TOADally Awesome

 So, as it turns out, frogs are cute. Well, some frogs anyway. Particularly the adorable frogs in the Toadally Unfrogettable stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. I mean... JUST LOOK AT HIM!

He is colored with Copics and, well, he's just pretty much the cutest thing EVER! Nice and simple design for this one, but I feel like that image and the fun sentiment did all the work for me, so... simple it is! 

I hope you have a hopping good Monday! Hee-hee.... see what I did there... cuz frogs.... cuz.... 

okay. I'll go now.

Thanks for stopping by!

Two Cards for the Price of One!

 Well, 'price' probably isn't the right word, but basically, I started out creating one card and ended up with two very different designs from the work I put into it. I kind of love them and how very different they turned out even though they use the very same basic supplies all around.

Here are the supplies I used:

Simon Says Stamp Leafy Leaves Background Stamp

CZ Designs Chunky Thankful Die

Prima Watercolors, Decadent Pies

And a Neat and Tangled Maple Leaf stamp that is no longer available, but you can find a similar one in this Simon Says Stamp set

Oh... and some cardstock, bristol, and May Arts twine. 

Fir this one, I stamped the background on bristol and watercolored it to create a nice fall background look. I then die cut the sentiment, saving the middle pieces, adhered the painted panel to a card base and then adhered the sentiment pieces back into the 'Thankful' to make a cool outline look. This let the background be the star of the show for this card.  A simple wrap and bow with twine finished it off nicely.

Now, as you know, I don't normally just jump into a supply list. BUT... for this one, I had to because... CHECK IT OUT! After making this card, I realized I had the perfect makings for a beautiful clean and simple design with the leftovers!

There is a slight chance I like this one even better. Even though the painting took a bit of time and effort and you can't really tell that as much here, BUT, alas...I still LOVE the way that die cut sentiment looks cut from the stamped and watercolored background. It's like.... perfect. So, I used the outline that was left over on a simple white panel and then just stamped a few maple leaves to finish it off in a nice deep red tone. 

Two cards from one set of work! LOVE IT! And I hope you do, too. Never forget to check out what your 'scraps' are giving you! You may just find some treasures in there!

A Little Halloween with a Little Potter Mixed In

Is that okay? Can I squeeze in one more Halloween card for this year? I had fun with this one, taking some fun Halloween stamps and giving them a bit of a Harry Potter twist. Because who doesn't love a sorting hat and a Nimbus 2000? Right? Right. Good. Glad we had this chat.

So, not gonna lie. This one sat on my desk for several days while I decided if I was brave enough to share it. Now that I'm looking at it fresh again, I think I actually really do like it. It's fun! I stamped the hat and the broom from the Simon Says Stamp Toil and Trouble stamps and dies set onto kraft paper and then colored with Spectrum Noir colored pencils. I went for the weathered Sorting hat look on the hat and um..... I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT. K? K. Thanks. I die cut both pieces, along with the tree from the Ghouls and Tree die set from Simon. 

I finished the card by adding just a touch of Reverse Confetti patterned paper and then stamped, embossed, and die cut the sentiment and frame together. 

And, my friends, there you have it. A bit of Halloween and a bit of Harry Potter all rolled into one fun card. Now... where did I leave my robes, I gotta fly......

Because RAINBOWS!

Yup. I yelled rainbows. I'm gonna do it again. RAINBOWS!!! You guys, for reals, though. This awesome Build a Rainbow stencil and the accompanying die from Simon Says Stamp is freaking awesome. 

I used the SSS Rainbow Ink Cubes and blending brushes along with the stencil to create the rainbow itself. Then I die cut the bottom panel and inked the cloud edge to create the cloud look. LOVE IT. The sentiment is the You Are Enough die from Simon, too. Finally, I went a little old school and pulled out an old wood starburst embellishment, used a paint pen to make it white and then covered it with... you guessed it... STICKLES! I think Sterling (my toddler) is bringing back my love of glitter glue. Mostly because he puts it on everything he possibly can. 

Stenciling is super popular right now and it has never been a big thing for me, so I am trying to give it a shot here and there. I think I may end up loving it. This was certainly a TON of fun to create and not a SINGLE stamp was used to create it. WHAT?! That's craziness. Absolute craziness. I do adore how vibrant the colors are, though! That's pretty awesome! And the cool variation you get from using the blending brushes with ink... yeah, I'm liking that, too.

What technique have you been trying out recently? I'd love hear about it! 

Cute Spooks

 So, seriously. When you give me absolutely adorable Halloween supplies I just cannot help myself! I am loving creating these cards! 

For this one, I started by die cutting the  Simon Says Stamp Window Webs from a white panel. I just knew I had to create a super cool background to put behind it, so I decided to ink up another cardstock panel to create a night sky using distress inks. I then put a little white ink from a bottle of reinker on a paint brush and splattered it to create the stars in the sky.

You guys! This was a lot for me. LOL! I don't do a ton of messy things anymore, but I absolutely LOVE how this turned out and I super love that it uses those techniques and still results in a clean and simple card.

I stamped the absolutely adorable ghost witch stamp and the spider from the Too Cute To Spook stamp set from Simon Says Stamp and colored them with Spectrum Noir colored pencils. I cut the ghost out, but you can purchase dies with the stamps if you prefer to go that route. Either way... this stamp set is THE CUTEST!

The sentiment is stamped and embossed on a strip of black cardstock to finish off the card. I am linking this little guy up to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

I hope you have enjoyed my Halloween fun this week! I may do more, I may do some other stuff... we shall see. Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment to let me know you are here! 

BRAVO! (Discount code and Giveaway)

Hasn't this week of new release fun from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps just been awesome so far?! I love these stamps and dies! I have another great stamp set and die to share with you today! This one is all about the celebration!!!



I stamped the background using several of the awesome marquis style sentiments in this set! I love the fun font on these! I also love that they can totally be focal point or background depending on how you design your card! I pulled in the BRAVO Fri-die and some embellishments from Pinkfresh Design to add a punch of color to finish my card.



Tomorrow we have our FINAL reveal and then the new stamps and dies go LIVE in the store! WOOT! WOOT!!!!! Don't forget that you can stop by the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog for your chance to win this awesome stamp set and to check out some amazing inspiration from the Girl Fridays!

Also, remember to use code JINGLE2016 for 15% off your entire CAS-ual Fridays Stamps order! FOR REALS, dude! 

Have a Happy!

Dream Then Do - CFS Release Week with Discount and Giveaway!

It is Day TWO of the awesome new release from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! We have a wonderful, encouraging stamp set to share with you today! I think you are really going to love this one!



This set is called Dream then Do. It is absolutely STUFFED with absolutely fabulous, inspiring sentiments that stand as focal points on a card SO well! The fonts on this set? Umm... yes! I love them! I had some fun with some color on this one! I feel like this set was just MADE for this kind of card design. I think a couple of my team mates thought so, too! You simply MUST check out the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog to see the various ways people have rocked these stamps!



Isn't it FUN?! And this isn't even it, folks! We have MORE coming at ya later this week! Be sure to stop by each day! And don't forget to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog to enter to win this stamp set!

And, if this release inspires you to do a little shopping, be sure to use the code JINGLE2016 for 15% off your order! WOOT! WOOT!

Have a Happy!

From Me, To You

Have you ever sat down to create something, finished it, and then said, "That was too easy. What did I do wrong?" Yeah. That is pretty much how this particular project went. BUT, the truth of the matter, is, the tools MAKE it easy and I LOVE the results so much! CUTENESS! For reals, though.



Three gift tags. Bright, happy colors. Happy playful shapes. Yes. All of those things. But, seriously, you guys... SO EASY! You guys, all I had to do was combine the new Spellbinders® Tag Trio with the Build a Tag 2 set and stamp a couple of sentiments. Oh...and tie some ribbon onto them with some adorable twine. But, for reals, that's it. That is the sum total of the steps for this project. And CUTENESS!



I used May Arts ribbon and twine from The Twinery. The stamp set is, well, okay, after searching the internet for a bit I am just coming to grips with the fact that I have no clue what stamp set I used. But to and from stamps are pretty common. You can find some. I believe in you.

Go make some tags, you guys!

Have a Happy!

Clean and Simple with Pinkfresh Studio

I am showcasing the March kit over on the Pinkfresh Studio blog today! I have two clean and simple cards over there. I actually loved this kit so much, I couldn't stop at two! One of these you will see over there, along with one that you will NOT see here!



For this one, I layered the dies (created by Spellbinders for Pinkfresh Studio) over the vellum label to create a new, fresh look. I love how this is so simple, but yet has so much interest.



This super fun card uses the feather puffy stickers. Wait. Let's go over that one more time. FEATHER. PUFFY. STICKERS. You guys, for REALS, I love them so much! I combined them with the green striped alphabet stickers for a super fun and super easy card! LOVE IT!

Be sure to head on over to the Pinkfresh Studio blog to see more!

Have a Happy!

You Simply Have to Fly!

Step 1: Begin with all white cardstock.

Step 2: Recognize that you really are a clean and simple designer and just embrace that.

Step 3: Create this card.



Oooohh... wait. You wanted steps for actually creating the card? Okay. I can do that.

Step 1: Head on over to CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and purchase the Butterbows Stamp Set and the Bubble Labels Fri-dies. While you are there, you may as well pick up a couple of other things because: Awesomesauce.

Step 2: Trim card base, fold, set aside for now.

Step 3: Stamp Butterbow in Little Piggy ink from WPlus9 on a white panel. Stamp it again on Post It tape. Cut out the butterbow on post it tape and place over the Little Piggy Butterbow. (You guys, I am NOT making these names up. For reals.)

Step 4: Ink entire panel with Fairy Dust ink from Wplus9. (Nope. Still not making it up.) Allow sufficient time to dry and heat set it anyway for good measure.

Step 5: Stamp and emboss sentiment with VersaMark ink and silver embossing powder.

Step 6: Die cut large Bubble Label from more white cardstock (Because that's all we are using, remember?), cut in half, adhere beneath butterbow.

Step 7: SEQUINS!!!!!



Step 8: Head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog for all kinds of awesome inspiration AND get ready for a new release later this week! WHAT?! Yup. Totally.

For reals, though. You should probably do all of the above.

Have a Happy!