Stamptember 2026 Blog Party!

 Hello and happy Stamptember everyone!   Today there is a big blog party, not a blog hop, going on with Simon Says Stamp offering different codes for deals all day long!   You can find the entire blog party list on the Simon Says Stamp blog.   Simon Says Stamp was so kind and sent me several products from the release.  I'm going to share a couple of cards that I made with those products.  But first up I will be sharing the special code that I have for an exclusive product.  You can get a set of SSS nesting star dies with a purchase of $30 and the code found in the graphic.  See the entire release right here.

Now on to what I created!

This first card features the fun Wavy Rainbow die set, as well as the gorgeous Opulent Happy die set.  I think this card may be going to my pink loving great niece who has a birthday this month.  I used Simon Says Stamp pink and white glitter cardstock for the die cutting of the Wavy Rainbow.  I then alternated the pink and the white and adhered it to a cardstock base.  I die cut the happy from glossy black cardstock and the shadow from heavy weight vellum.  The birthday sentiment is from a CZ Designs/Simon Says Stamp birthday sentiments set.   Very simple, but I think rather impactful.

This next card uses the super fun Layering Christmas Trees stamp set and the A7 Notched Rectangle dies set.  I don't often make A7 sized cards, but I think these dies will come in handy for other sizes of cards.  And maybe this will spur me to make a few A7 sized cards.   There are a whopping 15 dies in this set!  I used three to make this card.  One for the base and then two for the layers.   The Layering Trees can be used with two shades of ink, but for my card I actually just used one.  The first layer was very light and then I stamped the top layer several times to get the darker shade.   The little circles or ornaments come as a single stamp.  I simply cut them apart so I could stamp them randomly around the tree.  I did use a rather dark ink, but for some reason the glossy accents changed the color when it was applied.   I finished with the split sentiment. 

Well, that's it for me.  Enjoy the Stamptember blog party and happy shopping at Simon Says Stamp!  

bright side...

Hello!  I'm back with two more cards that I made with products from the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release.  One card will be heading off to the current Just Us Girls challenge (stencils), as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   Let's look at what I created.  (If you haven't yet, please check out my Simon Says Stamp day 2 blog hop post.)

This first card features the new Bellflower Blossoms stencil set, Chunky Ovals dies and a sentiment from the fun Positive Thoughts stamp set.   I stenciled the background using blue, purple and green inks from Altenew.   Once the stenciling was done I die cut the panel with a Chunky Oval die.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base.  Two of the smaller Chunky Oval were used to die cut some polka dot vellum and then the sentiment that was stamped in a dark purple ink.   This is the card that will be heading to the above mentioned challenges. 

For this card I used the new Sunflower Meadow stamp set, as well as the Chunky Ovals.   I also pulled in a die from the Sparkler Scallop frames set from last month's release.  I just love that die set!  I stamped the image on the white panel, die cut it and then used two Chunky Oval dies to create the kraft cardstock frame.  I adhered the frame, added the little twine bow and then finished with the sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamps set that was die cut with the smallest Chunky Oval die.

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

Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness Blog Hop Day 2

 Hello, hello!  I'm so excited to be participating in the day 2 blog hop for the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release!  This release is so amazing and I am so grateful to Simon Say Stamp for the products that they gifted to me to create with!  I have two cards to share with you today.  But before I share all the details I just want to remind you that there is an opportunity to win a $25 gift certificate at each stop on the hop.  So make sure you leave a little comment for a chance to win.  If you started the hop at Simon Says Stamp you should have arrived here from Rachel Alvarado's blog.  Now, lets take a look at what I created.

This first card uses the new Chunky Ovals die set, Sunflower Blooms die set and a sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamp set.  I will admit that I have not been big on oval shaped dies, but these Chunky Ovals stole my heart!  The largest one is too big for an A2 sized card (generally what I make), but perfect to make a card with and that is what I did.  I used patterned paper from the 49 and Market Vintage Orchard collection for the background.   To create my card base I folded a full sheet of off white cardstock in half, placed the large oval so that one side went slightly past the fold and the bottom also went slightly past the bottom edge of the cardstock.  I did this to create the hinge on one side and a flat bottom so the card would stand up.    I die cut the patterned paper, adhered it to the card base and then trimmed off the excess.  The flowers (one large flower and stem, two small flowers and one small stem) were created with additional patterned paper from the Vintage Orchard paper pack, assembled and adhered to the card front.  I used the smallest oval in the Chunky Ovals set to die cut my sentiment that I then adhered to the card front.  Love how this turned out!

This card also uses the Sunflower Blooms die set and the new Whirlpool Spinner embossing folder.  I used more patterned paper from 49 and Market for this card.  This time from the Faded Memory Lane collection.  I die cut a rectangle of cardstock, embossed it with the embossing folder and adhered it to a card base.  I die cut the flower and stem from coordinating patterned paper, adhered it together and then added Nuvo glitter drops to the center of the flower.  When it was dry I added it to the card base and finished with another sentiment from the Sunflower Meadow stamp set that was die cut with the same small chunky oval die and a little twine bow.  Love the softness of this card. 

As you can see from the graphic you can also get a free stamp set with any purchase from the new Every Happiness release.  So, what are you waiting for?  Go shopping!!

Well, that is it for me.  Thanks for stopping by!  Your next stop on the hop is Susan Valle.

Long Stem Florals...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card that I made for the Paper Players challenge which is a color challenge this week (coral, pink, yellow and green).  The challenge closes in the next day so I needed to get it done.  I will also be adding it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge as well.  Let' see what I made.

The Simon Says Stamp August card kit is available for purchase and for about 30 seconds (actually a little longer than that, lol) I thought about purchasing it.  But then I realized that I already had several of the products included in the kit and a stamp set that was similar.  So, I didn't purchase the kit.  One of the items in the kit is a jar of Tim Holtz distress embossing powder and it got me thinking about what distress embossing powders did I have.  Off I went to look and low and behold I had all the colors needed for the Paper Players color challenge!  Yay!  The Long Stem Florals stamp set with matching stencil and dies was perfect for what I wanted to do.  I used Kitsch Flamingo, Fossilized Amber, Saltwater Taffy and Twisted Citron distress embossing powders.   I will admit that even though this card looks simple it was a bit labor intensive as I had to do some layering of the embossing powder due to the stencil.  I did discover in the process, as well, that the distress embossing ink dauber I bought years ago does still dispense embossing ink.  Another yay!  So, I stamped the stems in VersaFine Clair Nocturne, let them dry for a bit and then did all the inking and embossing using the stencil.  When finished I die cut the panel and adhered it to a white cardstock base.  Finished with a sentiment from the Long Stem Floral stamp set.   A simple, yet not so simple, card, lol!

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

Simon Says Stamp Shine On Release Post #2

 Hello, hello!  Where did June go?  4th of July is just a few days away.  250 years as a country!  None of my cards today are patriotic, tho.  Just the two other cards that I made using products from the Simon Says Stamp Shine On release.   Let's take a look.

This card uses the sweet Dewdrop Daisy dies, as well as the Presto Pop embossing folder.  I used some fun papers from the 49 and Market Kaleidoscope collection to create the card.   Pretty simple.  Die cut the flower and stem from patterned paper and adhered together.  Die cut patterned paper for background and emboss with embossing folder.  Finish with the little sentiment tag and a bit of twine.  Will send this one off to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and the Die Cut Divas challenge.

So, I don't generally buy "cutesy" style stamps, but when I pulled the Botanical Buds stamp set out of the package I was smitten!  I literally laughed out loud and how could you not?   These little guys (or gals) are just the cutest darn things, ever!  I had plans to create a masked scene, but ran out of steam as this was the last card I made.  I did do some masking of the images in order to do the ink blending.  The little buds were stamped in Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers.  I used Mowed Lawn and Broken China distress oxide inks for the sky and grass.  I finished off my little buds with some glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter.  This card just makes me smile!

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

Simon Says Stamp Shine On Release!

 Hello, hello!  There is a brand new release at Simon Says Stamp called Shine On and it is another stellar release.  You can see the entire release right here. (Using the shared links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.)  Simon Says Stamp was so kind and generous and sent me several products from this release to create with.  Today I'm going to share two of the four cards that I made.  Let's take a look at what I made.

This first card was made with the super fun Tall Happy Cover die and the pretty Dewdrop Daisy set set. I fell in love with both of these products the moment I pulled them from the package and couldn't wait to get started making a card with them.  I went really simple with this card by just die cutting out the Tall Happy from white cardstock and then inking it from the bottom up using Squeezed Lemonade distess ink.  My inking is kind of uneven, but I actually really like the look.  I adhered it to a white cardstock base and then worked on the daisy.  I diecut everything from white cardstock, trimmed off the stem and the leaves and then added Squeezed Lemonade to the flower and Mowed Lawn to the leaves.  I put the flower and leaves together and adhered it to the card front.  I finished with the tiny birthday sentiment that is from the EZ Stripes Birthday stamp and die set.   Going to add this one to the Die Cut Diva's June challenge of anything goes.

This card was made with the Clever Fox stamp set and the matching stencils.   This is another set that I love, too!  So perfect for masculine cards.  I stamped the fox and then used the stencils to ink him up.  I don't have a ton of inks in shades of brown (working on changing that!), but I do have a set from Pinkfresh Studio.  I used those to give the different shades to the fox.  For the kraft background I used the new Presto Pop embossing folder.  The background the fox is sitting on was created using the Forest Background die that was release during Diecember 2025.  I finished with the happy birthday sentiment from the Clever Fox stamp set.   Adding this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  Since it is stencil week at JUGs I'm going to pop my clever fox into the gallery there!

Well, that's it for now.  I will be back in a few days with the other two cards that I made.  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!

literally the best...

 Hello!  Got another card made so I'm popping into share it.  Haven't had the motivation lately to make anything other than the two cards I made for my niece's boyfriend.  She absolutely loves the cards and can't wait to give them to him!  Today's card is for Color Hues and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I just couldn't resist the fun color combo of yellow and blue.  Let's look at what I made.

I kept things very simple by creating flowers using the Birch Press Design Block Print Daisy Flowers die set.  There are two sizes of daisies in the die set. I cut each die from blue and yellow cardstock and then layered a small daisy over the larger one, alternating the colors.   I die cut the centers from white cardstock, adhered them and then added Nuvo drops in Morning Dew to the centers.  When the centers were dry I created the layout on a white cardstock base, adhered everything and then finished with the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Thanks, Mom stamp and die set.  Like I said, very simple. 

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

Just Us Girls Guest Designer Week 3 - Moodboard

 Hello, hello!  I'm back to share my project for this week's JUGs challenge.  This week is mood board week it is a pretty one!   Let's have a look at what I made.

Of all the cards I had to create for this month's JUGs challenges this one was the easiest by far. Initially I thought it was going to be hard because I don't have much in the way of umbrella themed products.  But as I was thinking about what to do I was also going through my crafty stash and came across these pre-printed cards that I had gotten in a Simon Says Stamp card kit several years ago.  I idly flip through them and saw this one with the cute little chick and her umbrella.  Perfect for the challenge as the mood board features umbrellas!  Problem solved - YAY!   The image is printed on watercolor cardstock so I pulled out my Jane Davenport watercolors and got going painting this cute little image up.  Once I was done with the watercoloring and the image was dry I added a bit of gloss to the little raindrops using glossy accents.   When the glossy accent drops were dry I die cut the panel and adhered it to a yellow cardstock base with foam tape.   I love it when a card comes together like that!

Well, that's it for me today.  I hope you will take up the challenge of this week's mood board and play along at JUGs.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Birthday Wishes

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for a few challenges:  Sunday Stamps (sketch) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (food or drink - some people think candy is food, lol!).  I had wanted to enter this in the Color Hues challenge, but missed the deadline.  Shoot!  Going to add this to Seize the Birthday in the anything goes category.    Let's have a look at what I created.

This card came about because I really like the sketch at Sunday Stamps and I wanted to make something with it.  In fact I liked the sketch so much I made another card using that same sketch.  I will be sharing that one on Friday on the Birch Press Design blog so stay tuned, lol!  When I started this card I originally made a little cupcake using the Sweet Birthday stamp and die set from Simon Says Stamp.  I stamped the cupcake pieces and colored them with Copic markers.  Once I put the cupcake together I didn't like it.  I really didn't like it after I decided to add some glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter.  So I threw it away and started over.  This time with the heart shaped lollipop in the stamp set.  I stamped it twice and colored each one with Copic markers approximating the Color Hues colors.   Once that was done I added highlights with a white gel pen.  I think I added too many, but what is done is done, lol!  I then die cut a panel of white cardstock and stenciled tiny blue hearts using Chipped Sapphire distress ink.  To keep the heart theme going I used a Poppystamps circle die set that features hearts.  I adhered that to my panel and then added the two lollipops.   The die cut sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp and this was my first time using it.  I colored some white cardstock with two of the Copic markers used to color the fuchsia lollipop and then die cut the words.   I used extra heavy vellum to die cut the shadow layer, adhered the words with glue and then added the sentiment to finish the card.  

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

Simon Says Stamp In My Heart Release Day 1 Blog Hop!

 Hello, hello!  Simon Says Stamp's brand new release called In My Heart is now available on their website and today is day 1 of their two day blog hop!  I'm so excited to be participating in the blog hop this month.  Thank you to Simon Says Stamp for the opportunity.  You can click here to see the entire release.   As you can see from the banner SSS is offering an exclusive free set when you make any purchase from the new release.  And since this is a blog hop SSS is offering a $25 gift certificate at each stop on the hop!   You can find the full list of hoppers on the Simon Says Stamp blog.   You should have arrived here from Dana Joy's blog.

Simon Says Stamp generously sent me several products to work with.  My first card uses the fun new Scalloped Arches Frames dies, the Bows for Days suite of products (stamps, stencil and dies) and the Thanks, Mom stamp set.  I also used a SSS tag die and beautiful papers from the Paper Rose Studio collection called Arabella's Garden.  Let's look at what I made.

When I started making my cards using the In My Heart products I wanted to use some of the patterned paper that I have (which is a lot, lol!) and came across the Arabella's Garden papers.  I think I got them in a SSS card kit a few years ago.  I found one piece that had this pretty bouquet of flowers on it and decided to die cut out the bouquet.  After die cutting the paper with the Scalloped Arches Frames die I die cut additional sets using thin cardstock.  I cut more for the frame so that the piece with the floral image would be slightly recessed.  I glued everything together and set them aside to dry.  I used the SSS A2 Frames die set to diecut the background from a piece of the patterned paper with a light pink pattern on it.  I used the same paper to stamp the sentiment in gray ink and then die cut with the tag die.  I used the Bows for Days stencil to create a pink bow, stamped the image over the stenciling and then die cut it with the matching die.  I then adhered everything to a white cardstock base.   This card will be going to my mom for Mother's Day!

When I started this card I thought it would be an Easter card because of the cute little bunny but went with Mother's Day instead.  This little guy is called Flower Bunny.  I die cut him from light gray cardstock and white cardstock.  I used residual ink on my blending brushes to add light pink for the nose and ears and light brown for the eyes.  The flower was die cut from pink glitter cardstock, the stem from green and then assembled it.  I used more patterned paper from the Arabella's garden papers for the background that I then embossed with a SSS embossing folder called Bloom Field.  I adhered that to a white cardstock base and then added the arched piece that I created using more patterned paper and two of the smaller Scallopped Arched Frames dies.  I added the bunny and flower to the background.  I had done a test run of stenciling all the bows in the Bows for Days suite of products using blue ink for the stenciling.  I thought the bow you see on the bunny would be the perfect size and I was right!   I added the bunny and then the sentiments that are from the Reverse Mom preprinted strips pack.  I just love that sweet little bunny!

Well, that is it for me!   Your next stop on the hop is Carol Hintermeier.  Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!

More St. Patty's Day

 Hello!  I back with a card for three challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Just Us Girls and Color Hues.  It is die week at JUGs and this time the challenge is green/luck so I decided to use the fun Printmaking Clovers stamp set for the card.  I didn't die cut anything from green cardstock, but there is green on the die cut tag so I hope that works for the challenge.  Anyway, let's see what I made.

The Color Hues combo is green and gold.  So pretty together, right?  Sometimes I struggle with this combo, but I think this time around I came up with a good balance for the colors.  I used Altenew Fresh Dye inks in Green Fields and Shadow Creek for two-thirds of the clovers and then VersaMark watermark ink for the final one-third so that I could emboss it with gold embossing powder.  I really like how it turned out.  I die cut the clovers with a Simon Says Stamp rounded top tag.  I die cut a white panel of cardstock, a portion of gold mirror cardstock and then trimmed down a strip of green glitter cardstock.  I adhered everything and then finished with the sentiment that features the word lucky (luck) in the sentiment and a bow made up of metallic gold twine and dark green twine.   I don't often make cards for St. Patrick's Day, but now I have two and so they will be going to a couple of friends. 

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

St. Patty's Day and Easter

 Hello!  Popping in to share the other two projects I made with products from the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Moments release.  Let's look at what I made. 

This first card was made with the fun Printmaking Clovers stamp set.  I will be honest and tell you that I had a bit of a hard time figuring out exactly how the three different clover stamps in the set went together.  Once I got it figured out I was able to create this panel.  Still need a little bit of work on lining things up, but I like how it turned out.  I used three different Altenew Fresh Dye inks in Firefly, Grass Field and Shadow Creek.  I think this is my new favorite set of green inks!  Once done with the stamp I die cut the panel and then added glossy accents to a lobe of each clover and then poured on Rock Candy glitter.   I used my SSS A2 Frames to die cut green glitter cardstock to make a frame.  A larger rectangle was die cut from white cardstock, adhered to the green cardstock base and then I added the glitter frame.  The image panel was placed in the center and the I finished with the sentiment that I diecut with a banner die from my stash.

I just love how this Easter card turned out!  The Bouncy Bunny embossing folder and matching die are so much fun.  I embossed a piece of white cardstock with the embossing folder.  I then die cut the bunny from the four cardstocks you see (I was thinking pastel Peeps) and then embossed them in the embossing folder.  I die cut the white embossing panel down to a smaller size and covered it with all the little embossed bunnies.  I finished with the sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp Easter set from last year.  Simple, but so cute I think.  Going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of make it cute.  

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

Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Moments Release!

 Hello, hello!  Simon Says Stamp has a new release on their website and it is full of some beautiful products!  You can see the entire release here.  Simon was so generous and sent me several products to create with.  Today I'm going to share two of those projects with you.  Let's see what I made.

First up is a little decor piece that I created using the new Retro Daisies stencil, Ribbon Loop Frames dies and Inspiration Quotes stamp set.  Blue is my favorite color (along with green) and so that was my jumping off point.    I used Altenew Fresh Dye ink in Blueberry and Blue Horizon to stencil the daisies.  The Ribbon Loop frame was die cut from a bright green cardstock, as well as two additional layers from white.  The frames were then adhered together.  I tried several options of embossing on vellum and finally settled on white.  It is a little hard to read in the photo, but it looks really pretty in real life.  The frame is a Tim Holtz distress frame that I painted light blue.  Before the paint was dry I wiped some of it off for a little bit of a shabby look.   The stenciled piece was trimmed to fit behind the frame and then adhered to the backing piece using collage medium.   The frame was adhered using collage medium as well.  Once the main piece was dry I adhered the green ribbon frame using liquid adhesive, trimmed down the sentiment and adhered it using rolled up glue dots.  I finished things off with dots of Limoncello Nuvo jewel drops.  I will be sending this little gem off to the new Just Us Girls challenge as it is stencil week.  Thank you so much to JUGs team member Lisa for picking my card as the winner of last week's challenge! Will also be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

Now for my second project.  This one uses a fun new background stamp called Pinwheel Party and will be heading over to the current Color Hues challenge of peach and teal.  Let's have a look.

I'm going to be real honest and tell you that peach is not my favorite color to work with, but I always like a good challenge and so I was determined to make something with those two colors.  When I saw the Pinwheel Party I thought it would be perfect to use for those two colors.  I decided to go with using more peach than teal just because teal is a much stronger color.   After stamping both colors I diecut the teal one with a SSS tag die, layered it on a shadow layer tag and added the tab and twine.  The peach background was die cut with a rectangle die and then added to a white cardstock base.  I adhered the tag and then finished with a sentiment from the Inspirational Quotes and some Nuvo drops in Morning Dew.

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the new Beautiful Moments release!

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!

Valentines and Christmas

 Hello! Back with the final projects that I made with products from the Simon Says Stamp Heart to Heart release, as well as a Christmas card that I made.  The Christmas card will be heading off to Freshly Made Sketches, Just Us Girls (mood board - I went with some of the colors found in the mood board and pine, as in pinecone!) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Let's look at the Christmas card first.

Back in the fall I purchased the Simon Says Stamp Layering Pinecone stencil and die set and had wanted to make something with it, but once, again, never got around to it.  The products were still on my desk and so I was determined to use them.  As you can see the pinecone is quite large and so perfect for the oval element on the FMS sketch.  I used Pinkfresh Studio brown inks to stencil the pinecone.  There are four layers to the stencil.  After stenciling all the layers with the brown inks, I cleaned the stencils and then used the 4th layer to add matte texture paste, removed the stencil and covered the texture paste with Rock Candy glitter.   I love the frosty look it adds to the pinecone.  I used some Simple Stories winter patterned paper for the background that I embossed with the SSS Stars and Snow embossing folder.  That was adhered to a kraft cardstock base.  I trimmed down another piece of Simple Stories patterned paper and adhered that to the card front.  The pinecone was layered on along with the twine bow and sentiment that I hot foiled several years ago.   

For my tag I used the pretty Locket of Love stamp set.  I stamped the locket and bow images on watercolor cardstock and then watercolored them with Daniel Smith watercolors.  The tag was also die cut from watercolor paper and then I added a wash of gray to the tag.  Once the images were dry I fussy cut them out.  I finished the heart with one of the hearts from the Flourish Heart Trio die set that I added a wash of pink to.  The sentiment was stamped and then fussy cut, as well.  Everything was layered on the tag along with a small white paper doily.  The tag is small enough that it could fit on a card front if I decide to do that. 

This card and a second one were made with the Sassy Sally stamp set.  I also used a stencil set that matches the Locket of Love set to create the heart my little kitty sits on.   I stamped the image on watercolor cardstock and then watercolored it with Daniel Smith watercolors.  When dry fussy cut it out.   Stenciled the heart using Spun Sugar distress oxide ink and then die cut the panel.  Figured out where I wanted the image and sentiment to be and then stamped the sentiment.  

Card number two was made in the same way as card number one, just used a different image and sentiment.  These little valentines will be heading off to two of my great nieces.  Just have to figure out a card for my other great niece and my great nephew.  

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