Treasure Sunrise Roses with Simon Says Stamp

 

Well, its been about 6 weeks since I’ve created for myself!  A lot of things have happened in the last few months including a big career change back into a church Pastoral role and our son got married last weekend.  A lot of my creating has gone to doing little bits and pieces for their wedding.  I honestly thought I might have lost my creative spirit.  It’s hard to start back up again isn't it?  

When I’m lost for inspiration, I always go back to what I know, and that’s my love of colouring.  I pulled out this stunning set from Simon Says Stamp called Beautiful Flowers and its coordinating die.  I inked it in Toffee Crunch Memento Ink for a no line look, and coloured the image with Copics, and a bit of coloured pencil for details.  I have some Sunrise Roses in the front flower bed which I used as inspiration for this design.  They come out of the bud in deep coral shades and then fade to apricot and the faintest peachy blossom.  

The image is so beautiful and large that I went with an A6 sized card for the design.  The background is first inked on the card base with SSS’s background stamp Overlapping Drops, and then the next layer is ink blended with Distress Oxide ink and then run through the SSS Pincushion Plate Die, where I left all the holes in the die so it just brings texture.  I’ve added in some ink blended die cut leaves for more tone on tone texture.  

The sentiment, from the stamp set is embossed onto a vellum strip.  Hope you enjoyed!  

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Treasure Sunrise Roses with Simon Says Stamp

Flowers for Ukraine from Honey Bee Stamps

Hi There!  I wanted to do a card this week to honour Ukraine and the ongoing war, as they fight for their country.  So much news is painful isn't it? However, today I wanted to also speak about something encouraging related to Ukraine.  When the war started 3 years ago, our church sponsored a family and their friends, nine people, to come to Canada as refugees.  The father in the family has a life threatening condition and would have died had they stayed in Ukraine.  What has followed has been such a story of restoration and hope.  They are a beautiful family, and have chosen to live a life of influence, reaching out to many other Ukrainian refugees in our city.  This has developed into a significant ministry focus out of our church.  Due to the language barrier, we started an English Language Learner program, which now serves hundreds of refugees from many countries in helping them learn English, Canadian customs, assisting them in navigating the different systems here, and helps them build friendships and community.  It has not only helped the refugees and newcomes, but has dramatically impacted our church culture in all the most beautiful ways. It has made us more intentional, compassionate and joy filled.   They have made a difference in our lives equally as much as we might have had an impact in theirs.  When the news gets discouraging, it’s important for me to remind myself of things like these - and the difference we can make.  

This card was designed to convey that hope.  I started with a lovely set from Honey Bee Stamps called Squared Spring Florals, and the coordinating Honey Cuts Dies.  

Rather than using the stencil that goes with the set, I coloured the image with Copics in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.  I also added some background stamping in white using the set as well.  

Then I turned the center portion of the stamp set into a shaker design for Simon Says Stamp March IG Challenge.  

A few extra holeless mirrored sequins accent the design outside of the shaker as well.  

Great to have you stop by!  

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Flowers for Ukraine from Honey Bee Stamps

Rosey Roses with Simon Says Stamp

 

Hi There!  A few weeks ago when I was watercolouring a Simon Says Stamp’s amazing Beautiful Flowers Set, I also embossed the loose roses from the set, and after painting them I set them aside for later.  They made for a really pretty arrangement for a second card.  

To play off the colours of the roses, I did some ink blending, and colour lifting with a stencil in the background.  It makes for great colour and texture.  To accent and add some sparkle, I used Crafty Meraki’s Olive Leaf Para-Die on gold glitter paper.  It’s perfect for extra foliage.  

The sentiment is from Concord & 9th’s die set, Short and Sweet Dies,  and I’ve added in some ‘berry’ enamel dots to accent.  

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Rosey Roses with Simon Says Stamp

Love and Hugs Watercoloured Roses from SSS

Hello!  The monthly challenge on Instagram for Simon Says Stamp is watercolouring, so I thought I’d pull out one of my Simon Says Stamps sets called Beautiful Flowers , because it really IS beautiful!  I embossed the image onto Arches watercolour paper, and pulled out some of my Daniel Smith Watercolour tubes to paint.  

It almost feels a bit like cheating when you watercolour over embossing.  The raised edges of the embossing hold your colours in each section so nicely.  This image has a lot of gold in it, so over all it was easy to paint. I used the coordinating dies for the set to die cut the image out. 

I also created a background using a Gothic stencil and embossing paste with ink splatters.  It gives it so much great texture.  

The sentiment is from the set, also embossed in gold, and a few mirrored sequins make it sparkly.  

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Love and Hugs Watercoloured Roses from SSS

Thankful for You with Simon Says Stamp

With being gone all of October, I really didn’t get enough time to create with Autumn themed designs, so I’m sneaking in a couple more this week.  Today’s design uses Simon Says Stamp’s Fresh Air Fall Flowers.  The variety of leaves and flowers give you many opportunities to mix and match.  Once I found a colour palette I liked, I did all the stamping and die cutting. 

Sometimes card designers can feel like florists don’t you think?  Playing around until we find an arrangement we like?  I placed the layers on a card base with The Greetery’s Herringbone Parquet Die.  It adds great texture.  

The sentiments in the set are really great, especially for the season.  Have a happy Monday!  

 

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Thankful for You with Simon Says Stamp

Stitching Saturday Delphinium

 

After a bit of a break, I’m back today with another stitching Saturday design.  This time it’s some towering delphinium just like I have starting to bloom in my flower beds.  This bluey-purple shade are my favourite!  I loosely followed a pattern I found on the web, using The Stamp Market’s adorable Embroidery Hoop dies.  

The blue cardstock is run through Simon Say’s Stamp’s Pincushion Plate Wafer Die, to coordinate with the holes of the cross stitch die.  Then I added in a frame of green 1/4 inch Quick Strips from The Stamp Market.  

The foiled sentiment is a really pretty one also from The Stamp Market called Best Wishes Foil Plate.  

It makes for a sweet little Summer thank you note!  

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Stitching Saturday Delphinium

Circular Posies with Pinkfresh Studios

 

Hi Again!  I’m back with more flowers.  I just can’t get enough.  Today’s pretty posies are from Pink Fresh Studio and are called Peony Fantasy.  Included in this suite are the Hot Foil Plate, Coordinating Die, and the coordinating stencil.  I think it’s a beautiful bundle of products.  I finished a card with this bundle a few weeks ago, but had a few leftovers perfect for a new design.  

I’m playing along with Pink Fresh Studio’s Monthly Challenge for “Circles”.  This circle die perfectly frames the layers of flowers and vellum!  

So, I hot foiled, stenciled and die cut a few extra blooms with a more orange tone, which pairs nicely with the peach blossoms.  The card base is created with a Simon Says Stamp Embossing Folder called Margot Tile.  After running it through my machine, I swiped gold Lunar paste over the impressions to really give it the feeling of a tin ceiling.  

The sentiment is embossed in gold, and then some gold sequins accent the shimmery gold of the design.  

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Circular Posies with Pinkfresh Studios

Inky Blossoms with Alex Syberia

Hello!  I hope you’ve had a great day today!  Do you ever rediscover a technique after not using it for a while?  The most recent Instagram Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is ink blending, and I’d forgotten how wonderful it is for adding colour blends, especially with emboss resist!  

I started this lovely design with Alex Syberia’s digital stamp Full Bloom (from May 2020).  Coloured up the blooms with Copics and coloured pencils.  

 

Next, I tooks the background stamp from Simon Says Stamps called Lace Heart Kaleidoscope embossed it in white and then used ink shades that coordinated with the colouring to create an ombre background.  I love the pops of colour and blends between the colours, and it makes such a nice background for the card.  I also cut a few Big Branches: Ruscus Die from The Greetery onto white cardstock to ink blend as accents.  The leaves coordinate well with the stamped design.  

I also foiled a pretty sentiment onto vellum from Spellbinders Slimline Confetti Background doing some fussy cutting to trim it out.    

Vibrant and saturated.  Just how I love my flowers!  Thanks for joining me today.  

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Inky Blossoms with Alex Syberia

Faux Embossing with Stencils and SSS

hello!  After a week in CA for work, I’m ready for Spring! Winter is still sticking around here, so I created a little splash of Spring leaves with this pretty stencil from Simon Says Stamp called Autumn Cascade, but it makes just as lovely a card in other seasons.  

I chose some Distress Inks and ink blended the stencil, also adding in some coloured pencil definition.  Then to give it a bit of extra pop, I got out my light table and embossed it! 

All you need to do is place the coloured image face down over top of your stencil (precisely), and then the light table shining through allows you to use an embossing tool to press the images through, giving you some light embossing.  For a clean and simple design like this, a little touch of depth goes a long way.  

It’s such a pretty touch!  I also added coordinating die cut leaves, and a circle and sentiment from Concord & 9th’s A Bit of Paradise die set and the Short and Sweet Dies.  

Ready for a sweet hello to a friend! 

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Faux Embossing with Stencils and SSS

Beautiful Flowers with Simon Says Stamp

 

I’m delighted to share some new colouring with you!  This week’s Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is to use something new.  These gorgeous roses called Beautiful Flowers are new to me, and aren’t they a knock-your-socks-off stamp?  This is my favourite type of image to colour, with tons of petal power potential!  I started my colouring with Copics and finished with colored pencils.  I wanted it all to have a soft vintage/shabby chic effect, so I’ve added deep greens and gold for the greenery.  

This card size is a bit bigger at 4 4/8 x 6 1/4.  

Aren’t the petals and leaves pretty?  I also vintaged it up by stencilling on the card base with gothic stencil, and added ink blending, gold Lunar Paste and little dew drops.  

The sentiments in the set are amazing!  I stamped Happy in Grapefruit Ink from Concord & 9th, embossed the smaller white parts of the sentiment and then added a little white gel pen to the Happy.  

Appreciate your visit and comments!   

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Beautiful Flowers with Simon Says Stamp

White on White with Simon Says Stamps

 

It’s a clean slate for a new year!  Simon Says Stamps has a fun Instagram Challenge to use white on white for your design, so today I played with a little snow!  It seems crazy that we had a brown Christmas here!  Unheard of in all the years I can remember, so honestly I would love to have a snow day!  The peacefulness of it and the hush it brings to the world is so special.  

For this design I used numerous snowflake dies that were retired from The Cat’s Pajamas Stamps and layered them over one another with different papers - vellum, cardstock, glitter paper to create a really dimensional flurry of flakes.  

The base layer is a beautiful die from Simon Says Stamps called Pincushion Plate.  It creates a beautiful layer of texture for the snowflakes which works perfectly for a white on white card design.  

I’ve added foam dots between the layers of snowflakes to give more dimension, and a lovely little foiled sentiment from Spellbinders called Must-Have Sentiments Glimmer Hot Foil plate and die set.   Done with some sparkly foil it is a perfect touch.  The holeless sequins add another layer of sparkle and die into the holes in the background plate.  Such frosty elegance!  

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White on White with Simon Says Stamps

Magnolia Bouquet for Christmas with Power Poppy

 

Hello!  It’s always so good to take a little break from the busyness of work and Christmas preparations to colour!  I pulled out this amazing image from Power Poppy called Winter Flora, and my Copic Markers to bring this arrangement to life, beautiful magnolias, hellebore, and sprigs of greenery, with little ornaments nestled in make for an amazing combination of colour.  

After colouring I combined a few dies, from Simon Says Stamps Pincushion Plate Die and white pine greenery from The Greetery with Big Branches: Pine Die to accent the pretty framed die from Spellbinders.  I decided to add a blue green background with my prismacolor pencils, so the beautiful rich Oceanside cardstock really sets of the festive colours.  And then, just a little bling with clear sequins, placed like berries in the greenery.  

Christmas Blessings to all of you out there!  

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Magnolia Bouquet for Christmas with Power Poppy

Golden Leaves with PTI

 

Alright, I’m giving in that it’s ok for Autumn to come.  It is such a golden season with the changing of leaves, vibrant colours and new starts.  I pulled out a gorgeous background from Simon Says Stamps called Overlapping Dots.  To me it looks just like interlocking leaves, and it’s perfect for embossing, and using resist techniques.  

I used some jewel and autumn toned Lindy’s Magical Pigment Powders  and spritzed lots of water to create this gorgeous rich coloured background.  Then I used the same powders to also run through some leaf die cuts to accent this beautiful embossed verse from PaperTrey Ink called Psalm Reflections:  March Mini.  

Then I went a little crazy with gold splatter....I think I’d dial that down if I could now!  

Thanks for enjoying the beautiful colours of fall with me! 

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Golden Leaves with PTI

Stencilled Summer Combo

 

Hello Summer!  Today I’m bringing you a fun colour palette that speaks summer to me.  It’s using the new Cottage Garden Bundle from Concord & 9th .  As soon as I saw that cute stencil I knew it had to be mine.

For this design I used a number of inks from Concord & 9th, in sunny colours: Honeycomb, Sunflower,  Artichoke, Dragonfruit and some touches of Black.   After stencilling I spritzed the cardfront with water and lifted the ink with a paper towel, producing a lovely mottled effect.  

To tie in the sentiment strip saying “You’re the Best Ever”, I lined it up with the stencil as well, it gives it a nice bit of “camoflauge” to the card background.  To accent around the popped up sentiment I used the Quilted Cardfront die above and below the sentiment.  Playing along this month in the Simon Say’s Stamp IG challenge for Stencils!  

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Stencilled Summer Combo

Cool and Soothing Fresh Air Flowers

There’s something so lovely about a cool and soothing palette isn’t there?  I’ve been playing with different colour palettes this summer and this one is a lovely one to work with.  I began with Simon Say’s Stamps beautiful Fresh Air Flowers bundle to create a lovely bouquet of flowers growing.  I used Concord and 9th Inks of Dragonfruit, Blueberry, Harbor and Lemongrass to stamp these layered flowers and die cut them.  

 

Next, I created an ink blended background with Distress Oxide Salty Ocean, splattered it with some water and acrylic white paint and then layered the flowers in a pleasing arrangement.  I added some blues to the greens and blues to the Dragonfruit to get depth in the layering stamp, and create a cohesive group of flowers.  The foiled sentiment is from Spellbinders called Mini Everyday Sentiments.  

All it needed then was a touch of sparkle with clear holeless sequins and it’s a perfect clean and simple bouquet! 

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Cool and Soothing Fresh Air Flowers

Vacation Adventure

 

My husband and I were just talking about adventures we’d like to go on (always a fun conversation), but our eyes are a little bigger than our wallet, and we talked about finding a little camper that we could pull to head out on the open road a little.  I’m a mountain girl, and I will always say yes to the mountains.  So when I saw this fun challenge at Simon Says Stamp called Vacation,  I knew it was a great one for me.  I have this adorable little camping set from MFT (now retired), I knew it would be a fun one for the challenge.  

And if I’m going to have a camper, it might as well be in fun colours I LOVE!  So, here’s our navy blue Pathfinder pulling a teal, navy and coral camper.  Just the right size for the two of us!  And, here are my favourite mountains which I drew in the background, the Three Sisters of Canmore, AB.   I gave the top of the card some woodgrain embossing, the teal layer a plaid layer die cut layer and coloured it all up with Copics.  

I do love those adventures with my hubby!  

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Vacation Adventure