simon says... anything goes!

Thaaaat's right Are you ready to play along? :)

This week's theme is the popular Anything Goes! And the team all used The Greeting Farm products on our creations. If you have any Greeting Farm goodies in your stash, we'd love for you to show us! But it's not a requirement of the challenge.

Anyway, here's my card:

I used the sweet Mini Flutters set, which also includes a die to match, making it a great value! I simply diecut a few butterflies from scrap paper to use as masks, and sponged Distress Inks on to my panel (Spun Sugar and Frayed Burlap). I then removed the masks, and used the stamps in the set to stamp the butterfly images in a fun, random collage style (same inks above, but added Gathered Twigs and Worn Lipstick), overlapping some of the masked areas. A little bit of flicking with some ink and an old toothbrush and some pearls add texture, while the sentiment is this one from My Favorite Things.

Alrighty - your turn! Upload your project HERE before 8am EDT Wednesday September 4th, and you'll be included in the random drawing to possibly win a very generous gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store, provided by the ever-generous Heidi and the gang. :)

That's it from me today... be back soon with something from Simon's September '13 card kit! And who could forget about STAMPtember®... it's just a few days away! ;)  xx

simon says... by the sea

Hi, friends! Time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog! PLEASE NOTE: the challenge blog now has a new name, new look, AND a new home...

may I introduce, 

the NEW Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

You can click either the badge or my link above to get to the new blog. Please be sure to update your bookmarks and blog readers! Email subscribers, your addresses have been saved and transferred over, so you're already good to go. Go check it out! We love our new home, and we know you will, too.  :)

And now, back to the challenge!

This week's theme is the trendy By The Sea. Anything nautical! Here's a lovely inspiration board provided by the ever-fab Joy Taylor to help get those creative juices flowin':

The DT all used products from Fancy Pants on our creations, so if you have any Fancy Pants in your stash, we'd sure love to see you use it, too! But of course, it's not required to be able to participate in the challenge. Anyway, here's my card:

I used the adorable DOWN BY THE SHORE 6x6 paper pad. All of the papers you see here - with the exception of the white card stock - are from that pad. Such perfect colors and cute patterns! The sentiment is from these Kelly Purkey alphabet stickers RIGHT HERE, and though I very rarely use it, this card definitely warranted a bit of twine... THIS ONE would be fab for those nautical-themed cards! :)

So now it's your turn... upload your By The Sea creations to the NEW challenge blog, found RIGHT HERE. As always, please have your project uploaded no later than 8am EST US so you can be eligible for the random gift voucher drawing!

And please stop by the new blog HERE to see what my fellow teamies have done for this challenge, and leave them some love as well. :) xo

That's it for me today. Thank you so much for your supportive comments regarding my mom. They are appreciated more than you know. ♥ See you soon... :)

simon says... pin it

Hello, friends! It's been a while. :) I've had a lot of major 'life' things going on lately and just needed a bit of a break. But more on that later. It's time for another Simon Says Stamp challenge! :D

This week's challenge: Pin It! Use pins, clips, anything of that nature. Here's my card...

I used a Basic Grey 'Wander' clip along with some of the 'Serenade' 6x6 paper. The sentiment is from the Kelly Purkey 'Dude' stamp set seen HERE... isn't it perfect?!

Hope you can play along! Remember, your participation could randomly win you a very generous gift voucher to spend at Simon...

..who doesn't love to shop? ;) And please stop by HERE to see what my lovely teammates did for this challenge. Amazing as always! ♥

One last thing... if you're so inclined, my family and I would appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts at this time. A few weeks ago, my mom was suddenly diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. She's had resection surgery, but developed a major infection at the incision site which is preventing them from starting chemotherapy just yet. It's been tough...

Anyway, thank you for reading today, and for your lovely comments and support. Many hugs! :) See you soon...

cards for maddy

Hi, friends! I'm posting today to tell you about a card drive going on  for a wonderful young lady battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia named Maddy...

You may remember that Simon originally held a card drive for her last summer as a way to encourage her through her grueling treatment. Well, Maddy needs our support once again. You can read all about her current battle HERE.

And this is my card for her. I stamped the new Hero Arts PAINTED FLOWER on to my card stock, and then stamped it again on to a scrap and just cut out the bloom.. which is up on pop dots. I should've taken a photo so you could see the dimension. :) Anyway, I love THIS sentiment from Hero Arts as well, and thought it would be perfect. It's normally all on one line, but through the magic of masking, I broke it up into three lines to fit my design. I hope this encourages her..... :)

And I'm hoping you'll send cards, too! You can find all the info about the card drive and how your participation could randomly win you a HUUUGE gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store right RIGHT HERE...

..there's no limit to the number of times you can enter, because we REALLY want to flood this girl with all the love and and encouragement we can! I do hope you'll participate... this sweet girl needs all the support she can get. :)

Thanks for reading today... hug your loved ones. xo

simon says... happy mail!

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

The theme this week is  Happy Mail, and the product line we on the DT worked with is TECHNIQUE TUESDAY. If you have any of their fabulous stamps in your stash, we'd love to see them used! But if not, no worries.. it's not mandatory to enter the challenge. :)

My card features images from the Ali Edwards SIMPLY YOU stamp set. First, I just adhered strips of colored card stock in rainbow order (because to me, rainbows are happy, and this is supposed to be happy mail, :) right?) and then heat embossed the sentiment over the top of them. Great way to use up those scraps! The flower is also from the set, and I used ENAMEL DOTS for their centers. Easy peasy!

So now it's your turn! Create your "Happy Mail" project and upload it HERE by 8am EST US next Wednesday, May 8th, and you'll be in the random drawing for a generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

 

And don't forget to go HERE to see what my wonderful teamies did for this challenge... sure to make your day a happy one! :)

 

 

Thank you for reading today. See you very soon with those cards from the Simon Says Stamp April 2013 card kit! I wanted to get some done this last weekend, but ended up spending my time nursing a major toothache on top of a sinus infection (complete with fever and body aches) instead. So NOT a party... UGH. Ended up having a root canal on Monday, and it's been a slower recovery than expected. But I'm on those wonderful antibiotics and pain meds now, ;) so I hope to have something up very shortly! Thanks for hangin' with me. :)

 

Have a great day!

simon says... anything goes!

Hello hello, stampy peeps! Back with another card for the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog!

Make sure you can play along, because if you do, you could win a very generous gift voucher to spend in the Simon Says Stamp store!

This week's theme is Anything Goes! And the product lines my teamies and I worked with are Avery Elle and Mama Elephant. That's right - not one, but two product lines to choose from this week! :D If YOU have any Avery Elle or Mama Elephant in your stash, pull it out and show us.. we'd love to see it used! But if not, it's ok, because you can still enter the challenge anyway. Isn't that Heidi AWESOME?! :)

So, on to my card:

I used the Avery Elle BRIGHT DAYS set, but wanted to use the 'ray' images in a way other than sun rays to show the set's versatility. :) I was originally going to make flowers out of them... after stamping the rays with Hero Arts SOFT POOL in a circular pattern, I had planned to diecut them with the points in the centers. But I decided to go a funky route instead, and diecut them with the centers off-set. I used my all-time favorite Lifestyle Crafts nesting NESTING CIRCLES set, which is an incredible value for 21 dies! My second favorite is their NESTING SQUARES. :) Anyway, the sentiment and a few arrow images stamped in BLACK ink finish it off. Everything is up on popdots and mounted on to a Hero Arts POOL note card.

So... ready, set, GO! Create your project - anything goes - and upload it HERE before 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 3rd), and you could win that amazing voucher to buy yourself some crafty goodies! :D And be sure to head on over HERE to see what my amazing teammates did for this challenge... WOWZA!

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you have a great week! :)

simon says... easter/spring!

Howdy, friends! Once again, it's challenge time over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog! :)

Play along with us, and you could randomly win a very generous gift voucher to spend in the Simon Says Stamp superstore... YAY!

This week's theme is Easter and Spring. And this week's product line highlight is Memory Box. Love, LOVE Memory Box! If you have any of their products in your stash, we'd love to see you use it, too! But if not, no worries.. you can still play along. :)

And now for my card...

 

I have to say... I LOVE how this came out! I had this idea in my head for almost two days before I was able to finally get in my craft room, and I'm SO glad I was able to execute it exactly how I saw it in my mind's eye! :D For the background, I used Gathered Twigs Distress Ink... smeared the inkpad on to my Ranger craft sheet, gave it a spritz of water, and then using an old toothbrush, picked up some of the solution and flicked it on to my Hero Arts Shallows card stock. I was going for a speckled, robin's egg look... what do you think? :) The bird is the Nesteled Bird die, and the nest is actually the Grapevine Wreath! I just cut it apart in a few places and layered the pieces! The sentiment is an oldie-but-goodie from Hero Arts All Occasion Messages. This set has a permanent spot on my desk... so versatile.

The card was obviously inspired by the birds that lay their eggs in the spring. I live in a very rural area with a lot of trees and dozens of bird species, so we always have a handful of nests on/around our property. Just the other day, I saw a House Finch couple, scoping out an old Barn Swallow nest from last year on my back porch. Nest building/poaching goes on for a week or two and is always the first sign that spring is definitely on the way. Well, that and the allergies, LOL. Boo on that. But I do love the birds. :) 

So now it's your turn! Create your spring-y/Easter-themed project, and upload it HERE by 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 27th). You could win that awesome gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp! :)

And please be sure to go HERE to see what my amazing teammates did for this challenge... seriously inspiring!

That's all from me today... thanks for reading. See you soon!

simon says... choose a sketch!

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

This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. Always fun, seeing as how there are many many different ways to interpret them. Here are the choices:

Sketch #1

 

Sketch #2

And as for product, the team used Art Impressions. If YOU have any stamps from this line, we'd love to see them used... but it's not mandatory for participation in the challenge. :) Anyway, I used sketch #1, and a fun sentiment from the Art Impressions line, and here's what I came up with:

Both sketches were a challenge for me because of the layers. I ended up going with sketch #1, and obviously my design is a verrrry loose interpretation. ;) I used this fun (and very true!) sentiment stamp found HERE. I also used EGGSHELL and SHALLOWS Layering Papers from Hero Arts, and patterned paper from Basic Grey's  PB & J 6x6 paper pad. The cup was made entirely from my nesting circle dies and a couple of punches! I didn't think about it until just now, but I forgot to photograph the inside, where I included a gift card to your local coffee shop... just in case anyone was wondering about the actual purpose of the card. Hee! ;)

Alrighty, it's your turn! Use one of the sketches above to inspire your creation (please include in your post which sketch you were inspired by), and link your project HERE before 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 20th). You could randomly win a generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

And by all means, please go HERE to see what my fellow teamies have made for this challenge! :)

See you soon!

simon says... bit o' green

Good morning, friends! Are you ready for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog? :)

This week's theme is A Bit o' Green. Hey, that kinda rhymes! :D Anyway, just use green some where on your project... easy peasy. The DT also featured Wplus9 products on our creations, so if you have any Wplus9, please use it, too! But if not, you can still play along with the challenge. Yay!

And now, for my card:

Can you tell where I used green? :) Kinda funky with a green woodgrain. I also used the fabulous Love Birds stamps (seen HERE) and dies (seen HERE). These images stamp perfectly, and the dies cut like buttah. There's no die for the branch I used, I just fussy cut that to match the bird. I then mounted them both with pop dots on to my card base strategically over the window in the card front. I say "strategically" because the branch is hiding a little something...

..that's why I didn't put the sentiment on the card front, which is unusual for me. But I like the way it looks. :)

And now it's your turn! Create your project using a bit o' green, and upload it HERE by 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 13th), and you might be the randomly-drawn winner of a generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

And please be sure to go HERE to see what the rest of the team did with the bit o' green theme using Wplus9 goodies! :)

Thank you very much for reading and for your generous comments. More soon!

simon says... anything goes!

Good morning, friends! It's Simon Says Stamp challenge time! :)

The theme this week? Anything Goes! Always a big hit. :) As well, the DT used Tim Holtz goodies on our creations. So if you have any Tim Holtz products (who doesn't?!), then please show us - we'd love to see you use them, too! But if not, it's aaallllll right... you can still participate in the challenge! :)

Anyway, on to my card:

I used some of my favorite Distress Ink colors (Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, and Peeled  Paint), and randomly smooshed (totally a word) the ink pads directly on to my Craft Sheet. I then misted them with water, and placed a piece of glossy card stock glossy side down on to the pooled ink. Lift up, and you have this gorgeous marble effect! I gave it a quick blast with my heat tool (shorten drying time) and matted it on to Chipped Sapphire-inked card stock. I used the dotted image from the Psychedelic Grunge stamp set and stamped with plain ol' water, resulting in this cool bleached look. My fave Distress Ink technique ever. I use it a lot. :) The sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp exclusive set HERE, and was heat embossed. Because of the organic feel of the main panel, I decided to leave some of the stray EP instead of brushing it all away... and I love how it looks! A sprinkling of sparkly gemstones (found HERE and HERE) in graduating sizes mimics the dots in the image.

And now it's your turn! Create a project (anything goes, remember!) and link it up HERE before 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 6th), and you'll be in the drawing for an amazingly generous gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

And please be sure to go HERE to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with Timmy's products! :)

Thank you for reading... be back soon!

simon says... use an arrow

Howdy, friends! Time for another challenge at Simon Says Stamp!

The theme this week is to use an arrow... super fun, as arrows are all the rage right now. The DT was asked to use Basic Grey products on our projects... also super fun! Who doesn't love Basic Grey?! :) If you have any in your stash, please show us, as we'd love to see it used! But it's not required to participate in the challenge. Anyway, on to my card:

For my Basic Grey, I used a strip of paper from my Serenade 6x6 paper pack. I think this collection is my all time favorite from them... the colors, the patterns... everything about it just makes me *swoon*. I'm hoarding it, so I only used a strip of it here, heehee. ;) As for my arrow, I used one from this multi-pack right HERE. Lots of shapes and sizes, in three different colors of chipboard - it's perfect! I deliberately used the arrow (in conjunction with the sentiment) to draw the recipient to the inside of the card, like this:

 This is what the card actually looks like closed (it's just difficult for me to photograph it correctly with it standing up). Hero Arts' note cards are white on the inside, so I can vertically cut off about an inch of the front of the card, add my strips of paper along the edge, and then adhere the arrow so it hangs over the edge just a little bit... pointing to the inside and drawing the recipient in. All while the white inside coordinates perfectly with my color palette on the outside. It's fun... my kids loved it. :)

And now it's your turn: create your project using an arrow, and upload it HERE before 8am EST US next Wednesday (the 27th). And you'll be in the random drawing for a very generous gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp online store!

And if you go HERE, you'll get to see what my amazing teammates did... A hint: I'm not the only one who loves the Serenade collection! ;)

And don't forget: The fabulous Love Fest Event is still going on over at Splitcoast Stampers Website! We're proud to be a Company Member and Simon Says Stamp is hosting Day 5 with a Die Crazy Challenge! If you would like to join in then please hop on over to the SCS site for more details, and to visit the Simon Says Stamp Company Forum CLICK HERE.

Thanks for reading today... see you soon!