Tag: tim holtz

Seven Year Blogaversary! And, my end of the year wrap up for 2016!

Hello my dear blogging friends! Today I'm celebrating my SEVEN YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! Wowza! Every year when I do my end-of-the-year wrap up post I can't even believe that another year of fun and creativity has passed! I look forward to writing this post each December, and sharing with you my favorite projects from the past year. (Here's my wrap up from last year) This post helps me reflect on where I've been and think about where I'm going. I like to chronicle stats and numbers once a year too. Having a craft blog is a lot like having a diary and it is so fun to have all my projects in one place to keep track of my creative journey. Thank you so much for being a part of it all. I always go back and re-read my VERY FIRST BLOG POST at this time of year. And I think of how grateful I am to have this place to call my own. This blogging thing has been a true adventure! The very best kind of adventure – fun, exciting, crazy, and restorative. Thank you very much for coming along on this adventure with me. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun without all of you!

Happy New Year 2017! Be sure to check back on New Year's day because It's the Season's Givings Blog Hop day! All of the bloggers in the hop are giving away prizes! This is my third or fourth year??? It is always really fun!

2016 was a very busy and fun year! It was my first complete year as a full time creative professional. I am so proud of myself for making this work. Lots of hustle and hard work has paid off! I'm so grateful for all of the business opportunities that were presented to me this year. I can't wait to see what 2017 brings in that regard. I would say that I am a very lucky person, but I know that it is not luck, but blessings. I am truly blessed. This year brought a lot more personal growth which always comes with a bit of strife. I truly believe that every situation you find yourself in will teach you something. Sometimes it's difficult to learn lessons about yourself…. But, I do believe that trials and tribulations move us forward and bring joy through prayer and time with God. This year I was blessed by some incredible friendships and some cool experiences. My family is doing well and we are happy and healthy. What more can you ask for really?!

My word for 2016 was PEACE. By that I meant inner peace and calm. Being present in all things and with my relationships. Slowing down. Calming down. Surrendering more. I'm happy to report that I am definitely more at peace than I was a year ago! But, I still have far to go on this particular journey! I am, by nature, a worrier. I am also a spazz! Ha. I have definitely calmed down and focused on the things that really matter. I will keep working on this!

My word for 2017 is COFFEE! (Just kidding!) My word for 2017 is BRAVE. Brave enough to be myself without the fear of the judgement of others. How powerful is this concept? I am a work in progress… Free to be my authentic self, the real me. The ability to say how I feel, find my passion, stand up for the things that matter, don't settle, don't apologize…. That, to me, is bravery.

Do you choose focus words or resolutions for the new year? I'd love to hear! Leave me a comment about your hopes for the new year!

Something I love to do here on the blog at the end of the year, is to take a look back on my creative journey from the year before! This annual post is kind of like a cyber scrapbook! Thank you for joining along with me. My blog is my journal and here I keep a record of my statistical progress. So, on that note, here are some fun stats from the year. At the end of 2015… I had written 989 total blog posts, received 17,165 comments, had 372,000 total visitors, 900 email subscribers…and…773,000 total blog hits! I wondered if I might hit one million visitors in 2016? But I just barely missed that goal! At the end of 2016… I have now written 1110 blog posts here (121 this year on my blog plus 80 more on the SSS Blog!), received 26,125 lovely comments, had 504,000 total blog visitors, 1100 email subscribers….and…955,000 total blog hits! I am going to hit that one million mark very soon! We WILL celebrate!

Four years ago, I started a tradition of recapping my favorite projects from the past year. I get so many nice comments about this! Here are my favorites from 2016… There are a lot! So grab a cuppa joe and settle in! I hope you enjoy the look back with me! To see more information about each project, please click on the photos!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate all of you so much, all of your love and kindness and support!

I wish you the very best year ever! Cheers to 2017!

December 29, 2016
Simon Says Stamp Holiday Release Week Blog Hop!

Hi there! Happy Weekend! Welcome to the Holiday Release Week Blog Hop from Simon Says Stamp! There are so many new and fun products that launched this week! So, we had to have a blog hop to share it all with you! The projects on each blog today were made from the three new product lines that came out this week. Yahoo! Lots of creative inspiration for you today. You should have arrived here from Jessica's blog! The full link list of bloggers is at the bottom of my post! Thank you for coming by today – happy to have you here in my creative place!

PRIZE ALERT!!! PRIZE ALERT!!! PRIZE ALERT!!!

Leave a comment on this blog post and you are automatically entered to win a $50 Simon Says Stamp Gift Certificate! Thank you to SSS for their kindness and generosity! I will draw the winner Monday morning (the 21st) at 9am PST and notify the winner via email. GOOD LUCK! Each Blogger is drawing a $50 winner, so make sure to leave comments on every blog for more chances to win! Plus, we just really love hearing from you!

I'm sharing two cards with you today. Both cards were made with the supplies from the Limited Edition Holiday Card Kit (supply links below). I really love the stamp set that comes in the Holiday Kit. It's called Swell Christmas! It has the cutest retro Santa in it! And the best vintage inspired sentiments!! Oh, and I reallllllly love plaid paper! LOL.

All the papers for this card are included in the kit. I started with a pretty red card base and layered kraft cardstock on top. Then I layered the plaid paper and one strip of holly paper. I layered pretty Lawn Fawn Cord to make a pretty red and white bow. The sparkly stickers are part of the kit! I die cut a piece of cream cardstock with the Stitched Squares Dies to stamp on. I stamped in brown ink instead of black. That gives more of a vintage feeling to the project. I colored Santa with my Copic Markers and then gave him a glitter makeover! I used the tiny accent stars stamps in Antique Linen Distress Ink to give a soft background.

These stickers are puffy and delicious!!

A close up of my paper layers….

Next up is my second card, which I made using the enclosed Tim Holtz stencil and the included texture paste! I made a little forest scene and then embellished with more sparkly stickers and the included shimmer paper (in red).

I used the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes and Hills Dies to make the bottom polka dot border for the trees. I edged everything with a sponge dauber and distress inks.

So this got kind of messy!! In the Holiday Card Kit you will receive beautiful green Stickles and two green mini Distress Inks, and texture paste! Yeah! So, I got this crazy idea to mix a bunch of stuff together! I mixed the inks, the Stickles and the texture paste into a pretty green goo. I used this along with the stencil to make my trees! FUN. It was a good experiment! (They don't always turn out good!)

For my last step I used the included red Stickles to add ornaments to the trees!

Okay, that's it for me today! Thank you again for coming by! I just know you are going to enjoy the rest of the hop. Next in the hop lineup is my Simon Says Stamp partner Nina Marie!!

BLOG HOP LINKS! Enjoy the Hop!

Simon Says Stamp

Tim Holtz

Shari Carroll

Kristina Werner

Debby Hughes

Nichol Spohr

Laura Bassen

Yana Smakula

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Wanda Guess

Nina-Marie Trapani

Heather Ruwe

Amy Rysavy

SUPPLY LINKS!

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November 19, 2016
Simon Says Stamp Holiday 2016 Releases! News and Updates!

Hi everyone! Whew! Okay, so I'm trying to keep everything straight this week! I thought I would pop in and do a really quick blog post with news and announcements! There were THREE releases of new (and awesome) things this week from Simon Says Stamp!! Yes, THREE! The December Card Kit launched on Monday. The Advent Plus Release launched on Thursday. And, now the super amazing Limited Edition Holiday 2016 Card Kit is launching tonight! I made cards with everything! Yippeee! Check my last few blog posts for samples and tips and tricks with the two first new items.

Tomorrow (Saturday the 19th) we will be having a Release Week Blog Hop to share inspiration and fun with you! In my blog hop post, I have two cards made with the Holiday Kit. You are totally going to want this kit, trust me!!! I adore the retro Christmas stamp set in it and there are soooooo many products included, I can't list them all! Just a few: stamps, stencils, distress ink pads, Stickles, texture paste, patterned paper, stickers, embossing powder, envelopes..well, you get the idea! I really hope you will stop by starting at 8am EST on Saturday for the hop! Until then, Here are photos of the three new things. These special holiday items tend to sell out quickly so if you're interested, don't wait.

Click on the photos below to see more detailed outlines of the kits and to shop. See you soon! XOXO

"Swell Christmas" Stamp Set

This stamp set is available separately or included in the Holiday Card Kit!

November 17, 2016
Simon Says Stamp – Believe in the Season – Inspiration Blog Hop!

Hi crafty friends! Welcome to the Believe in the Season Blog Hop! We're introducing the new stamps, dies and inks for Holiday 2016 from Simon Says Stamp! Yahooooo! I love new stamps… And I love a good blog hop! Today is sure to be loads of fun. There are many great designers joining me today for this event. I hope you have a great time looking at all the inspiring projects and getting some good ideas for Winter and Christmas creating.

PRIZE INFORMATION! Each stop on the blog hop today is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to one lucky winner! Be sure to leave a comment here on my post for a chance to win the prize. Leave your comment before 7pm EST on Monday October 24th. I will notify my lucky winner via email. Good luck!

There is soooooo much to love in this new release. I literally could not stop making cards! I shared two in my blog post yesterday using the new Poinsettia stamps… And I will share two more cards over the weekend. BUT, if I had to pick a favorite I would pick the Magical Christmas stamps and dies! The images spoke to me right away and ideas popped in my head faster than I could grab an ink pad! LOL. So I hope you enjoy these cards also… They are woodsy, and textured, and vintage inspired! Thank you for visiting my blog today!

I made the first card using the stag head image from the Magical Christmas stamp set. I stamped the stag and the word banner in rich black ink onto kraft cardstock. Then I die cut them out using the matching dies. The black and kraft together is so striking. I went through all my new Christmas paper pads and found the gorgeous floral paper in the Comfort & Joy pad from MME. So, you probably think that pretty red and black check is patterned paper, right? Nope! I made it myself using black ink and red cardstock along with the awesome SSS Gingham Background stamp! LOVE this, because you can make any color gingham your heart desires. I am very partial to red and black buffalo check in the winter time. I used my MISTI tool to get a good impression. I ended up inking it twice to get a good, solid black on the red. After I had my layers ready I had fun embellishing the card with snowflakes, charms, pine twine (from Tim Holtz of course) and a bell. (All supplies are listed at the bottom of my post)

The stag head is attached to the oval using foam squares. This gives the pine twine some wiggle room behind it. The pine twine is wired so it's easy to wrap around and easy to secure. The snowflakes are from one of the new die sets – called Snow Flurries. It doesn't get more Christmas than that!

The images in this stamp set have words inside them – it's so pretty! And the word banner is simply perfect. I will use that on a lot of cards this season – so many colors you could use with that to make it pretty!

To make the next card, I used all the same supplies, but made a simpler version of the first card. I used the other half of my gingham image and combined it with the pretty border image from the stamp set to make a really masculine card. This card makes me want to go back to Alaska! LOL.

Again, I layered on just a few snowflakes and red enamel dots for a pop of white against the darker colors.

THANK YOU for stopping by as part of this fun Blog Hop day! Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win the $25 SSS Gift Certificate! Have a blessed day, and enjoy the rest of the hop. Next up is the lovely and talented Heather Ruwe! Full Hop list is at the very end of this post! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEW RELEASE!

SHOPPING LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS ARE LISTED BELOW!

Thanks for clicking and supporting my business!

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BLOG HOP LINKS LIST! HAVE FUN!

Simon Says Stamp

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Kristina Werner

Jennifer McGuire

Kathy Racoosin

Suzy Plantamura

Nina Marie Trapani

Nichol Spohr

Yana Smakula

Wanda Guess

Heather Ruwe

Kelly Latevola

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Barb Engler

Shari Carroll

Heather Hoffman

October 21, 2016

STAMPtember Collaboration with Tim Holtz! Limited Edition stamp and stencil set!

OH MY GOODNESS! I have been waiting to share this with you! I am VERY excited to announce and introduce this year's Limited Edition Tim Holtz stamp set and stencil for Stamptember 2016! YAY! I was lucky enough to receive this set a few weeks ago, and have made a bunch of projects already. It's awesome! This year, Tim did a full size stamp set AND a stencil that are exclusively available at Simon Says Stamp… And when they're gone, they're gone! Tim Holtz is the master of perfectly retro and nostalgic Christmas and this release is just that. I know you are going to love it too! I have a tag and a card to share with you today.

CLICK here to get yours while they last… Also, Tim released his entire Holiday line of stamps and stencils today. Those are also available in the SSS Store (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE NEW RELEASE). It's never too early to start the Christmas cards, right?

Without further yammering on from me, here are my projects! First up is my card… The plaid on the left side of the card is A STAMP! You can use it to make any color plaid that you might want for your projects! EEP! I am seriously in love with that one stamp… But there is so much more! I used the large text stamp in the shape of a tree for my focal point. I inked directly onto the stamp using Mini Distress Ink Pads and it just came out so nice! Fast and simple too. After I stamped everything I sprinkled clean water over it to make some splotches. I also added some Vintage Photo splatters. I made some pretty Christmas greenery out of a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die and added a pretty brad from last year's collection.

Next is the tag I made, using the gorgeous new stencil! OMG. Can I say that I love how this came out?? I started with a size 8 manila tag. I used a sponge and Distress Inks to stencil the poinsettias directly onto the tag. Once I had all the stenciling done I used my Tim Holtz Sprayer and sprayed a fine mist of clean water onto the tag and let it soak in. This is what gives the stenciling the dreamy soft effect. I went back and splattered brown distress ink and white ink over the stenciling. I kind of wanted it to look like snow! I used the plaid stamp again on the small oval – this time using Antique Linen Distress Ink – so it's soft in the background. I stamped the sentiment using another one of the new stamps. I hand dyed my own crinkle ribbon using Distress Stains and finally ended with a pretty snowflake charm. All my supplies are listed at the bottom of my post.

I added accents to my tag to make it more festive! The number 25 metal charm, some Tissue Tape with music notes and a word sticker.

Here's a close up of my ribbon!

The rays of light coming off the top of the tree – that's a separate stamp! GENIUS!

Some pretty shimmery Stickles on the leaves and parts of the stamping….

This is the complete stamp set and stencil:

SHOPPING LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

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September 9, 2016

Simon Says Stamp Masterpiece Box Blog Hop!

I am SO happy that this blog hop day is here! There has been a lot of work going on to making this a fun event for everyone to enjoy! Many brands from the crafting industry have all come together to create one exciting "Masterpiece' to share with you! Well…The time has come! The full list of all the blog links is at the bottom of my post! SO many fantastic bloggers are participating!

The blog hop today is to celebrate the launch of an awesome LIMITED EDITION collection of products and it's called the Masterpiece Box! The box features 15 products from 10 different manufacturers and it sells for $199.99. This is a savings off the full retail of all the products… However, the box isn't about savings. It's more about about bringing you something super special and exciting. The Masterpiece Box features new releases from many of the industries finest brands! Simon Says Stamp, Tim Holtz, Hero Arts, Altenew, Mama Elephant, Altenew, Clearly Besotted, WPlus9, Reverse Confetti, and Memory Box.

The box contains never before released stamp sets, dies, and ink pads. If you get a Masterpiece Box, you are receiving all of these products before they are released to everyone else. Please note that supplies are LIMITED. Once SSS is sold out of the Masterpiece Box, they will NOT be restocking.

I have three cards to share with you today – made with some of the awesome new stamps and dies from the Masterpiece Box. My cards today feature the products from Altenew, Reverse Confetti and Hero Arts! I shared three other cards yesterday made with products from Simon Says Stamp, Tim Holtz, and Mama Elephant! CLICK HERE to see my other post!

My first card today was made with the lovely new Altenew stamp set called Floral Frame! I chose to use just the leaves from this set because they were so elegant and pretty. I wanted somewhat of a vivid Fall look to my card, so I used my Kuretake Zig Markers in shades of red, yellow and orange.

The first step was to heat emboss with white embossing powder the leaves randomly onto watercolor paper. Then I die cut the panel using the Stitched Rectangles dies from Simon Says Stamp. I had a lot of fun watercoloring with my markers and some clear water. Kept it very loose and free form. After the yellow, orange and red were dry I used a teal color to fill in the spaces. I really love this color combination. Warm, yet still fresh and happy!

I mounted my watercolor layer onto a Fog card base using foam squares. I added a few Droplets from PPP for some sparkle and dimension! (supply links at the end of my post!)

My next card is a baby card featuring the Cute as a Button stamp set and matching onesie die from Reverse Confetti! SO CUTE! One of my go to themes for baby boy cards is to use nautical elements and colors. I love blue, red and kraft together with these adorable sailboats on the paper!

I started with a crisp white card base and layered kraft onto it first. Then I used my patterned papers to create a horizontal point of interest. I stamped and die cut everything and attached it all to my card. Some red and white twine and a few enamel dots finished off the project!

My third card today featured the beautiful Hero Arts Layering Cardinal stamp set! SO perfect for Christmas! The main bird stamp has three different layers and it comes out so beautifully! I used my MISTI to get exact placement and alignment of my stamped layers. I used two shades of red, and then a deep rich black on top. This is quintessentially Christmas!

I used the branches and leaves to create a little place for my cardinal to rest. This is a square card – finished size is 4.5 x 4.5 inches. I used a few enamel dots to mimic holly berries and to add a touch of red to the branches.

So those are my cards for today's blog hop! I'm so glad you came by today! As always, Simon Says Stamp is very generous with prizes for today! Each stop on the hop will give away a $25 gift card to the Simon Says Stamp store. We will draw winners from the comment section on each blog and the winners will be announced Monday afternoon (the 18th) on the SSS Blog! Good Luck!

The next stop on the hop is the super lovely

and talented JANA MILLEN!

*** Note about the Crazy Dogs stamp set: SSS started taking pre-orders for the Tim Holtz Crazy Dog stamps last week. Since this stamp set is included in the box, anyone who purchased the box can cancel their pre-order for the stamp set. The Masterpiece Box is on sale NOW!

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S CARDS:

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FULL BLOG HOP LIST & LINKS!

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Kristina Werner

Laura Bassen

Yana Smakula

Debby Hughes

Nichol Spohr

Yoonsun Hur

Shari Carroll

Amy Rysavy

Virginia Lu

Chari Moss

Kelly Latevola

May Sukyoung Park

Nina Marie Trapani

Heather Ruwe

Kathy Racoosin

Wanda Guess

Jana Millen

Caryn Davies

Barb Engler

Heather Hoffman

July 16, 2016
Simon Says Stamp Masterpiece Box Reveal!

I am SO excited to share what has been going on behind the scenes at Simon Says Stamp the past few months!  Many brands from the crafting industry have all come together to create one exciting "Masterpiece' to share with you! Well…The time has come! Heidi has been working on coordinating this launch all year! We've been teasing you on Facebook and Instagram… But it was worth the wait!

What is going on? It's the launch of an awesome LIMITED EDITION collection of products and it's called the Masterpiece Box! WOOHOO! The box features 15 products from 10 different manufacturers and it sells for $199.99. This is a savings off the full retail of all the products… However, the box isn't about savings. It's more about about bringing you something super special and exciting. The Masterpiece Box features new releases from many of the industries finest brands! Simon Says Stamp, Tim Holtz, Hero Arts, Altenew, Mama Elephant, Altenew, Clearly Besotted, WPlus9, Reverse Confetti, and Memory Box.

The box contains never before released stamp sets, dies, and ink pads. If you get a Masterpiece Box, you are receiving all of these products before they are released to everyone else. Please note that supplies are LIMITED. Once SSS is sold out of the Masterpiece Box, they will NOT be restocking.

I have three cards to share with you today – made with some of the awesome new stamps and dies from the Masterpiece Box! I have more projects to share on Saturday morning when we are doing a HUGE blog hop to share ALL the products! Can you tell I am super excited? LOL!

First up – introducing for the first time Crazy Dogs from Tim Holtz! Yes, he did birds, he did cats…. Now there are dogs! They are so happy and silly looking and I couldn't wait to ink this set up and use some of my favorite Distress Inks to watercolor.

I stamped and watercolored my dog and his tennis balls and then hand cut them out. I made a clean and simple layout with some kraft cardstock and another watercolor panel. I used the Tim Holtz Hashtags stamps – I thought this one was perfect! (supply list below)

I added some linen ribbon ti mimic a leash and a typed token that says "play" of course! I mounted my elements to my card using foam squares for dimension. EEK.

Here are my Distress Ink color choices for this project!

The next card was made using the NEW Exclusive Simon Says Stamp floral set! SOOOO pretty! I used my Kuretake Zig Clean Color Brush Markers to watercolor the flowers in bright tropical colors and then hand cut them. This is a square card and my card base was made from nice gray cardstock to 'ground' all that bright color.

And, lastly for today, NINJAS! Oh my gosh, these are so funny! Mama Elephant does it again with their cute drawings that capture a child like quality. I think I'm going to save this one for a Valentine card! I used a clean color palette of grey, white and pops of red and black.

So! What do you think? Isn't it super cool to be able to get products early? The best of some of our favorite companies all together like this? There is a brand new Simon Says Stamp ink color too – Lemon Zing. It's so refreshing! I've already used it a bunch. Here is an image that shows everything you will receive in your box. Have a great Friday! XOXO

*** Note about the Crazy Dogs stamp set: SSS started taking pre-orders for the Tim Holtz Crazy Dog stamps last week. Since this stamp set is included in the box, anyone who purchased the box can cancel their pre-order for the stamp set. The Masterpiece Box is on sale NOW!



SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

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July 14, 2016
Simon Says Stamp August 2016 Card Kit! Seeing Stars!

It's that time again! Yay! Time to announce and introduce the newest Simon Says Stamp Card Kit! The kit for August 2016 is called Seeing Stars! A beautiful stamp set, pretty ink pads, cool papers and so much more! The theme is red, white and blue and stars. Summer crafts, patriotic crafts, Olympics themed crafts….Nautical…. I could go on and on. Such a fab kit. It's available now in the SSS Store. As always, you can buy just this month's kit or subscribe to get them all sent to your home automatically each month. It's always such a cool surprise every month when that box shows up at my door. I practically rip the box open like a kid on Christmas morning!

I have three totally different cards with three completely different looks to share today – all made with the card kit supplies. CLICK HERE to see and order your own kit!

When I saw the beautiful starry stamp set the first idea that came to my mind was to make a 'galaxy' card with a cool watercolor background! So that's the first card I made to share. I started with watercolor paper and white heat embossed the stars and the constellations in a random pattern. Next I used some vivid colors of distress inks to make my cool background. (colors listed in the supplies list). I found it easiest to start by wetting my paper with water and then slowly adding the different colors. I let the first layer of colors dry and then went back with more black ink to make it a bit darker. This is so fun and free form. I love it. After that part was dry, I used some white mist to add flecks of white to look like more stars.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on crisp black cardstock and die cut a banner shape. I wrapped this part around my 'galaxy' after I trimmed it to size. I adhered it to a bright white card base made from the paper included in the kit.

This next card ended up having sort of a country feel to it because of that pretty floral paper! I love red and blue together with kraft. All of the papers used on this card come with your kit. I layered some of the papers together onto a navy blue card base. Then I stamped my sentiment onto a stitched circle and layered that with a red stitched circle. Two kraft banners complete this look.

For my last card I went WAY patriotic and happy! Some of the included papers are white/white embossed like this star paper. I used the included blue ink pad and a sponge dauber to turn the paper blue! Then I paired it with one of the papers that had red stripes and voila a flag! I layered a piece of vellum that was die cut using the included star die. Here's one of my tricks – I used tiny bits of clear glue to hold the vellum down… And the glue is underneath the sentiment and the gems so you can't see it!

Hope you've enjoyed this little peek into the new card kit! Tomorrow something MAJOR is launching at Simon Says Stamp and I will have all the details right here. And, plan on joining us in a big blog hop on Saturday too! Hope your day is awesome. Thank you for coming by! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

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July 13, 2016

Simon Says Stamp New Release Day – Among The Stars!

I'm soooooooo happy and excited to finally be sharing this new SSS release with you! Today we launch the newest collection of exclusive Simon Says Stamp products – and the collection is called Among The Stars! YAY! Stamps, dies, watercolor cards… and flamingos! For this release, we received our stamps pretty far ahead of time, so I've been keeping this secret for far too long! There are so many wonderful things. I have probably made 10 cards so far, and I'll be sharing them all in the next week or so. Today is release day, and then tomorrow is a big giant fun blog hop with all your favorite designers. I literally can't wait to see what everyone else did with this collection! CLICK HERE TO SHOP ALL THE NEW ITEMS!

I had a really hard time picking which projects to share first, but decided to go with two projects I made with the new Build a Rainbow Die set. It's AWESOME! I used my Distress Inks on both cards and had such a grand time using bright, happy colors. One card is a traditional rainbow… and the other one is a watermelon!! What?? Yep, I turned the rainbow dies into a watermelon! TOO fun, and perfect for summer.

Here's the first card to share today! A beautiful rainbow with some perfect, poofy clouds…. Sigh.

And here's my second card! It's a rainbow turned upside down!

I used the cloudy sky dies from the last SSS collection and the new rainbow die. I cut everything out of watercolor paper. I used Distress Ink Pads and water to loosely paint the rainbow and clouds in pretty colors. I stamped the sentiment in rich black ink once the clouds were dry. The rainbow die set is huge! I didn't even use all of the sections and I got a rainbow big enough to fill an A2 card. My card base is Fog cardstock.

The trick to this watercolor look is to leave some white space unpainted. This is hard for me! You can see in the background I speckled blue ink onto my bottom layer. I added one enamel dot heart to the cloud. Everything is attached with foam squares.

Don't laugh at me, but this watermelon idea came to me while I was sleeping! LOL. That happens to me a lot actually. My brain keeps right on working while I'm resting and I wake up in the morning with crazy card ideas! I used Picked Raspberry and Worn Lipstick Distress inks to make the perfect shade of watermelon pink! For the seeds I used a Black Copic marker after everything was really nice and dry.

LOVING these new stitched banners dies! And I used the cute sentiment from the new Summertime Animals stamp set.

Thank you so much for coming by today! I promise there is a lot more coming! Be sure to visit my blog tomorrow as part of the Simon Says Stamp New Release Blog Hop! See you then! Hope you're having a great week! XOXO

SUPPLIES!*

*All the supplies for today are listed first. Everything after the ink pads is the new release!

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June 15, 2016

Hey – Let’s catch up! Happy June!

Hi friends! Happy June! How are you? Is your Summer off to a fun start? I sure hope it is! We have had a brutal heat wave the past six or seven days with it being at or over 100 degrees every day. Yuck! It's supposed to be a lot nicer next week. Summer just came right in, quick! It's weird, too, because all I have been doing in the studio lately is Christmas stamping! But, let me get to that in a minute. Things are good here in my corner of the world. The hubs and I always celebrate the anniversary of the day we met… Because we went out for over eight years before we finally got married. So June 4th is a big day for us. 23 years!!! We went to the mall and shopped around and then had a really tasty dinner on Saturday. It's nice to acknowledge these things and be grateful for the time we've had together. We try to reminisce and talk about how far we've come. And, I'm really proud of us for making it through life's ups and downs together. He really is my best friend.

I have been SUPER busy in the studio….but yet I haven't been blogging too much. What's up with that?? Well, the reason is – I have been making Christmas projects! Yes, I remember that it's June! In the crazy crafting biz we work way ahead like that. There is also an AWESOME new release coming soon (June 16th) from Simon Says Stamp. So I can't share that stuff either! EEKS. It's killing me! Recently, I also got to work with my friend Brenda to photograph projects for her video for her new Christmas Classics Sizzix collection. I have to keep so many things under wraps right now. But, really, all I want to do is show you guys everything!! Soon enough, I guess. I promise to spill it as soon as I can. There are fun blog hops and things in the works!

Because many of you only follow along with me here on my blog, and maybe not over on the Simon Says Stamp blog, I thought I would share some snippets of projects that I have recently posted there. If you click on the photo, it will link you to my full blog post with more photos, directions and product links. How does that sound? Sorry I don't have something brand new right at the moment!! I need to get myself organized!!

First up is this project made with super amazing Simon Says Stamp supplies and a cool retro color palette!

Next up is a fresh and bright card I made with the new Summer collection from Hero Arts!

And a really happy card I made for my blogging buddies using stamps from Mama Elephant!

Next is a sunshiney yellow card using paper and stamps from My Favorite Things!

And, some happy birdies wishing you a lovely day! (Yes, I'm really into yellow lately!)

Finally, a very personal project made with dies, inks and Ideaology from Tim Holtz product lines!

Remember to click on the photos if you would like to see more of that project! Thank you so much for stopping by today and thanks for being my happy, fun, creative friends! I would love it if you would leave a comment and let me know what you are up to in your studio lately! Have an amazing week! I will see you soon! XOXO

June 5, 2016
A lovely crafty weekend retreat! (And some prizes!)

UPDATED 5/7/16: THE LUCKY WINNER IS TRICIA BARBER! Thank you for all the lovely comments everyone!

Gosh, how is it Wednesday afternoon already? WOWZA! I was in a crafty time warp for a few days and it was wonderful! I spent four days at a lovely craft retreat hosted by my amazing friend Brenda Walton. She invited a few of her crafty friends for a marvelous time in her studio from Friday through Monday. I've never been to a retreat like that before. It was great to be able to slow down and know that we had plenty of time together…. We crafted, stayed up really late, ate great food, laughed, took lots of pictures, went on a road trip, laughed some more, crafted some more… It was really such a nice time. Brenda and her awesome husband are truly gracious hosts. They make you feel so welcome. I am so very grateful to have been invited. I really want to share photos of our time together with you. Each crafty gal brought a project, or projects to share and that was really fun. Somewhere along the way I stopped and thought to myself "how did I get so lucky?" It's now been ten months since Crafting and Blogging became my full time job. I am blessed well beyond what I deserve!

I brought my Idea-ology Charm Bracelet project to share with everyone and they loved it. All the bracelets came out pretty and unique. Tim Holtz supplied the products for us – huge shout out to Tim and Mario for that. And, they sent enough items so that I could share one of the bracelet kits with one of YOU as a prize! (Read to the end of my post to find out more). I'll just start with some photos and share more as I go along….

Sharyn brought Brenda some beautiful Lilacs from Washington – on the plane! The smell was divine…

Here we are so giddy to be at the beginning of our long weekend….waiting for everyone else to arrive. That's me in the back, Sharyn, Brenda and Debi.

This is how I packaged everyone's bracelet project kits. I got the gable boxes at The Container Store and stamped them using stamps from Simon Says Stamp and Concord & 9th. (Links below also) I added a bit of pink confetti in the bottom.

This is what the bracelet kits look like – and what is part of the prize giveaway! YAY!

Here we are making our bracelets. We used alcohol inks to dye the gumdrops gems and the stars, and then glued everything together with Glossy Accents. The charms were attached to the bracelets using Tim Holtz Jump Rings. I bought the chain part at Michael's in the jewelry section. This is a super fun project that doesn't take a lot of time. The links to everything I used are below in case you would like to make one! (Great group project!)

Here is my finished bracelet!

I loooooove this photo of all of our creative hands together!! These hands do a whole lot of crafting!!

Debi hand painted these amazing cookies for all of us! Personalized with our initials! They were very tasty, too….although it was hard to eat these little pieces of art.

The group got a little bigger on Saturday! Brenda, Me, Cathe, Sharyn, Gina, Vicki and Debi. Thanks to Brenda's husband for always taking such nice pictures of us silly girls!

Cathe brought a fantastic project so we could make boxes for our bracelets. We painted boxes and then used vintage stencils and texture paste to make them fancy and beautiful.

Some of Cathe's cool stamps she brought in her bag of tricks!

So, this is what our table looked like at MIDNIGHT as we thought it was a good idea to make pressed flower items! Sharyn brought all of these gorgeous pressed flowers from her garden. She also brought vintage music and book pages to put the flowers on. What a neat idea….ready for framing and so pretty.

My favorite were these pressed dogwood flowers. Sigh.

Then Brenda got out all the fabric, felt, suede, leather, thread…. buttons….and we made softies animals!

Did I mention what a fabulous hostess she is? Well, I'm going to mention it again. Look at this beautiful breakfast. How nice to sit down and eat meals as a group with no hurry or worry. It really hit me that this is something I do way too infrequently.

On Sunday we all piled in the 'party van' and went on a road trip to Port Costa to the Theatre of Dreams and then on to Berkeley. We wanted to take the out of town ladies to some of our favorite places! (See my previous posts on Theatre of Dreams HERE and HERE). It was fun to see these places through new eyes and it was a great day!

Some of Wendy Addison's amazing creations….

Debi, Sharyn and Brenda being adorable!

The hostess with the mostest!! In her lovely studio.

That's all! Somewhere along the way I put my camera down and just had fun! Sorry that some photos are missing of our finished projects! Sometimes I get too carried away! LOL. Debi works for Spellbinders and they were very nice and sent us some tote bags and awesome products. I'm including some of them in the prize package along with the bracelet kit.

In order to be eligible to win the prizes in the photo, please leave a comment on this blog post. Tell me what would be the project you would bring to share at a craft retreat! I think we can all have fun seeing everyone's ideas. Maybe you will be inspired to have your own craft day or weekend! I will draw one lucky winner on Saturday evening and notify you via email.

Thank you for following along with me today. Have an awesome day! XOXO I'll be back here on Sunday as part of a cool blog hop celebrating the birthday of one of my favorite stamp companies! I'll be on the SSS Blog on Sunday too, with a Mother's Day card! See you soon!

May 4, 2016
Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016 – February!

Hey! I'm just getting this post done right in time before the month is over! Whew! It's been a little while since I made a Tim Holtz Tag and this is my first one for 2016! Yipppeee! I loved all the cool techniques in this one and had a fun time making it over at Richele's house one lovely afternoon. I didn't make it a Valentine theme, since Valentine's Day is over, but I used all the fab ideas Tim shared in his post. My favorite thing? Embossing paste with gold embossing!!! Are you kidding me!? Where has this been all my life! Really fabulous and pretty. I am happy I got a tag done and excited to see the one for March!

Speaking of Tim Holtz projects….did you see my Ideaology Charm Bracelet on the Simon Says Stamp Blog yesterday? I totally loved making that too!

Okee dokes, Here is my completed tag….

To see Tim's Tag, and his awesome tutorials, please CLICK HERE. I am not going to go through it all step by step – since he is the master!!! I always learn so much watching his steps… Here is that super beautiful gold embossing over texture paste. I found that it doesn't need tons of heat. Hold your heat tool far away from the image… Also, let your texture paste dry first!

I added Rock Candy Distress Glitter to my heart die cut. I first covered it with TH patterned paper. MMMMMM.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE TIM'S TUTORIAL!

Lots and lots of layers of ink, and embossing, and distressing and all that jazz! The bottom inky layer that is directly on the tag was made using three of the new mini stencils. They are the exact size of a tag. Genius I tell ya.

Of course I dyed my own ribbon….oh how I love to do that! Richele taught me some of her tricks….and now I used Spray Stain instead of ink pads!

Today I am grateful! Have a blessed day my crafty friends! XO

February 28, 2016
Tim Holtz Ideaology Charm Bracelet!

Good morning and happy Saturday! Just a really quick post today – because I'm so excited about this project! How was your week? I hope it was great! The hubs and I got our taxes done yesterday and I breathed a huge sigh of relief….maybe you heard it? LOL. I am always so glad when that is over for the year and that stress is off my shoulders. After our tax appointment, we went and had a very nice celebratory pizza luncheon at this cool, hip place that I've been wanting to try and then we just ran errands. I have been working for a few days on next week's projects – using felt! How fun to be making some crafty things that aren't cards! Flexing my creative muscles in a different way is always awesome. Tomorrow I will be in the studio in front of the TV all day watching Oscar hype! I think it's as intense as the super bowl! I don't really care about the awards show (since I hardly ever have seen the movies) but I love the red carpet chatter! What's on the schedule for your weekend? Whatever it is, I hope you are content and happy in your corner of the globe!

I would love it if you would pop over to the Simon Says Stamp Blog this weekend sometime to check out my charm bracelet project. Like I said, I'm REALLY excited! It's been hard waiting for this post to go live so I could share with everyone! XOXO Here's a sneak peek photo! Full tutorial over at Simon Says Stamp!

February 27, 2016
Color Pop! Candied Apple!

Happy Color Pop Day! I have a super fun Valentine Project to share today with bright red hearts! I am so happy every month when I get to share my Color Pop feature with you! Thanks for being there with me all year as we crafted with the new Distress colors on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Sadly, this is the last new color! I can't believe it's been an entire year and twelve colors already. What a cool project! Today's final installment of Color Pop is live on the SSS Blog right now. There is a lot of news and also some updates on the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Blog and I hope you will pop over there and leave some love.

The last Color Pop post is for the ink color for December, which is Candied Apple! Another pretty shade of red to add to our stash. It's bright, clear, and oh so pretty. It is truly candy apple red! It's perfect for Valentine's Day…and I know I'll be using it for Christmas projects too. Lovely!

You know if it's Simon Says Stamp, then there must be cool prizes…and there are! Leave a comment over on my SSS Blog Post post for some prize swag! Sweet! Big thanks to Heidi and the rest of the crew at SSS for giving away such great prizes!

Here is a very sneaky peek at my project:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PROJECT!

Here is my color swatch for this month. Candied Apple fits right in with all the pretty red tones in the Distress Ink family. It is very vivid and clear. CLICK on the photo below to see all the different mediums it comes in. It's the perfect warm-toned red. OOH LA LA.

In case you didn't see it - CLICK HERE to see last month's project tutorial. It features the gorgeous Lucky Clover Ink. Here is the coffee themed card I made!

Thanks for following along with me on this Color Pop adventure for the new colors of 2015!

Stay tuned, I might just keep it going! Have an awesome day.

Until we meet again – happy crafting!

January 29, 2016
I’m back from CHA! Fun, Memories & Creativity!

Hey everyone! I'm back from CHA! Wow! Can't believe it's been a week since I drove down to LA! That was maybe the fastest week of my life. I told my husband last night that it felt like I got pulled into the CHA tornado, swirled around, and then spit back out! But, oh, what a wonderful thing it was. I am quite sure that I have never laughed that much in one week in my entire life. It's all about memories, friends, fun, and creativity. And this time around, work, too! YAY! So it was raining the day I drove down to Anaheim and the last 50 miles of my trip took over three hours. Can you believe it? The entire I-5 Freeway was FLOODED! Yowza. I made it safe and sound though and checked into my hotel that night. On Thursday I did some sightseeing over at the ocean. I need ocean time, ya know!! Then I met up with Heidi, Stephanie and Sarah from Simon Says Stamp for a yummy dinner! MAN, I love those girls…A LOT.

Friday I helped Brenda set up her Sizzix booth all day. That was the first time I've been in the convention center before the show opened. It was super duper interesting to see behind the scenes of how everything comes together. I'm really happy I had that opportunity. It kind of freaked me out that I was sitting there doing some last minute crafting for the booth….and a tractor went by me in the aisle!! They were putting up the giant overhead signs. Like I said….super interesting. I saw so many of my favorite people setting up, and it was quiet in there too. I worked the show Saturday, Sunday and Monday and drove home on Tuesday. We had some amazing meals together all of us gabbing and getting caught up. I worked with Brenda in her booth on Saturday morning and that was amazing.

This year I was on assignment for Simon Says Stamp and I loved it! I was responsible for taking all the photos for our "LIVE FROM CHA" blog posts all week, and writing some of the posts. I was also doing some Instagram too. We were all there scouting products as well, looking for things we want in the SSS store and things that would be fun for card kits. I loved doing all of those things. There were some late nights and rowdy times with the gang. Seriously, on Sunday I left my hotel room at 8:30 am and got back at 1:00 am!! Brenda was doing crafting in the food court at midnight!! LOL. A bunch of us ended up in someone's room and I looked around at the people there and had a moment. Like, I am sitting here with so many people that I admire. Wow. So much food for my creative soul. My heart is FULL. I got to hug all my crafty pals in person and meet some of them for the first time. When you meet another crafty girl, it's not really like meeting them…more like seeing them again. It's so cool that we are connected like that all over the world. Today it's all about laundry, bills and unpacking (back to reality mode!!)

Some of my favorite products were from Tim Holtz (Ranger, Ideaology and Sizzix), Lawn Fawn, My Mind's Eye, Prima, Simple Stories and Waffle Flower. We R Memory Keepers has a new punch board that makes the entire alphabet! They are so innovative. Lots of companies are getting into the planner biz I noticed. Echo Park as always had some of my favorite paper collections. Little B has new washi tape that has FOXES on it – and I must have it! It's really hard to think of everything right now!

CLICK HERE to see the blog posts from CHA that we posted on Simon Says Stamp Blog (it will be the first four links that come up). CLICK HERE to see my Instagrams from the show! I made a fun little video instead of showing a bunch of photos here on the blog!!! I hope you enjoy it!!!

This slideshow created with Smilebox

I'll be back tomorrow with a card and a super fun and fabulous blog hop! XOXO

January 13, 2016
SIX YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! And my 2015 end of the year wrap-up!

Hello my dear blogging friends! Today I'm celebrating my SIX YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! How much fun is that?! Every year when I do my end-of-the-year wrap up post I can't even believe that another year of fun has gone by! I love doing this each December, and sharing with you my favorite projects from the past year. (Here's my wrap up from last year) This post helps me reflect on where I've been and think about where I'm going. I like to chronicle stats and numbers once a year too. Having a craft blog is a lot like having a diary and it is so fun to have all my projects in one place to keep track of my creative journey. Thank you so much for being a part of it all. I always go back and re-read my VERY FIRST BLOG POST at this time of year. And I think of how grateful I am to have this place to call my own. Blogging has opened so many doors for me and introduced me to so many wonderful people. It's rewarding, meaningful and fun all at the same time. I am so lucky! All of you lift me up and inspire me with your kind words and funny stories and love – so much love. Thank you!!

Later today my Color Pop project for Lucky Clover goes live on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Check back here or over there for the details!

Tomorrow there is a big Simon Says Stamp Valentine Blog Hop for the new You Have My Heart release! LOTS going on!! Next week I'll be leaving for CHA and I'll be sharing on social media all the new goodies for 2016.

Happy New Year – a little early! I have a neat blog post coming up at midnight on New Year's Eve, with prizes, so be sure to check in then! It's the Season's Givings Blog Hop and it's really going to be cool. All of the bloggers in the hop are giving away a prize! I did this last year and it was a blast!

2015 was an interesting year! Wow. The things that happened at the beginning of 2015 seem way more than a year ago. This year was hard…lots of lessons and so much personal growth. Coming at me every day it seemed. Not bad, just hard. You know, like growing pains. I eased into being 50 years old okay (LOL) and now that doesn't seem to be bugging me as much. As many of you know, I left my corporate job of 28 years to become a full time creative professional. That happened in July and my life has been completely different since then. I've learned so much about myself and what is important to me and how to stand on my own. I've learned that I can do things that I would have thought impossible just a short time ago. I've learned more than ever to trust God and take a leap of faith and that things will always be okay. I'm SO GRATEFUL. I can't even put it into words. The opportunities and the kindness shown to me by people this year – gets me teary eyed in the best possible way.

My three words for 2015 were: PLANS (God's plans are bigger than my dreams – proven fact), MINDFULNESS (this message keeps coming to me) and CREATE (Time to grow as an artist in my own style). Boy, were those words right on target. True that God's plans for me were not even a glimmer at the end of last year.

My word for 2016 is PEACE. By that I mean inner peace and calm. Free from noise and clutter and negativity. Space to breathe and relax. Being present in all things and with my relationships. Slowing down. Calming down. Surrendering more. That seems like where I need to be right now.Do you choose focus words or resolutions for the new year? I'd love to hear!

Something I love to do here on the blog at the end of the year, is to take a look back on my creative journey from the year before! This annual post is kind of like a cyber scrapbook! Thank you for joining along with me. My blog is my journal and here I keep a record of my statistical progress. So, on that note, here are some fun stats from the year. At the end of 2014… I had written 855 total blog posts, received 10,365 kind comments, had 259,000 total visitors, 665 email subscribers… and…618,000 total blog hits! At the end of 2015… I have now written 989 total blog posts, received 17,165 comments, had 372,000 total visitors, 900 email subscribers…and…773,000 total blog hits! I wonder if I might hit one million visitors in 2016? That's a huge goal…but maybe!! We will have to think of a celebration if that happens!

Three years ago, I started a tradition of recapping my favorite projects from the past year. I get so many nice comments about this! Here are my favorites from 2015… There are a lot – sorry! It was very hard to pick favorites this year! I hope you enjoy the look back with me!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate all of you so much, all of your love and kindness and support!

I wish you the very best year ever! Cheers to 2016!

December 30, 2015
Color Pop! Lucky Clover!

Happy Color Pop Day! I have a fun coffee card to share today with bright green and rich brown! I am so happy every month when I get to share my Color Pop feature with you! Thanks for being there with me all year as we craft with the new Distress colors on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! There is only one more color after this one (sad face)….. The last color will be Candied Apple.

Today's installment is live on the SSS Blog right now. There is a lot of news and also some updates on the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Blog and I hope you will pop over there and leave some love.

Our newest post is for the ink color for November, which is Lucky Clover! Another beautiful shade of green to add to our stash. It's bright, clear, and oh so pretty. It reminds me of emeralds!

You know if it's Simon Says Stamp, then there must be cool prizes…and there are! Leave a comment over on my SSS Blog Post post for some prize swag! Sweet! Big thanks to Heidi and the rest of the crew at SSS for giving away such great prizes all the time. Right!?

Here is a very sneaky peek at my project:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PROJECT!

Here is my color swatch for this month. Lucky Clover fits right in with all the pretty green tones in the Distress Ink family. It is very vivid and clear. CLICK on the photo below to see all the different mediums it comes in.

In case you didn't see it - CLICK HERE to see last month's project tutorial. It features the gorgeous Carved Pumpkin Ink. Here are the Thanksgiving place cards I made!

Next month's color is Candied Apple. I'm still waiting for it to arrive at my house! I think I'll have to make something Valentine-y! Thanks for following along with me on this Color Pop adventure! Have an awesome day. Until we meet again – happy crafting!

December 30, 2015
A bright and colorful Birthday card in the middle of Christmas crafting!

Hey everyone! I've been going a hundred miles an hour non stop the past few days! I stayed up until midnight the other night addressing Christmas cards — and only got about half of them done! YEEKS! I'm still waiting for some online orders to come in so I can wrap gifts and get those in the mail too. Yesterday was my hubs' birthday and he chose for his birthday activity a trip to the San Francisco Zoo! So we had a really nice day outside all day in the fresh air. The zoo was deserted so it was like it was open just for us! CLICK HERE if you would like to see some of my photos from the Zoo! Today we are heading out to one of the little mountain towns near our house – they have a real old fashioned Santa Parade every year and we are going to see that and get some more holiday spirit! I hope you have a really fun weekend planned!

Today it's another edition of Weekender with Wanda on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Here's a sneak peek of my project. CLICK HERE to go over and see my tutorial for making watercolor roses with the new dies from SSS. I hope you like it! (Also leave a comment for a chance to win a prize!)

December 12, 2015
Happy December – Mad about Plaid!

Happy December! OMG how did that happen?! The year is practically over…we are on the slide now… Christmas is coming! There is so much to love about the holidays – and crafting is so much fun this time of year. I love vintage inspired Christmas items, and the look of 50's and 60's Christmas things especially. I am also totally obsessed with plaid right now. I have a few plaid scarves, a plaid vest, a plaid tote bag….and now I've gone and made a plaid card! Yay! Mad about Plaid!

I sat down to craft last week to make my Flip Frame project for the Simon Says Stamp Blog, (I hope you will check it out!) and I had all my Tim Holtz Christmas stuff laid out on my desk… Well, then the idea for this card came to me! I really like how it came out. I wish I had thought to make about a dozen more to have on hand. I'm thinking it might look pretty with a bright cobalt blue or kelly green background too… Hmmmmm…

To make my red and black plaid background I simply too bright red card stock and stamped the plaid background stamp in crisp deep black ink! BAM! That's all there was to it! I LOOOOVE this so much! Next I took some silver glitter paper and adhered it to some chipboard to make it thicker. I ran that through my Big Shot and cut out the pretty Noel word with the Vintage Noel Die. Next I took some green Core-dinations Kraft Core cardstock and cut out the pine leaves with the Holiday Greens Die. I gently sanded the edges to let the kraft paper show through. Lastly, I added a few enamel dots and some black and white twine to finish it!

This might be one of my favorite Christmas cards I've ever made…and it's not complicated!

The pine leaves are glued right to the paper. The Noel die is raised up with some foam tape for some dimension. I added a small border of black cardstock to ground all that red. Just the right amount of sparkle. This would be a great masculine card too!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Holidays! Happy Christmas! Happy December! Hope you are having fun and out doing whatever makes you happy this time of year. You guys are a blessing to me and I'm glad to be sharing another holiday season with you! Take care until we meet again! XOXO

z.com

December 1, 2015
This & That!

Hi everyone! I'll be back with a card tomorrow! I just have a couple of quick things to share today…. My Brenda Walton Shadow Box Die winner is Paulette S!! Yay! Congratulations Paulette. I've already emailed you, so get back to me with your address right away! Thank you to everyone who left a comment on my post – with all of your awesome ideas. I love hearing your ideas – you inspire me!

I have a really cool project posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog today. It is maybe one of my favorite things I have ever made! It was such a creative good time! Please pop over to the SSS post and take a look. As always, leave a comment there for a chance to win a grab bag prize package. Here is just a tiny sneak peek!

Take care and happy Monday! Hope you have a great week!

See ya tomorrow!

November 30, 2015