2023 Stamp Simply Favorites

Hello everyone!  Merry 4th day of Christmas!  I have always loved this quiet week between Christmas and the start of the New Year! The house is still dressed with the apparel of the season and still feels festive, so it is easy to stay in the Christmas spirit and start to work on gifts and decorations for next year.  Being from Louisiana, there is also the excitement of counting down to Epiphany and the start of the Mardi Gras season.  Anybody else looking forward to King Cake?!  Since I've become a spinner there is also a 12 Days of Christmas fiber set to spin, which is a daily opportunity to slow down and take a break from the hustle and bustle for at least 15 minutes a day.  #spin15aday #100daysofspindlespinning 

Here's the one from Christmas Day, the first day of Christmas, with one of my favorite Stamp Simply projects there in the background.

Speaking of favorites, this time of year is when we at Stamp Simply look back over the past year of creativity and choose favorites from all of the projects we've made.  This is a lot harder than you might expect, and if you asked more than once I might come up with a different answer each time because I have lots of favorites for a variety of reasons!  But here are links to some of my favorites from 2023, with links to the blog posts which have more photos and links for the products used for those projects!  

 

Hello Beautiful

Graduation 2023

Stars and Stripes Easel Card

Monochromatic Fancy Fold

#1 Coach Appreciation Card

Angels Among Us!

Christmas Special Delivery Gift Card 

Happy Thanksgiving! Let the Countdown to Christmas Begin!  

I hope this last week of 2023 and the brand new year will bring much joy and happiness and many blessings to your life.  

A Beautiful Christmas Season!

It's been raining a lot lately here in NE Florida (we got more than 5 inches in one single night and a culvert a block or so from our house collapsed and had to be replaced) so here I am still only dreaming of snow!  

Today's project started with our snowflake border stamp... 

...and a printed square from Carte Bella's Winter Time designer paper.  

I cut several branches of greenery from green card stock using a Tim Holtz holiday die and then gave it some depth of color with various Copic markers and some snow texture.  

I really love the way it looks from a side view with the needles all fluffed up!  

The inside is clean and simple with a strip of the designer paper and a silvery sentiment.   So this one was pretty fast and easy with a few swipes of ink, several passes through the die cutting machine, and almost no coloring.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Snowflake Blessings Border Strip
• Carta Bella Winter Time 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Holiday Greens Mini
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Christmas Stockings & Mittens (snowflake)
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• String
• Rhinestones

And here is our very last sale of the year!

Stamp Simply Store

Bring on the Snow!

Hi friends!

When it is chilly in Florida you know it is really cold further north!  We have had some cool temperatures in the last several days and it has been quite nice to pull out the sweaters and scarves!  I even finished one big shawl that I have been working on for ages!

In all of the time we have been living here I only remember it snowing (well, icing really) once, but that does not keep me from dreaming about snow or a white Christmas!  I like having tags to use for embellishing gifts or enclosing gift cards, so for today's project those two ideas combine.   

This project was made even quicker and easier because there was no coloring.  Everything is die cut from one pad of designer paper with a few accents from some pearlized card stock.  

I used some of our newest dies to cut the trees and the snowy hills, adding some snow texture to the designer paper to really give things a Wintry feel.

A few swipes with some clear Wink of Stella gave those hills of snow some sparkle.  There is enough contrast between that and the pearlized card stock for the snowflake to really show up against that sparkly background.

The back of the tag has a designer paper envelope made with a Tim Holtz die, embellished with a printed square from the designer paper pad (as is the "Winter" paper strip above the envelope).  There's another snowflake there on the top right of the envelope flap that you can't see from this angle.  

Fast and fun, which is what we need at this stage of the game, right?!  

I hope you have a peaceful happy holiday season!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Christmas Stockings & Mittens Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Country Church
• Carta Bella Winter Time 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Quartz White 6 ct
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Gray Flannel (understamp sentiment)
• May Arts 3/4" Ivory Canvas - 30 Yard Spool - Plain
• Clear Wink of Stella
• Weathered Wood distress ink (used to darken the edges of the mittens)
• snow texture (I used a fine tipped fabric puff paint pen)

And before you go...here's this week's Wild Wednesday promotion!

Stamp Simply Store

A Light to My Path

Hello everyone!  Thanks for visiting my blog on this important, memorable and sacred day.  It's the 82nd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (always makes me think of my dad who served in the USNavy during WWII although not in Hawaii), and it is also the beginning of Hanukkah.  The lighting of the first candle of Hanukkah will be this evening.

I am honored to have several Jewish friends in one of the knitting/spinning groups that I attend; we met Tuesday morning and I was able to hand deliver this card with a hug instead of a signature so that my friend has the option to either keep it or "pay it forward."  

This star fold is the perfect fancy fold for a Hanukkah card, forming the shape of the star of David.  This sentiment is from one of the stamp sets in our Lighthouse series, laid against a backdrop of blue, white, silver and gold.  The variegated silk, sheer metallic ribbons, fragile silver "greenery" and pearls make this a lovely, elegant card.

Here's what the card looks like when it is opened.  Take care when attaching the circular focal point that you adhere it only to one of the front panels.  It doesn't really matter which one, so long as the card can still be pulled open!  

The sentiments inside are a combination of die cut and stamped elements.

Here's a closer look..."from our house to yours."  

I'm including the various resources I came across in the making of this card...seeing things repetitively from different perspectives helps me understand how to do it better, so I'm sharing them all with you!

 

Larger version (the one I followed; similar process to the smaller one below but scored with a score tool at 5 1/4 and 7)

Make an easy envelope for a 6 inch card (but the above card is closer to 6.5 so the envie measurements had to be tweaked a little and it was still a tight squeeze!)

Smaller version (video shows the process well, although of course the measurements are different than above; the big advantage to smaller is that it doesn't require a 12 x 12 sheet)

Star fold cards on Pinterest

Another resource in metric that has more of a "formula" with a ratio to make the card in other sizes

And a little bit about the colors of Hanukkah and why I chose blue, white, silver and gold for today's card.

Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate!  Praying for Israel!  💙  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He is the Light
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Winter Poinsettia (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Blessings Word Die
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Holiday Greens Mini
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Ocean 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Assortment 24 Ct
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Silver
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Dark Gold
• May Arts 1/4" Variegated Silk - 54 yard spools - Blue/White
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Pearl

Stamp Simply