PRETTY FLORAL STEM

This pretty floral is a die called Alstroemeria Stem from Simon Says Stamp.  I saw a card on You Tube and I wanted to make it myself.  It is delicate and pretty.  I struggled a bit with the coloring - getting the shading just right is not easy.  I made a couple of them.  

TRIANGLE SANTA

I couldn't resist this cute little Santa die from Simon Says Stamp.  

I made a few ornaments out of the triangle Santa. 

So far these are just tags but could easily be made into cards.  

COFFEE and CARDMAKING!

Coffee and card making makes it a good day!  I started with a watercolor background first a blue one and another one with a rainbow pattern.  I die cut a few trees with black card stock and splattered a bit of white on the background and the trees.  I found a few sentiments that I already had ready to go.  

SEASON'S GREETINGS IN MAY!

This stencil from Hero Arts called Geometric Holiday was used for my card today.  I was feeling like a little Christmas card would be fun!  Simple stenciling with a couple of shades of red & green and a simple sentiment.  

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Christmas Word Mix 1.  

RETRO FLOWERS

I love this Simon Says Stamp Retro Flowers stencil set.  This look is something that I'm always attracted to in card making designs. I started with a piece of watercolor paper and ink blended the entire card panel with Taylored Expressions Banana Cream Pie.  Then I used the ink colors shown on each of the layered stencils.   

I added sentiment strips for the greetings and these cards are done!

 

LINED LEAVES

Happy Birthday, Sweet Friend!  We hope you have a great day!

 

COSMOS BLOOM

I stamped this Simon Says Stamp Cosmos Bloom image with Versamark and then used gold embossing powder.  I used a white gel pen to flower centers.  I added a simple sentiment and this card is done!

PICKED POSIES!

My desk is full of all the pieces of this beautiful floral from the Concord & 9th die set called Picked Posie.  

The Press n' Seal works great to keep your floral arrangement in place & holding the pieces together while you add dimension.  You can easily center and place your design on the card front, then gently peel back the Press n' Seal.  

I decided it was time to make something of all these pieces & parts that I die cut.  I really like the touches of black & white and also the various cover plates for background interest.  

More fun designs.  On the bottom two cards I used patterned paper for the backgrounds.

And this final one, is very clean & simple.

ROSE & BLOOMS BOUQUET

A pretty floral is one of my favorite things and this one didn't disappoint!  It is the Intricate Rose & Blooms Bouquet by Simon Says Stamp.  It is a Foil & Cut set - you get the hot foil plate & coordinating die.  I gold foiled the floral image and then die cut it & colored with only 4 Copic markers!  No shading or blending, just good old fashioned coloring!  

I added the Happy Birthday in foil to the bottom of this card.   The background Cover Plate is from Taylored Expressions called Pierced Circles.  

The background Cover Plate is from The Stamp Market called Pierced Plaid.  I'll add a sentiment to this card when I'm ready to send it! 

COSMOS BLOOM

I saw this technique on this video by Jennifer McGuire.  She stamped the background, colored the floral with quick ink blending and then colored in the background white space.  In my cards, I colored the white space with a grey Copic marker.  I used a black glaze pen for the centers of the flowers for a striking accent.  This floral from Simon Says Stamp called Cosmos Bloom turned out so pretty!

So many fun options.  If you cut the background in half you can make two cards!  

CHRISTMAS SHINE

This is a favorite background stamp from Simon Says called Leaves & Berries.  I stamped it on black card stock with VersaMark ink and used gold embossing powder.  I added a bit of color to the berries & the leaves and used a gel pen to add white dots.  The sentiment is a Spellbinders Glimmer Plate called Essential Christmas Greetings.  

Same black background - the sentiment is from My Favorite Things.  

For the sentiment, I used the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil set called Essential Christmas Greetings.

SPOOKY

This is a background stamp that I bought a while ago & never used it.  This seems to be a theme lately, pulling out stuff that I had to have and then never used!  My rule is that I can't file away anything that I haven't used so this has been in a basket for a long time!  I remember watching a video that Laura Bassen did using this background and she did color blending for a Halloween look.  It is a Simon Says Stamp Lantern Background but it certainly works as a pumpkin background too!  

I did the ink blending with the domed foam after white embossing on the Neenah Solar White 110# card stock.  I used Distress inks in Crackling Campfire,  Spiced Marmalade & Mustard Seed and Catherine Pooler Grape Crush.  The Spooky words are from Amuse Studio Candy Corn Kisses.  The bat & ghost dies are from Amuse Studio.  The Happy Haunting words are from Taylored Expressions Harvest sentiment strips.  

SYMPATHY

I have been using embossing folders a lot lately with my card making.  I think it gives such a nice background especially when the layers are white on white.  I used the Taylored Expressions Spring Spray stamp & stamped it with Onyx Versafine black ink & then clear embossing powder.  No coloring required, adding my sentiment strip to complete the card. 

 

SOUTHERN BOUQUET

This is one of my favorite florals by Amuse Studio called Southern Bouquet. 💐

 I stamped the image on 110# Neenah Solar White card stock with Onyx Versafine ink and then embossed with it with clear powder.  I did the coloring with Amuse Studio inks and a water brush.  I dabbed some ink on an acrylic block and then added a drop of water.  When I was coloring the water brush was dry other than the drop of water that I added to the acyrlic block.  I didn't want to over saturate the paper since I wasn't using watercolor paper.  The background is the Taylored Expressions Pierced Circles Cutting Plate.  I was kind of proud of myself for thinking outside the box for the sentiment strip.  This is actually a handle die for a basket, I had to trim it down but I like the look!  I die cut the bouquet out and then also die cut 3 more pieces out of the white card stock.  I glued all the dies together & it gives the bouquet dimension.  Sometimes I think it works better than using foam dimensionals.  

Products Used:  

Stamps:  Amuse Studio Southern Bouquet, Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words

Card stock:  #110 Neenah Solar white, Card base is Essentials by Ellen Linen, Black scrap

Ink:  Onyx Versafine, Amuse Studio Blush, Buttercup, Fern, Grass, Orange, Sky

Other:  Clear Embossing Powder, Amuse Studio Matching Die for Southern Bouquet, Taylored Expressions Pierced Circles Cutting Plate, Mama Elephant Cute Basket (for the sentiment strips), water brush 

YOU GET ME!

Thanks Beth Ann for the cool rainbow graphic card!  I just loved getting happy mail and this card is fun & colorful!  Beth Ann shared with me that the die is Spinning Circle by Simon Says Stamp.  Fellow Stampers are of the same mind -  you get me!  👊

CONGRATULATIONS

This is a favorite from Simon Says Stamp called Floral Bliss.  I stamped it and used the Daniel Smith paint dots that were sent with the kit.  I know I've had this for a couple of years and the paint dots still worked just great.  The congratulations sentiment & die is from Honey Bee Pickup Lines.  

Excited to celebrate with Ethan & Madison very soon!  💑

RAINBOW STRIPES!

Totally inspired by Laura Basson with this row of houses with the rainbow stripes background!  I used the Taylored Expressions Neighborhood Border die.  The sentiment is from Simon Says - pre-printed black sentiments with white lettering.  These sure come in handy when you don't want to take the time to white emboss on black card stock.  They have a variety of themes for the sentiments.  

WITH SYMPATHY

Unfortunately, I needed to replenish my supply of sympathy cards.  I seem to be using them more often.  I started by selecting some of my favorite embossing folders.  I used white or cream card stock to get them embossed.  Then I pulled out sympathy words in both stamps and strips.  

Here you can see the embossing a bit better.

This one is my favorite - I love the embossing and the beautiful stamped words.  

These sentiment strips are from Simon Says Stamp.  You get a 4x6 of various sentiments and you just cut them into strips and they are ready to add to your cards.  

GUS & GERTIE

This stamp set from Taylored Expressions called Gus & Gertie & it is just the cutest little dog set.  One of the things I love it that there is no coloring required on the dog!  I stamped a background from Taylored Expressions Social Butterflies stamp set.  Birthday Wishes sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words.  The other two sentiments are included in the Gus & Gertie set.  These cards are 4-Bar size.  Simple & Cute!  👍

WELCOME HOME!

My friend, Dona just brought home two Schnauzer puppies and I couldn't be happier for her.   Good thing I had this Simon Says Stamp dog die cut so that I could make her a card!  I found a small circle die in my stash to personalize their dog tags - Duke & Ernie! They are the cutest pups - on this card and in real life!

Ready to go in the mail!

ERNIE!

DUKE!