  I used two dies from Poppystamps:  Holiday Joy and Nordic Bird.  I die cut all the pieces for each from the Cherry Cobbler and Pinefeather cardstocks and then layered them as you see.   I did cut several of the word joy from the Cherry Cobbler and layered them together before adhering to the shadow layer cut from Pinefeather.   I decided to go with a cream background panel that I embossed with a Spellbinder holly embossing folder.  I adhered the joy using liquid adhesive and the added the bird using a combo of liquid adhesive and thin foam squares.  I finished with a foiled sentiment that I had in my stash.

I hope you will take the time to play along with the Color Hues challenge.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

birthday cards...

 Hello!  Took some time out from stitching and made two birthday cards.  First up is a card for the following challenges:  Color Throwdown and Seize the Birthday.   For Seize the Birthday I'm going with anything goes since I used kraft and two colors.   I think I will also add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Take a look.

For this card I did a little inkblending on patterned paper.  In her most recent video Jennifer McGuire did inkblending on patterned paper.   Something that is super simple to do and creates a pretty look.   I used patterned paper from the Memory Box Anemone Plaid 6x6 pad and inks from Hero Arts.   I kept the background very simple.  I die cut a circle using the largest die from the PoppyStamps Simple Rings die set.  This set cuts a circle and a very thin border ring around the circle.  This allowed me to use the kraft ring around the white circle.  So that the kraft circle didn't go to waste I glued it behind white one to give the circle a little bit of height.  Then I added the kraft ring.  The sentiment is from Memory Box and was also die cut from white and kraft.  I finished the card with tiny light blue gems as the dot for the "i" and on the little stamens on the flowers. 

My next card is heading to Just Us Girls and Color Hues challenges.  Both challenges happen to have the same color combo this week.    Yay!  Two challenges with one card, lol!   Take a look.

Recently I purchased the super sweet Poppystamp Nordic Bird die set.   I hadn't put it away because I really wanted to use it.  I thought it perfect for the challenges.   The die is all one piece so I die cut it from red, pink and white cardstock.  As I was putting the bird together I noticed that my bird is not facing in the same direction as the bird on the packaging.  The bird on the packaging faces to the right and mine faces to the left.  Obviously some kind of mistake occurred with my die, but I don't mind!  I used a little branch die from another Poppystamps die set and the same Simple Rings dies.  The ring dies were still out so why not use them?   I stamped the sentiment from a Spellbinders stamp set on the white arched cardstock piece and then added the circle, branch and bird.  This piece was popped up with thin foam squares on a light gray cardstock rectangle and then added to the white cardstock base.  Another clean and simple design!

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

Happy New Year!

 Happy new year, everyone!  Can't believe it is 2024!  Where did 2023 go, lol?!  I spent the end of 2023 doing a lot of cross stitching and not a lot of cardmaking.  Kinda lost my mojo for card making, but I'm trying to get it back now as I have several projects that I need to complete in the coming days.  To help me out I decided to use the Simon Say Stamp Instagram challenge of white on white and a couple of new to me products from Poppystamps and Memory Box.  Take a look at what I made.

Poppystamps had an after Christmas sale and so I decided to take advantage of it.  One of the items I purchased the beautiful Scandinavian Snowflake Plate.  I die cut that from Memory Box glitter cardstock in a lovely off white and adhered it to my card base.   In my package from Poppystamp I received three free gifts and one of them was this fun Oval Snowman Collage die.  I die cut him from white cardstock and his hat and scarf from the off white glitter cardstock.   The sentiment is from a lovely Simon Says Stamp set called Snow Love that I got as a free gift.  Don't you just love free?  I do, lol!  I stamped the sentiment in black down in the corner.  I finished with a few white gems from Spellbinders.  I'm going to add this card to the January Poppystamps challenge of sparkle and to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of something new as the dies and stamp set are new to me!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

just because...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick post of a card I made for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.  Still not making any headway on cleaning up my crafty space.  Hopefully that will happen soon, lol!  Here is what I made.

Went very simple with this card.  I used a Poppystamps die called Maple Symphony to die cut my little maple leaves.  I used distress inks in Carved Pumpkin, Aged Mahagony and Festive Berries on white cardstock to get my colors.   The Aged Mahagony is coming across as a bit brown, but in real life it is definitely maroon.  Anyway, I used a very old PTI die that cut this little notebook page as the backdrop for my leaves.  I die cut it from white, a strip from kraft and then glued them together.  I popped the piece up on a white card base with foam tape.  I added the leaves and the sentiment that is from the Simon Says Stamp Happy Hello stamp set.  I cascaded the leaves down the notebook page ending with the gold glitter one that I placed directly on the card base with foam squares.    Took me no time to put together!  Since I did stamp the sentiment I'm going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

love you...

 Look at me!  Posting again, lol.   Like I said in my last post I have been enjoying cross-stitching, but I was also a little burned out on paper crafting and needed a bit of a break.  But you know that I can't resist participating in my two favorite challenges:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.  I just love the color palette that Amy has this week and was inspired by the sweet little bird in the inspiration photo.  Making my idea work with the FMS sketch was a challenge, but one that I was up for.  Take a look:

I had to dig through my cardstock to find the right color to die cut my little bird from.  This little cutie is called Perched Reed Bird from Memory Box and is one of the first MB dies that I purchased.  I just love it.  The little leafy stems are from a new to me Poppystamps die set called Orchard Leaves.   The sentiment is one that I stamped along time ago using the Simon Says Stamp Thanks and Encouragement Word Mix stamp and die set.   I thought the tag was the perfect size for my little bird, leaves and sentiment.  I added a little crystal to the bird for the eye and some black and white twine to complete the tag. 

Guest Designing for the Poppystamps Challenge and Happy New Year!

 Hello!  Wow... can hardly believe that it is 2023, but here we are.  Wishing everyone a great start to the new year.  I'm having a great start as I am the guest designer for the January Poppystamps challenge.  This month the theme is "let it snow".   You can find all the details regarding the challenge here on the Poppystamps blog.  

I had a lot of fun creating my card using several different Poppystamps products as well as a Tim Holtz distress mica spray called Shiny Bauble.    

I started by spraying some Memory Box watercolor cardstock with the Shiny Bauble mica spray and letting it dry completely.  The I die cut the piece using the Poppystamps Snowflake Loop die set.   I then brushed on some distress collage medium and sprinkled on Rock Candy glitter (although you can't really tell in the photo).   I die cut a rectangle from light blue cardstock and adhered my snowflake loop to the panel.  The die set comes with a single large snowflake that I adhered to the snowflake loop.  The large hello is from the Poppystamps Birthday Wishes Poe Script hot foil plates and die set and the subsentiment is from the Modest Greetings 2 hot foil plate and die set.   As I was making the card I started out foiling the sentiments in silver on white cardstock, but I didn't like it.  Then I did silver on the light blue and I still didn't like it.   Decided to do light blue foil on the light blue cardstock and I loved it!    The sentiments were popped up in the center of the circle with thin foam squares.  I finished off the card with lots and lots of light blue Open Studio Fairy Jewels.  

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you check out the Poppystamps challenge.  There is a chance to win a $20 gift certificate!  Have a lovely day!

joy to the world

 Hello!  Hope all is well in your world.  A little rainy and dreary here in mine, but that is the Pacific Northwest in late fall!   Popping in with a card for Color Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I used lots of different products on this one.  Take a look.

I used dies from Poppystamps and a stencil and sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  The Layered Holly Branch was die cut from gold mirror cardstock and green glitter cardstock from Simon Says Stamp and layered.  The die also cuts out the layering sections of the leaves.  I used the gold on top of the glitter cardstock.  I die cut the shadow layer of the Holiday Joy from black cardstock and the word from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.   The sentiment was stamped using Cherry Cobbler ink.   I started building up the card and decided that the background needed something else.  So I pulled out the Simon Says Stamp Delicate Snowflake stencil and the Snowfall grit paste.  I just love the texture it adds.    After adding all the elements, I realized that alot of my die cut holly branch was covered up, but I guess that is what happens in cardmaking!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

just for you...

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card that I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.   I have been working on other projects but wanted to take a little time to make "just for fun" card.   The colors at CTD are orange, green and white and the sketch at FMS features three of something and a sentiment.  Since it is fall and the leaves on the trees are changing color my thoughts turned to a die set that I recently purchased from Poppystamps called Fanciful Fall Leaves.   The last time I used the set I had some leave leftover and as luck would have it, they worked perfectly for CTD as well as the Color Hues challenge!  Here is my card.

As you can see the card is very simple.  Just the leaves, the sentiment and a little white twine.  True story as I was making the card, I was so intent on arranging the leaves that I forgot to die cut the white cardstock first.  I didn't realize what I had done until I had the first one glued down!   So, I had to go "old school" and trim my panel down with my paper trimmer!   Added the other leaves and the sentiment from a Reverse Confetti stamp set called Poppies. 

Anywhoo... thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.  Our fall weather finally decided to show up here in the Pacific Northwest.  We had been having unseasonably warm weather and no rain.  Lots of wildfires left us with bad air quality.   Rain and colder temps have finally arrived, sort of.  But that is the PNW for you!  

hello...

 Hope everyone is having a good week.  I'm popping in with a clean and simple card for a few challenges:  Paper Players (leaves or scarecrow); Just Us Girls (colors of orange, brown and green) and PoppyStamps (anything goes).

I started off by adding orange, green and brown watercolor to a piece of Memory Box watercolor cardstock.  Once dry I die cut the piece several times with the PoppyStamps Fanciful Fall Leaves die set.  I cut a circle from kraft cardstock and embossed it with an embossing folder.  The leaves and acorns were adhered together and I added the bow behind the piece.   The sentiment is from Memory Box and is the Posh Hello hot foil and die set.  I foiled the hello using orange foil on off white cardstock.  The same off white cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die, adhered to a kraft card base and then I added all my elements.   

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

a quick post...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick post of a card that I made for several challenges:  Poppystamps, Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.    Check out what I made:

The theme for the Poppystamps challenge is word art.  I have this very large Poppystamps Thanks die that was perfect for the challenge.  It is large enough that it was also perfect for the element in the FMS layout.  Pretty simple design and not much to explain.  The shadow was cut from white cardstock and the letters from green.  I used distress oxide ink in Candied Apple and Wilted Violet for my little flowers.  The flower die is from Memory Box the parent company of Poppystamps.  I adhered them to the thanks and then added a little drop of Nuvo Morning Dew to the center of each flower.   Super simple, but sweet.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!