Thursday, October 29, 2020

NEW Release! Typewritten Sentiments!


Hello, friends!  I'm here today with three very different cards to share which feature some fabulous NEW SETS from Stamp Simply!  


When I was growing up, we lived kitty-corner across the street from one of my mom's best friends, whose name is Iris.  Any and every time I see anything with irises, it makes me think of her.  I'd lost track of her for a while, but after Hurricane Laura I bumped into her daughter online.  I found out that "Miss Iris" is now in her 90s, living in a nursing home.  I was able to get her address, so this card is for her!  She has been like a second mother to me and I am so happy to find her again and to be able to send her my love!


I actually had been eyeing this paper for a while and was contemplating how I might use it when our new Stamp Simply Typewritten Sentiment sets came into being.  Paired with an arrow and heart from our Farmhouse Series, they allowed me to convey exactly what I was thinking!


Here's the inside, with another one of those "just perfect" sentiments! 

 

And this is the back!  It feels so good when a simple plan comes together!  ;) 



Next up is a card inspired by some beautiful new Memory Box papers.  The corner motif reminded me of one of our new wreath stamps, and the sprig in our floral cluster die set, so I paired those together.


This card is relatively flat for easy mailing.  Most of the papers in the pad are Christmasy, but this particular one worked for a more every-day design.


The floral stamp is designed to be a focal point of our wreath set, but it works just as beautifully to accent a special sentiment.  I just love this combination of colors!  This card will go to a neighbor who recently had surgery.  


This last card design has been floating around in my head since our ornaments set was released.  By stamping three repeats of the ornaments and gluing them together, they appear 3-D.  


Both ornaments were colored with Copic markers and accented with a gold gel pen.  To keep the fussy-cutting to a minimum, I used the smallest of the Spellbinders Classic Circles large set to die cut the circle ornaments out.  There was a bit of a white border around them which I colored in with a black Copic marker.  The shaped ornaments had to be fussy-cut, but the lines are simple so it really is not hard to do.  To make them consistent with the circles, I left a tiny edging of white around the ornament and colored it with a black marker.  

To assemble, the ornaments were scored down the center, then glued to one another and finally adhered to the card front.  I used a scrap of gold shimmer metallic paper for the top of each ornament and scored it with a stylus to give it that fluted metal appearance.  (It sounds much more complicated than it is...it was really very quick and easy!)


Here's the inside. 

What I love about these sets is the versatility!  They are great for holidays throughout the year, but also every day in between!  As you can see, you can adapt them for just about any occasion!  Be sure to visit the Stamp Simply blog and scroll to see what my design team members have been creating with these awesome sets!

Supply lists:

Iris card
Thoughts and Prayers card
Ornaments card
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Thursday, October 22, 2020

Christmas Slimline


Welcome back!  

This beautiful new Memory Box designer paper inspired today's slimline card using one of my favorite Stamp Simply Christmas sets (I'll be revisiting our new Christmas sets again next week).    


I love the softness of these colors and how well our floral dies and images coordinate with this lovely paper.  There's just a touch of snow on the greenery, too!


Here's a peek at the inside, with splashes of gold Delicata ink and another lovely sentiment.  

Supplies:
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Thursday, October 15, 2020

Gather Together







Hello again!  

Today's Stamp Simply project is a Fall card with a hint of Christmas colors!  I thought this particular designer paper print would work for Fall even though it is part of a Christmas pack, and its accents of red and green are a great segue to Christmas. (I confess I'm not quite ready to start my Christmas stamping, so I'm hoping this will begin to get me into the mood!)


I really love the beautiful bold colors of Fall, and enjoyed using bright yellows and oranges, rusty reds, and a few pops of green when coloring this beautiful wreath accent using Copic markers.  

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Thursday, October 8, 2020

New Designer Papers!


Hi everyone!  I'm here today with a Fall project using some of the NEW designer paper that arrived this week at Stamp Simply!  So many beautiful paper pads!  The little bit of cooler Fall weather we've have had made my fingers itch to use this one first!  This is a stamping only, zero coloring card!


The smallest of the long rectangles dies is the perfect size for this sentiment!


I diluted a drop or two of Copic marker refill with blending fluid to splash just a bit of the robin's breast color onto the card, inside and out.  It helps to unify the design and warm up the colors just a little!

Supplies:
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Thursday, October 1, 2020

Building the Kingdom


Hi everyone!  Welcome back!

Sharon sent some messages to our design team earlier this week and then when I went looking through my supplies for this week's project, inspiration struck!  This Little Lumberjack designer print made me think of Louisiana and all the trees that were blown over during Hurricane Laura, all the chain-sawing going on there during the last month, and how my sweet little home church has been "Ministry Central" for so many people! For the majority of the month, I've seen nearly daily FB live videos of the mayor of Westlake inviting people to Westlake UMC for a free meal, bottled water, supplies, etc. I'm sure that under the circumstances it would be quite easy for them to grow weary, and I thought this scripture from Hebrews was so appropriate!  


The card is an Interlocking Gate Fold card (tutorial here).  Easy and fun with a lot of wow for a little time.  

Tip: I cut the frame and the sentiment panels twice so that the double-thickness would be stronger and hopefully resist bending as the card is opened and closed.


The bow was a last-minute addition.  Here's what it looked like without it.  This simpler version, even with the dimensional adhesives under the sentiment and the tiny heart, would be relatively flat for mailing.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

Fall Tag Trio


It's officially Fall now, and I'm so thankful!  I am really looking forward to temperatures that are cool enough that we can finally be outside sometime other than in the very early morning.  The last few days have been so beautiful!  

Today's Stamp Simply project is a simple, elegant Fall Tag Trio.  I love making projects like this that can be made quickly, assembly-line style.  I made my three exactly the same, but this stamp set has some lovely sentiments so if you wanted to you could easily make them a fraternal set rather than identical triplets.  They'd be so pretty to hang from a basket of fruit or flowers as a gift for a friend.  They'd even make pretty place cards for Thanksgiving dinner.  


This simple print from the Little Fawn and Friends designer paper pad is what inspired the design and color scheme, and it looks so pretty combined with the background colors from the rustic Metal Textures pad.  These were made with a base of 2 1/4 x 6 1/4 to get the most mileage from one sheet of 6 x 6 designer paper (three 2 x 6 strips for the mats, and three 2 x 2 squares for the accent pieces). Very easy to mass produce.  


The metallic print paper gives just a hint of the Fall colors to come...here in Florida, the leaves change much later than they do in colder parts of the country.  The oaks are still green but one can still feel the change in the air and the light is just beginning to take on that magical golden glow.  Hence, the splash of Delicate Golden Glitz to add that little bit of sparkle. 

Supplies:
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Thursday, September 17, 2020

Christmas, From the Cradle to the Cross


Hi everyone!  Today's Stamp Simply project is a simple, sparkly Christmas card that is sort of Florida-ish, but with a deeper meaning.  This palm branches paper brings Palm Sunday to mind as a reminder that His entire story goes From the Cradle to the Cross.  It's so much more meaningful to celebrate Christmas with God's plan of the Cross in mind.  


This is an easy, fairly quick card to make.  There's a bit of slicing and simple scoring, some stamping, and very little coloring (done here with sparkly Wink of Stella markers).  I heat-embossed the ornament just to give it a bit more detail, but with Delicata ink, it really is not necessary.  Splashes of gold Delicata ink diluted with water splattered on with a tiny paintbrush, add even more festive sparkle.  


The inside has a strip of designer paper, a single gold pearl, and a beautiful gold sentiment.  
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Thursday, September 10, 2020

Christmas Peace


Hello friends!  I'm back today with a card featuring another new release, Christmas Peace and Joy from Stamp Simply!  This lovely candle is part of the new set, Christmas Peace.  (Christmas Joy features beautiful ornaments).  


The candle and the dark woodgrain designer paper made me think of an old church, its windows festively adorned with poinsettias glowing in candlelight for Christmas Eve, so I decided to try Beate's "Frosted Window" tutorial.  I used Stamp Simply's fishtail banners die to cut the window's frame and sash, mitering the corners as a real window frame would be, and adding the pretty floral print to give the illusion of wallpaper.  (Maybe next time I'll be even more adventurous and add diagonal panes of "leaded" glass...then the window would really remind me of my childhood church home)!

With this technique, the image is stamped onto card stock and also onto vellum.  I heat-embossed the top layer.  The darker marker colors and the candle's glow are colored on the underneath layer, and the lighter colors are colored on the back side of the vellum which is mounted on dimensional adhesive tape.  I added a bit of both gold and clear Wink of Stella to the right side of the vellum to give subtle shimmer and make things especially festive.  

I love how soft the colors are, and how simple yet elegant the result is with very little effort...using a stamp platform makes it incredibly easy to be sure that everything will be perfectly aligned.  The frost of the vellum camouflages the coloring on the card stock underneath, so it can be done with a little less "finesse" than usual, and since the marker inks sit on top of vellum and won't blend because of the paper finish, this really is a fast and easy technique that softens any struggles with blending that you might experience if you are new to blending with alcohol markers.  


There is a beautiful Christmas sentiment stamped on the inside.

Supplies:
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Thursday, September 3, 2020

Fall Center Step Gift Card


Hello everyone!  I had so much fun last week with Stamp Simply's new wreaths sets that I couldn't resist making another card with them!  

This is a Center Step Gift Card...the center panel is the perfect size for the wreath and the printed paper provides a pretty frame that brings out those lovely Fall colors!  This is also a card that, if one left off the enamel dots, would be flat for mailing, but the interesting fold keeps it far from being boring!  


Here you can see that the wreath and pumpkins were stamped directly onto the center panel in one layer with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, no fussy cutting involved!  You don't even need to make a mask!  I colored the wreath decorations with Copic markers and added a touch of clear Wink of Stella to emphasize the highlights.  


Because Copic markers bleed through, I opted to add another layer of card stock to the inside of the card (to the center panel above the fold) to make the appearance of the opened card a bit neater.

Then, there's a pocket for a gift card.  I love the idea that if (in this 2020 Covid world) my family and friends can't have dinner with me then they can have dinner on me!  

Supplies:
Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Seasonal Wreaths - Fall & Winter
Graphic 45 Fruit & Flora 8x8
Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
Spellbinders Die - Standard Circles Small SM
Spellbinders Die - Standard Circles Large LG
Enamel Dots
Scrapbook Adhesives-3L 3D Self-adhesive Foam Squares - Mix
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Zig Wink of Stella Brush - Clear Glitter Marker
Copic markers

I hope you'll indulge me for just a moment more...it's been almost a week since Hurricane Laura nearly completely decimated my childhood hometown of Westlake (next to Lake Charles), Louisiana. This was the view down Sampson Street the day after the storm, with a huge chlorine leak billowing in the distance.  


Please whisper a prayer for the people of Southwest Louisiana. They are hard-working, resilient people who rebuilt their lives after taking an awful hit from Hurricane Rita in 2005.  To have to go through it...and worse...all over again is really hard.  I've lost count of how many of my friends have lost their homes and their livelihoods.  Thankfully my brother's home did not suffer extensive damage, although he did have many shingles missing and his wood laminate floors were ruined.  He lost most of the trees on his property except for the big, strong Cypress trees, and he's there with limited running water and no electricity trying to get everything cleaned up.  Everyone is pitching in to help each other and make the best of a truly devastating situation.

If you are able, please donate to the relief efforts...it is going to be a long, difficult recovery.  Thank you!

❤️



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Thursday, August 27, 2020

New Release: Seasonal Wreaths!!


I'm so excited to share today's "photo intense" post with you! Stamp Simply has released two brand new stamp sets that include images for wreaths of two different styles, and four seasonal florals to embellish them.  The sets are sold individually or as a bundle.  

The cards I've made are all "Joy Fold" cards, and you can find the tutorial here.  For each card, I cut the smaller folding panel a little taller than the tutorial recommended so that the wreath would fit, and even then I gave it a little squish (thanks, Michelle for this idea!).  The wreath embellishments were stamped on scrap paper, fussy-cut, and added with dimensional adhesives.


I'm starting out with beautiful roses, paired with black and white gingham for a simple, elegant thank you card.


Thanks card supplies:


Next up is a soft floral using some new Craft Consortium papers.  


The shapes and colors of the floral image reflect the shapes and colors of the delicate printed paper underneath.


Hugs card supplies:


Here's a Fall version using gorgeous papers from Graphic 45.  


The pumpkins were colored with soft, nearly monochromatic Copic colors.


Grateful card supplies:


And finally, a grungy Christmas card adorned with a bright red poinsettia.  



Christmas card supplies:
If you have not already visited the Stamp Simply blog this week, you need to!  My design team mates have shared lots of beautiful samples using these new sets!  
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