Season of Wonder

 So, I made this card and then I was so excited about it I just had to post it before the stack that I have waiting to be posted. It happens, what can I tell ya?

Here's the thing...since I took a super long break from crafting, a few trends have emerged on the technique side and I am trying to learn some new things and do different stuff. Stencils are EVERYWHERE now. Like... they are huge. And hot foiling seems to be pretty big, too. Sooooo...I decided to pull out some of my new Pinkfresh Studio goodies and practice a bit of both of those things! 

I used the absolutely gorgeous Wintry Forest stencil set with some distress inks to create this scene. Now, folks, understand that I often struggle with color choices. I am not super great at brining a bunch of colors together, but I was SO HAPPY with this color combination. Seriously. I love it so much. It makes me happy. For the final stencil, I used VersaMark ink and then heat embossed the snow onto the branches to complete the look. 

The sentiment is hot foiled using the Thrill of Hope hot foil plate set along with the coordinating dies. I cut the sentiment several times and stacked them to give it depth. 

No joke. This is one of those cards that I just kept looking at and thinking... whoa! I made that! LOL! Don't you love it when that happens? Drop a link to a project you are particularly proud of in the comments and I'll come check it out!

Have a great day!

It's STAMPtember!!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the stampy year!!! It's STAMPtember!!! Yes, it's that wonderful time when Simon Says Stamp releases all kinds of amazing exclusive products for us to gobble up! And boy has it begun with a bang this year! Some of the best products EVER!!!! To celebrate, our challenge this week is STAMP IT! Yup! We want to see you use some awesome stamps! Get inky! The Design Team is showing off brand new STAMPtember products! If you have some Simon exclusives, we'd love to see you use them!

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I used this absolutely AMAZING background stamp to create this fun card. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I used it on the card I posted yesterday, as well. Keep following...I have MORE COMING!!!! I just love this background so much! I stamped and clear embossed it and then used Distress inks to blend ink over the words. I made sure to only partially stamp so the words only go partially across the inked area. I layered embossing powder over the die cut sentiment to add both shine and dimension so it would really stand out.

And now it's YOUR turn! Create something awesome using stamps in some way and link it up for your chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate to the Simon Says Stamp Store! WOOT! WOOT!

Don't Make a Scene!

Okay, I lied. That's actually EXACTLY what we want you to do for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week! Make a Scene! The Design Team is using Newton's Nook products in our scene inspired cards today. You don't have to use them if you don't want to, but we would love to see them if you've got 'em!



Okay, so, when I saw this Dreams of London stamp set I simply HAD to have it. And then we got super busy getting ready to move and I hadn't had the chance to play with it yet. I finally broke it open and oh, my goodness, I love it even more!!!! I stamped (masking the cat) the images and then colored them with Spectrum Noir pens. I added some distress inking to create the background in my little die cut circle.



And now it's YOUR turn! Create something awesome that incorporates a scene in some way on your project and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog for your chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate to the Simon Says Stamp store! THAT, my friends, is an awesome prize!

I can't wait to see what you create! Scenes can be so much fun to put together! 

Have a Happy!

Life is a Beautiful Ride!

Hello, friends! If you are reading this on the day it went up, well, you are reading as the entire contents of our home is being moved from one apartment to the other! Fun times! And a great reminder that life truly is a beautiful ride that brings us all kinds of new and interesting experiences! Our Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week is a Color Inspiration challenge! Check out this beautiful inspiration board!

I am a water girl. I absolutely LOVE the ocean. And summer. And the beach. I so love it all! This inspiration board made me so happy! And I had a blast coming up with a card inspired by it! I used the Beautiful Ride stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, as it seemed a PERFECT fit for this photo!

I did a lot of masking to create the background with Distress inks and then stamped the bike over it using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink. I used a black pen to fill in parts of the bike to keep it simple and give it a sketchy look. I then stamped and colored the puppy and used a bit more masking to add the flowers to the paper sack. I fussy cut these pieces and added them to the bike baskets. I LOVE how cute this turned out and the warm happy colors inspired by the inspiration photo make me happy!

And now it's YOUR turn! Create something fabulous, inspired by the inspiration photo and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog for your chance to win a $100 Gift Certificate to the Simon Says Stamp Store! The Design Team is using Simon Says Exclusives this week, you don't have to use them to play along, but if you have some, we would SO love to see you rock them!

Have a Happy!

Back It On Up

HELLO!!!! I am in a ridiculously good mood today. I love ridiculously good moods. It's a beautiful morning in Boston and I am just a happy girl! I am also happy to be sharing this week's brand new Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with all of you! This week, it's all about the guys! The Design Team is featuring Tim Holtz products and our challenge is For a GUY. This conveniently coincides with Father's Day, here in the US. That might not be a coincidence. Maybe not. Just... yeah. Maybe.

I pulled out a few of my Tim Holtz to create a card that might not be the style one normally expects when thinking of Tim Holtz. I combined Distress Ink, Distress Markers, and some awesome Distress Glitter with a super fun My Favorite Things Stamp Set to create a great card for the tech loving person in your life. Yup. I used glitter on a guy card. And it totally worked, yo. For reals, though.

And now it's YOUR turn! Create a fabulous card for a special guy in your life and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog! We can't wait to see what you create!

Don't forget... one lucky participant will win a $50 Gift Certificate to the Simon says Stamp Store! WHAT?! Yup. That's gonna happen! 

Have a Happy!!!

SMILE! It's RELEASE DAY!

Yes, this is the final day of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Release week and that means when the clock strikes midnight (Eastern time) the new stamps will be available IN THE STORE!!! WOOT! That, my friends, is most certainly something to smile about!



This new Tin Roof (RUSTED!) (p.s. No, the rusted part isn't part of the name of the set, but ... every.single.time. #thatisall) background was just begging me to do some ink blending! I love how the ink allows the details of the embossed background to really stand out! I layered the smile die several times to create a dimensional sentiment. I then went over it with a Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen for some added shimmer. Because: Glitter.



I hope this release week has left YOU with a smile! Don't forget to use code JINGLE2016 with your order for 15% off at the CAS-ual Friday Stamps store!!! Also... stop on by the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today to check out what the rest of the team created and to enter to win this awesome stamp set! WOOT!

Have a Happy!

It's Ombré Time!

Hello, all, and welcome to another installment of the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, brought to you by Simon Says Stamp, your one stop shop for all of your paper crafting needs! *And the crowd goes wild!*

Yup. It's a game show opener kind of day. Why? Because that's just the kind of mood I'm in. And I'm in charge around here. So, that's what you get.

Whatever. You know you love it.

The challenge this week is to use the ombré technique on your projects! The design team is featuring Hero Arts products this week. You don't have to use them to play along, but if you've got some on hand, we'd love to see what you do with them!



I used this AWESOME dot background stamp to create my card for today. I seriously love this stamp! I stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with white embossing powder on white cardstock. I then used distress inks to create the ombé background. I kind of love it. The sentiment is the Simon Says Stamp Painted Thanks die, cut several times, layered, and then I used Wink of Stella, Glossy Accents, and some super fine glitter to make it sparkle. It sparkles. Lots.


Now it's YOUR turn! Created something awesome based on the Ombré inspiration and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog for your chance to win a $50 Gift Voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store! 

That's all for today, folks! Thanks so much for joining us and be sure to come back next week for another fabulous installment of... the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! *Closing Music Plays* 

Have a Happy. *wink*

Hello There!

So, here's the deal. Hello is my One  Little Word for the year. You may recall THIS Hello card that I posted just the other day. My word for the year inspired that card AND that giveaway (which ends today, by the way, so be sure to enter if you haven't already!). I used a super awesome Neat & Tangled stamp for that card. And THEN... the latest Little Tangles challenge came out yesterday with what theme? Oh. Yes. Hello.

Wellllllllll.... I simply HAD to create something for it. I mean, FOR REALS. It's my WORD, yo. But, since I had just used Neat and Tangled stamps for that other one I was a bit torn. I decided to use the same stamp again. Because I like it. Nope. Because I LOVE it.



I did. I used the Neat & Tangled Origami Map stamp and the coordinating die for the background of my card. I then used the super cute On the Corner stamp set. I used Distress inks to ink the background, splashed some water drops on there for texture, and used Distress Markers to color my image. I don't use those for coloring often, but they seemed to be what I was looking for this time around. I actually hand lettered the sentiment to get exactly what I wanted and I was surprised by how much I liked the results!

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So, there it is! Something a little different with a potentially unlikely stamp combination, but I like it! It's fun!

Have a Happy, folks!

TAG! You're It!

Good News! I'm not going to make you run after me on the playground. Even BETTER news! We have a brand new challenge for you over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog! This week's challenge is TAG IT! We want to see you create a tag, add a tag, whatever! Make tags a big part of your design and link it up! The Design Team is using Tim Holtz products this week. You don't have to use them to play along, but if you've got some on hand, we'd love to see what you do with them! I pulled out my Crazy Birds stamps for this one, along with some Distress Inks for some watercolor fun.



I die cut the base with the brand new Stitched Dressed Up Tag dies, with which I am in love. Obviously. I watercolored the base and then stamped my bird on more watercolor paper and painted some more! Because I love watercolor. Lots.



If you know me, this tag is a little hilarious, because I'm the farthest thing you can find from the 'bah humbug' type. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! But this bird... he seemed to be the bah humbug type. And I love him for it. SO FUN!

Now it's your turn! Create something awesome and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog for your chance to win a $50 Gift Voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store! WOOT! WOOT!

Have a Happy!

Happy Haunting!

Hello, friends! I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I was finishing up at my old job last week and started my new one this week, so I've had LOTS of non-paper stuff going on around here! It's pretty exciting, actually! Today we have a BRAND NEW Challenge for you from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge team! This week we have a COLOR INSPIRATION challenge, complete with an inspiring mood board to jumpstart your creativity!

The design team is playing with Stampendous! products this week. You don't have to use them to play along, but we'd love to see them if you have some around! I used some amazing Aged Gold embossing powder from Stampendous! for my card today!

I also used that absolutely AMAZING Tim Holtz bat stamp. I love that stamp. For reals. LOVE IT. I used distress inks to create the background and then added a sentiment from the Winnie and Walter Moonlight stamp set. 

Now it's YOUR turn! Create something awesome, inspired by the Color Inspiration Mood Board, and link it up over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog! We can't WAIT to see what you create!

One lucky participant will win a $50 Gift Voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store! Woot! Woot!

Have a Happy, folks!