Leaves are Falling, Autumn is Calling

New stamps are so much fun but combining new sets with old favorites is even better imho!  Today's Stamp Simply project combines some of my all-time favorites and was inspired by an oversized piece of card stock.  Rather than cutting it down to size, I scored it and perforated it to make a card with a removable bookmark.

This peek-a-boo view shows the bookmark and how well these sets work together.  The new border set is so absolutely stunning!  

Inside and on the background of the bookmark, I used pale peachy-pink Copic markers and tea-dye distress ink to mimic the hues of the designer paper that's on the front of the card, and because I love that beautiful golden glow that Fall always brings, I gave everything a splash of Delicata shimmery copper sparkle.  

The top of the bookmark is accented with brightly colored ribbon and twine along with a leaf-shaped button from my stash.

This sentiment inside is from one of our Seasonal Wreath sets.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Falling Leaves Border Strip
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Harvest Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Seasonal Wreaths, Fall/Winter
• Studio Light Wonderful Autumn 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• May Arts Burlap String - 400 Yard Spool - Burgundy
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Orange
• Copic markers
• tea dye distress ink
• button from stash

New Release from Stamp Simply!

 

This week at Stamp Simply we are celebrating Fall with the release of some beautiful new Fall stamp sets!  

Besides the beautiful new Falling Leaves border stamp set, there is also a new Autumn Silhouettes stamp set and a Sympathy die with a gorgeous scrolling font.  All coordinate perfectly with our older Fall sets which include some of my all-time favorites!  

My first project using the new border stamp is a gift bag using a recycled/repurposed Kraft bag.  I stamped the border stamp onto some linen print designer paper and colored it in with Copic markers, stamping a few extra to fussy-cut for accents.  (Using our older sets and coordinating dies is another option if you're not into fussy-cutting).

  

I love that stamping over the linen print gave this an almost hand-stitched quality.  (I'm waiting for some linen and floss to begin a Fall themed slow-stitching project, so maybe that is what inspired this idea?!)

You can barely see it in the photos, but I used a mesh layering stencil and Celestial Copper Delicata ink to add some sheen and sparkle to those two colorful squares of grunge papers, and metallic gel-pen accents on the border.  I love these rich Fall colors so much!

I used the same linen print paper for a card using the new Autumn Silhouettes and new Sympathy die.  Transparent distress inks add those lovely Fall colors but still allow the linen texture to shine through, and the shimmery Copper stenciling adds even more elegance.  Rich Cocoa and stamped off Tuxedo Black Memento inks provide the perfect contrast for layering the two silhouette images on top of those beautiful Fall hues.

While we may not experience full-on "flaming Fall" here in Florida, this card feels very "Fall in Florida" to me!  Same for my home state of Louisiana.  I can envision Fall on the marsh or the beach with these images!    

Here's the inside, featuring a beautiful scripture sentiment also from the Autumn Silhouettes set.  

Supplies

for the bag:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Falling Leaves Border Strip
• Craft Consortium Grunge Dark 6x6
• Craft Consortium Grunge Festive Tones 6x6
• May Arts Burlap String - 400 Yard Spool - Burgundy
• faux canvas ribbon
• button from stash

for the card:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Sympathy Word Die
• wood adhesive dots colored with Copic markers

for both:

• Kaisercraft Under the Gum Leaves - 6.5x6.5 (linen print paper)
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black (stamped off)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Mesh
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Distress inks
• Copic markers
• metallic gel pen

I'll be back next week with more ideas for using these gorgeous new Fall stamps!  Hope to see you then!

To Every Thing There is a Season

 

If you're like I am, you can't just read that title without singing it! Turn, turn, turn!  🎶  ;)

I'm here with a Stamp Simply project that includes all of this week's featured florals, a series that we have had so much fun with this Summer!  This is the last week of the promotion, so it only seemed appropriate to do some sort of "finale" using this week's sets!  I enjoyed coloring them and I love the way they dress up our classic white Pottery Barn dinnerware.

I didn't really worry much about trying to coordinate colors between the images.  I just chose seasonal-appropriate colors that I love for each one, then tried to tie them together by splashing and splattering with gold and copper Delicata inks.  The Spring set is pansies which I colored with bright purples, pinks, and oranges.

This one is the Summer rose, which I colored with corals and pinks.  

There are sunflowers for Fall...

...and poinsettias for the Winter holidays. 

The floral sets come individually or in various bundles, including the coordinating die. The scriptures/sentiments used inside and out go perfectly with this theme and are from our Sunflower Season set.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Bundle with Die
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Sunflower Season
• Craft Consortium Baroque 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• rhinestones
• Copic markers
• metallic gel pen

Stamp Simply

Hello sweet friend of mine

Hi y'all!  

Sometimes I end up with scraps of designer paper that are not wide enough for an entire card front but they're just too pretty to cut into smaller pieces!  That's when it's fun to make a scrap card like this one!  The narrower card base is 3.25 x 5.5 inches but the card overall (including the banner overhanging the edge) is 4.25 x 5.5, so it will still fit in a standard envelope.

Of course, our fishtail banner is the perfect choice for an overhanging sentiment like this...this sentiment from our Typewritten series is a beautiful complement to this lovely Summer Seasonal Wreath.  And here is a secret...I accidentally smudged cocoa ink on the edge of this one so I took an emery board to it and then went over the edge with a metallic gel pen.  Voila`! Between that and splashes of metallic ink, my mistake is well-hidden.  Going around the edges of the base of the card and the designer paper accents the narrower card base and even makes it look like it was done on purpose and not mistake-inspired! ;)

The inside has another typewritten sentiment and more splashes of silver and copper ink to go along with that metallic gel-pen edging.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Seasonal Wreaths, Spring/Summer Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten Just Checking In
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Rose 6x6
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa (for under-stamping the metallic inks)
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Watermelon
• May Arts Burlap String - 400 Yard Spool - Lavender
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Lilac
• Copic markers
• metallic gel pen

Stamp Simply Store

Sing to Him a New Song

It is rare that I make a card that doesn't use designer paper because I love it so much, but this is one of those days!  Today's Stamp Simply card is made with only one stamp set along with several colors of ink and Copic markers.  The branch was stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.  Then I used a transparent soft blue ink and a scalloped circle to mask and sponge in the sky background.     

I used Spellbinders' rectangle dies to cut a window through the top layer and green mat to allow the layer below to peek through.  It's white card stock with the same sponged sky applied over the music staff and sentiment.  I also gave the paper an edge of color with a red Copic marker, since I did not want to add a fifth layer which would have made the card even heavier.  That pop of matching red really grounds the rest of the red scattered throughout the design.

Here's the inside, just a pretty sentiment, and a small colored twig to carry the theme from the front to the inside.  (I might have opted to add the same sponged sky to the inside had my sponge not started to disintegrate!  I need to order more).  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - God Will Take Care of You Bundle
• Spellbinders' rectangles
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Sage
• burlap string
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Black
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Copic markers
• button from stash

The Light Shines...He is the Light

Hello everyone!  This week's Stamp Simply project is a card made with Summery cool blues from Craft Consortium's Ink Drops Ocean designer paper, paired with one of Stamp Simply's Lighthouse stamp sets.  This one is of the lighthouse at Keweenaw Peninsula waterway's south entrance which has several lovely scripture sentiments to go along with the beautiful images.

I used pale blue-green, warm and cool grey Copic markers to color the lighthouse, keeping the tones very muted to harmonize with the background colors.  Only one tiny splash of brick red at the top, just as the actual lighthouse.  The bow is a layering of sheer gold and silver ribbons, frayed white tulle, and silver cording.

The lighthouse and sentiment were both stamped in grey ink so that the card is almost monochromatic.  There are splashes of copper and silver to help integrate the grey of the lighthouse with the Kraft and blue/turquoise colors of the designer paper.

The inside has another slice of the same paper, with sloshes and splashes of those gold and copper hues to keep the watercolory ocean theme going throughout.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He is the Light Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Ocean 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Rectangles SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Rectangles LG
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Gray Flannel
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Dark Gold
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Silver
• May Arts Metallic String - 300 Yard Spool - Silver
• white tulle

Remember, there's also still the Flower of the Week Sale (Tulips and Roses through Friday) so be sure to visit the store's blog for more ideas!  There'll be a new Flower of the Week beginning Saturday morning.

Come Before Him with Thanksgiving

Hello all!

Ha, no suprise here that in the throes of the dog days of Summer, I'm already looking forward to cooler weather!  Here in Florida we obviously have still got a long way to go!   

Our son was home for a visit last weekend.  It was a quick one and we barely got a glimpse of him, but it sure was nice!  I have a feeling that the next time we get to see him for any real length of time, it will be Thanksgiving.

Today's card is a relatively clean and simple card using one stamp set (I think if I could only choose one stamp set for Fall, this one would be it) and some beautiful Welcome Autumn designer paper. It's several layers but everything is on foam dots so it is squishable for mailing with no bows or bumpy jewels that would get crunched in the postal machines.  

Here's the inside.  If I'd been planning ahead I would have centered that sentiment, but my cards are rather spontaneous and usually evolve rather than result from an up-front hard-set plan, so there you go! 

Be sure to visit the Stamp Simply blog to see what is happening there!  We've got a Flower-of-the-Week thing going on now in addition to other seasonal sales, so you don't wanna miss them!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Carta Bella Welcome Autumn 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Ovals SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Ovals LG
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Copic markers

Christmas in July!

Hi everyone!  I missed you last week!  I was not intending to take a week off but, after taking a vacation to see my husband's family, I brought a "bug" home with me.  I have been sick for over a week!  It is not Covid (two negative tests) and it is not Strep.  I don't know exactly what it is but I would not wish it on anyone! I've been coughing my head off!  It's so exhausting but, enough about that!

I am a "keep Christmas in your heart all year" kind of person and have a small pencil fir tree that we keep up year round that has lots of hand-made (by Mom and me) ornaments on it, so when Stamp Simply has a Christmas in July sale, that is right up my alley!

Today's card started with a small square of embossed paper from Kaisercraft's Under the Gum Tree paper pad.  I stamped the sentiment (first with stamped off Memento Rich Cocoa and then topped with Delicata Celestial Copper ink) and then added a fussy-cut farmhouse ornament accented with die-cut greenery and a canvas ribbon.  

The ornament was stamped with distress oxide inks in various shades of pink/red/brick topped with an edging of that beautiful sparkly copper.

For the background layer inside and out, I used a baby wipe with the mesh layering stencil to swipe a translucent layer of shimmer. The sentiment inside was stamped using the same layering method as was the one on the card front.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Christmas
• Kaisercraft Under the Gum Leaves - 6.5x6.5
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Assortment 24 Ct
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Mesh
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper (for over-stamping sentiments)
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa (for off-/under-stamping sentiments)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Two Sprigs or Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Floral Cluster and Sprigs
• May Arts 3/4" Ivory Canvas - 30 Yard Spool - Plain

Poppies Sympathy

Today's project is a simple sympathy card.  I find sympathy cards so emotionally challenging even when they're made in advance to have on hand when the need arises.  It's even more difficult when they're made for a particular loss with a certain person in mind. That's why simple often seems to work so well.  

Today's card is made with bold colors against a muted background. The poppies were colored with Copic markers and accented with a sparkly gel pen.  

The inside has a "my refuge" passage from one of our mini background sets, along with a prayer sentiment from our Faith set. I'm certainly praying for the family for whom this card is intended.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Pretty Poppies Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Scripty Background Minis Set 1
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Faith
• Craft Consortium Brick Textures 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Copic markers
• Glitter gel pen
• tea dye distress ink

My Flag, My Country, USA!

 

Y'all know by now that I am a patriotic American and that I enjoy stamping and sharing patriotic cards!  ❤️ 🇺🇸  Just couldn't resist one more as the 4th of July holiday approaches.  

This card uses a couple of our Stamp Simply patriotic sets and the coordinating dies along with one of my all-time favorite and most-oft-reached-for dies, Fishtail Banners.  You can also see the words of the Pledge of Allegiance peeking from underneath the flag...that is from one of our new background minis stamp sets.  

I stamped the USA on a scrap of paper before die cutting the star, then scored from point to the "v" between points to give it some dimension.  A little Copic marker out-lining along the edges and some accents with a glittery gel-pen add details.  

Here's the inside.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Old Glory Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The Red, White & Blue
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Patriotic Sentiments
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Scripty Background Minis Set 2
• Echo Park Let Freedom Ring 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• sheer glitter ribbon
• Copic markers
• glitter gel pen
• red and blue distress oxide ink

I hope you have a very happy, safe weekend whether you're one of my celebrating American friends or someone who loves card-making from another part of this wonderful world!