Simon says... Christmas/Happy Holiday

Hiya, friends! Are you ready? :)

This week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is Christmas/Happy Holiday. Perfect timing, as I bet many are already working on their seasonal cards, yes?  :)

Here's mine:

This Hero Arts POINSETTIA image is one of my all-time favorites. It's perfect! I stamped it with RED ROYAL ink, fussy cut it out, and added some STARDUST glitter to the center with Glossy Accents. The background is an image from the Hero Arts POINSETTIA & BERRIES set, stamped with Hero's white dye ink for a subtle look. The sentiment is also from Hero's MIRACLE OF THE HOLIDAY clear set stamped with CUP O' JOE ink... even the card base is GRENADINE Layering Paper! :)

Now it's your turn... upload your holiday project HERE by 8am EDT next Wednesday (the 23rd), and you'll have a chance to win a very generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

Only five entries per person, and only new creations accepted.. no backlinking, please. :) Be sure to head HERE to see the creations from the rest of the DT, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by today... see you soon! xx

simon says... anything goes

Hello, again.. are you ready? :)

There's a new challenge over at the Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week's theme is Anything Goes. And the team all used Art Impressions on our projects. They have some really fun images.. will definitely bring a smile to you and your recipient's faces! If you have Art Impressions in your stash, use it along with us! But if not, no big twig.. it's not a requirement. :)

Here's my card:

See what I mean? How adorable is that?! I busted out the trusty PRISMACOLOR pencils with which to color this sweet SANTA & PENGUINS image. I know my coloring isn't the best - not my thing usually.. but it's good to be challenged, and I'm happy with how it came out. :) The sentiment is from THIS Hero Arts set, and it's on a panel that's been embossed with the Cuttlebug SWISS DOTS embossing folder to mimic snow. And I know I've been using this color combo a lot lately.. I just love it, though. ♥

Alrighty, it's your turn! Upload your project HERE before 8am EDT next Wednesday (the 2nd), and you'll be included in the random drawing for that amazing gift voucher to use at Simon Says Stamp!

Not only that, but Art Impressions is also sponsoring our challenge this week by offering up this FAB selection of products for one lucky winner, valued at over $100!

So there's TWO ways to win this week! And that's not all... swing by their Facebook page HERE, "like" their page, and leave a comment on their Facebook wall telling them 'Simon Says Stamp sent ya' and you'll be entered into a completely separate contest to win a selection of Art Impressions holiday stamps! WOW...

Lookie! You could win my Santa & Penguins stamp! :D Click the photo above, or click HERE to be taken to the Art Impression's Facebook page. This contest also ends at the same time as the weekly challenge ends, so don't wait! :)

Lastly, don't forget to stop by the challenge blog HERE to see what my amazing teammates did using their Art Impressions stamps...SO much fun. 

Whew! Thanks for reading today. See you sooner than soon! ;)

simon says... it's the kids' summer vacation challenge :)

Hello again! I have a special post for you today...

..time for the little ones to take a break inside from the summer heat and get crafty! The theme is Anything Goes, with the option of ICE - ice cream, ice skating, snow, etc.

Entrants must be between 2 and 16 years old, and are allowed to enter as many times as they like! We will have 3 FABULOUS prizes for 3 randomly-drawn entrants: they could win a Simon's Grab Bag, full of crafty goodies... YAY! :)

My little Emmy was excited to play along... inspired by the ICE theme, she made this card:

It's an adorable image from Stamps Happen. After stamping, she colored with colored pencils. :) Blue is her favorite color, and it definitely contributes to the frosty feel! And the clean and simple design...*swoon* she's a girl after my own heart. :)

Alrighty, kids.. it's your turn! Head on over HERE to upload your project. You have until the end of the month (August 31st) 11:55pm EST US to join in.

Can't wait to see what every one makes! Have a great day!

simon says... anything goes!

Hi, sweet friends! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! Once again, I am blown away by how blessed we are. Was a truly wonderful day...:)

It's Wednesday once again, time for another challenge over at Simon Says Stamp!

And as always, there's a generous gift voucher up for grabs, just for playing along!

And the theme this week is Anything Goes! Always a favorite. :) This week, some of the DT members used Hemptique Twines.. a fabulous quality product! If you have any Hemptique in your stash, we'd LOVE to see it used.. but if not, no worries.. it's not required. :) And now, on to my card!

The DT members were each assigned another member to send a gift, and I got the ever sweet Lin. I know she's a flower addict, like me, :) so I knew I had to make her Christmas card with a poinsettia on it. THIS ONE from Hero Arts is perfect! I used the Hemptique twine found HERE to make a button/bow embellishment. Don't you love that button?! It's from Hero Arts, and it's actually clear. I brushed some Glossy Accents on one side, dipped it in Glitter Ritz Startdust glitter (also used on THIS card), and then applied a generous coat of the Glossy Accents on top to seal the glitter in. I LOVE how it came out! How about a close up? :)

The Glossy Accents gives the button a nice, smooth finish (like it was manufactured that way), while also giving the glitter depth. The Stardust has such a 'tarnished silver' hue to it.. it really pairs well with the kraft card stock! Which leads me to the wrapping for Lin's gifts:

I wanted the card and the wrapping to coordinate, so I simply used kraft package-mailing paper, and stamped the same poinsettia image all over, with the same Red Royal ink (also Hero). I added some white snowflakes from THIS SSS Exclusive set here-n-there to fill in, and tied it all up with more twine. :) The tag is another stamped/fussy cut poinsettia, with a little Glitter Ritz in the middle. I had as much fun making the wrapping as I did the card! I hope Lin enjoyed her gift/s inside. Much love to you, Lin! :)

And now it's your turn.. upload your "Anything Goes" project HERE, before 8am EST US time next Wednesday(the 2nd), and you could win that amazing voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

And don't forget to go HERE to see what the rest of the DT has made... STUNNING holiday creations! 

Thank you for stopping by today, and for your sweet comments.. they always make my day! Inky hugs to you, and I'll see you soon! :)

simon says... merry christmas!

Hi, friends! Time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog!

As always, a $50 gift voucher to spend in-store is just waiting for a randomly-drawn participant of the challenge... which could be YOU!

This week's theme is "Merry Christmas", and the team featured Simon Says Stamp exclusives on our projects. If you have any of the Simon Says stamps or dies, we'd LOVE to see them used! But if not, it's OK, since it's not a mandatory part of the challenge. :) Anyway, on to my card!

 

Here I used the SSS exclusive Holiday Labels stamp set. It has some awesome labels/frames with coordinating sentiments that fit perfectly inside. I'm not big into the hexagon trend (I'm not really a trend-watcher/follower anyway), but I must admit that this hexagon image with the snowflake inside is very pretty! I used a white gel pen to trace over the faux stitching to help tie in the white. Hero's black gemstones help tie in the black. :) I don't have the dies that coordinate with this set yet, but I've been good, so maybe Santa will bring them for me.....!! :D

 

Your turn! Upload your project HERE by 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 26th), and that generous gift voucher could be yours! Don't forget to stop by the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog HERE to see all of the other merry projects my teammies made... beautiful Christmas inspiration! :)

 

I wish you and you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for reading... see you soon! ♥

 

 

simon says... what's your favorite?

Hiya, peeps! Ready for Christmas yet? I am most definitely NOT. LOL Really, really behind this year. So I should just skip the mumbo-jumbo and get right to the post, then, ha!

Time for a new challenge at Simon Says Stamp! :D

And as always, your entry into the challenge could win you a generous gift voucher to spend at the store, courtesy of the wonderful Heidi, and everyone at Simon!

This week's challenge is "What's your favorite..?" and that "fave" could be a stamp, a tool, a product... whatever! Here's my card with many of my faves:

My favorite style is CAS, my favorite white card stock for card CAS card bases is Hero's Snow Layering Papers, one of my favorite stamp lines is Hero Arts, and one of my favorite tools is my Milwaukee heat tool. Oh, and the bling! Bling is ABSOLUTELY a fave! ;)

Anyway, this stamp may be from last year, but it's one of my favorites come holiday time because it's such a simple yet striking image. Being a large reverse silhouette image makes for quick & easy mass production cards with just some one-pass stamping covering a lot of card front real estate. Or, if you've got the time, the reverse silhouette images are also perfect for technique-driven cards... gradient inking/stamping, emboss resist, etc. Here, I just simply embossed the image with silver EP. It was hard to get a good picture, because the large amount of EP wanted to reflect my lamps like a mirror. LOL Anyway, it's super simple, but very dramatic and shiny in real life. :)

Didn't I say enough chit-chat? ;) Your turn! Make a project using something that is a favorite of yours, upload it HERE before 8am EST USA next Wednesday (the 19th), and you could win that $50 gift voucher I mentioned earlier! And of course, head HERE to see what the rest of my fabulous teammates have made for this challenge... so fun to see everyone's "favorites". :)

Until next time, thank you for reading and for your lovely comments that always mean so much. See you soon! xx

simon says... snowflakes

Hi, friends! Back again this week with another Simon Says Stamp challenge card!

Hope you're able to play along with us this week... you could win a generous gift voucher to spend in the Simon Says Stamp store! :D

And the challenge this week is... snowflakes! I LOVE snowflakes! Paper, stamps, dies... I've built quite the collection over the years, hee! ;) The featured product line the team used this week is Glitter Ritz, which is an AH-MAZING glitter! Really, really super fine - the finest I've ever used. And just stunning! So, if you have any Glitter Ritz products, let's see it! But of course it's not mandatory for entering the challenge. Anyway, my card for this challenge features the Let It Snowflake die set from My Favorite Things, and Glitter Ritz's Stardust Opaque glitter:

I'm sorry it's not the best photo... I had a lot of trouble with my lighting for some reason. Plus, this is one of those, "it looks better in person" kind of cards. LOL Glitter is just so tricky to photograph! Anyway, I used the largest die in the set to cut out the accent snowflake, covered it with two-way glue, and then applied the glitter, which is a lovely silver shade - almost antiqued looking! The medium and small snowflake dies were used to deboss along the card front. Then I used my Sakura Quickie glue pen to trace along the debossed "channels" of the smallest snowflake, and added more glitter. I love the way it all sparkles! And the Wet Cement shadow ink by Hero Arts is the perfect shade of to compliment the Stardust. :)

Alright, that's it from me... now it's your turn! Upload your snowflake project HERE by 8am EST US Wednesday morning (the 12th), and that $50 gift voucher could be yours! An don't forget to click HERE to see what my fellow teammies made... beautiful projects! :)

 

 

Thanks for reading today, and for your wonderful comments... can't tell you how grateful I am for that! Hope you have a great week, and see you soon. ♥

simon says... Dawny's sketch

Hi, friends! It's been a while! I had to take a week off due to a trip the kids and I took to surprise my mom for her birthday (hubby had to stay behind and work) . My siblings and I had been planning the get-together for months. Even though the trip was a little stressful (never driven that far without hubby before), it was great to spend time with family that I hadn't seen in the few years since moving out east.

But I'm back! And it's time once again for a new challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog! :D

As always, there's a generous gift voucher to the store that's up for grabs...

...and here's the challenge: a sketch! Provided by the lovely Dawny. :)

This week, the team is also using stamps from Stamps Happen, which has some really adorable holiday images in stock right now! So if you have any Stamps Happen, we'd love to see them used, but it's not mandatory, of course. :) Anyway, on to my card.....

Sketches with a lot of layers are always a huge challenge for me, as I'm much more of a simple card maker. However, it's good to push yourself now and then, step out of the ol' comfort zone. :) I really wanted to stick tightly to the layout, but yet still maintain a somewhat simple feel. I hope I succeeded! :) That snowman is super cute, don't you think? I wanted to do something a little different with this type of "framed" image, so I stamped it, colored it, and fussy cut it out at the top and bottom (sides were left somewhat intact in order to stick to the sketch). Then, I also cut out the inside of the "frame" of the image (around the snowman) with my craft knife. I cut out the "snowflakes", too, and added pop dots to everything... snowman panel and "snowflakes". Here's a closer look... hope it helps makes sense:

Can you see the shadows? The top part of the frame did end up being very delicate, as it's only about 1/16th of an inch wide in some parts. But strategically-placed, cut-up pop dots helped to stabilize it pretty well. I'm pleased with how it came out... kind of a 3-D, window look.

Anyway, now it's time for you to get creating! :) Link up your project using Dawny's sketch HERE by 8am EDT next Wednesday (the 28th), and you could win that gift voucher to spend at the Simon Says Stamp superstore!

And don't forget to see what my fellow teammies made! Just click HERE!

Thanks for reading today. :) To my American friends, I hope you and your families have a Happy Thanksgiving! See you all soon. ♥

hero arts loves lawn fawn!

Hiya, peeps! I suppose by now you've heard about the week-long "Hero Arts ♥s Lawn Fawn" par-tay over at A Blog Named Hero..... :)

SUCH amazing stuff so far.. WOW! Lawn Fawn + Hero Arts = a match made in stampin' heaven, and the cards the team has made so far are nothing short of divine! You can click HERE, HERE, and HERE in case you haven't seen what they've done so far this week. Make sure you comment on each day's post, as I hear there just might be some prizes... *ahem* ;)

Anyhoo, here's my humble offering:

I LOVE the 'Making Frosty Friends' stamp set. It has a bunch of different accessories, which means that you can really mix it up, creating dozens of completely different snowmen! Makes the set a great value. I thought the fun sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Miracle of the Holiday' would compliment the whimsical images well, and I heat embossed it for a bit more definition. It's difficult to see in the photo, but the card base was stamped with Hero's 'Cling Dots' background and white dye ink, to play off the polka dotted sentiment and add to the 'snowing' feel. I was also really pleased at how well the colors of the patterned paper from the Dewey Decimal 6x6 pad (hat band and scarf) matched the colors of Hero Arts' layering papers. And of course... can't have snow without a little glitter! Some Crystal Stickles line the snow banks off in the horizon. :)

A bit of news... this card is kind of special, as it marks the end of my DT responsibilities for A Blog Named Hero. I have loved every minute working with that incredible team, and wish all of the ladies there the absolute best. It was an honor... THANK YOU, ALL! xxoo

And thank you for reading today. :) I hope you're enjoying the Hero Arts/Lawn Fawn collaboration so far... be sure to check A Blog Named Hero again tomorrow for the final round! See you soon!


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