Sparkle

I was really stuck on how to put embellishments on my card in the end I gave up and left it clean. Mo's Sparkle reminds me so much of when my daughter when she tap danced in a competition number or the Christmas Show. I think dressing up was just as important to her as was the dancing.

I think the star paper is Echo Park but don't hold me to that and the fabulous sentiment came with the image.

I added some glamour dust to her underskirt and to make her pearls I dotted a white pen when I had finished layering her.

Oh nearly forgot the circle and scallop circle are some larger dies I got from Lifestyle not sure they are still working as a company and the dies are very delicate and easy to bend out of shape if you're not careful.

Spellbinders

Hello, all! Welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!
Thank you for joining us for the Gift It Challenge. We hope you will all join us again this week too.
We will be back soon with the name of the lucky winner of the $50 Voucher.
This week the challenge is...

Anything Goes 

Yes, that's right, it's your FAVORITE challenge this week! The Design Team is showcasing Spellbinders Products.  You don't have to use them for the challenge but if you have them we would love to see them used.

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store! You KNOW you want to win that goodness, ladies and gentlemen!

I'm not keen on white and gold so you're probably asking why use it the answer is that gold shows up so much better when you photo your card.

To be honest this was a quick card, I used the Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Shapes for the large Rectangle. I then used the small dies from Spellbinder Art Deco Astoria  and I stamped and embossed with gold the sentiment from Simon Says Stamps Uplifting Thoughts.

I then used  WOW gold embossing powder again to emboss the flowers from Simon Say Stamp Oh Happy Day stamp set. I especially love those leaves in the top right corner I think they may have given me a thought for my next SSS card.

So now it's YOUR turn.  Happy Crafting

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too !

There are fabulous Give Aways and inspiration from fabulous designers on a daily basis over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog , if you haven't subscribed by email you may want to so you don't miss out

You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

Stars

A friend wanted to borrow this stamp so while I had found him I quickly stamped him without the stars etc in the corner but in the end I cut him out. It just so happens that Everybody Art Challenge this week is for Stars and this Hedgie was perfect.

The papers are some new ones from Echo Park, no idea where the sketch came from. My stars are Memory Box but they have been cut out from glitter card. The snowflakes are Stitched Snowflakes dies from Simon Says Stamps and cut out of fun foam.

You can't say I didn't warn you the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Christmas Toys. All thats left is the mixture of Fun Flock and Flowersoft to made the fluffy parts of his hats.

Do pop over and check out the team.

Sunflowers for Heidi

At the beginning of September it was Heidi of Simon Says Stamps Birthday so I made a Simon says Stamp Birthday card for her.

The wonderful flowers which I usually used for daisies are now sunflowers, I used yellow card but used an orange inkpad to make some shading in the centres. I also did that for the centres but obviously not with orange.

The Cluster of Leaves which I use a lot especially on 12 by 12 scrapbooking did get cut up a bit to fit my card.
I used Stitched Rectangles for the white centre mat and I stamped Happy Birthday from their stamp sets but I made this card a while ago I know it was a Simon Says Stamp set but for the life of me can't work out which one.

The patterned paper is MFT and the Scallop mat is Avery Elle.

Last weekend we went away to Norwich we had never been to Norfolk at all but I think we returned and I arranged to met my crafty friend Marianne and Hubby. We went for a meal but to be honest we could have eaten anything we were that busy talking. Graham took a pic which I have downloaded from FB.

Trouble was I woke on Tuesday morning with a sore throat which lasted a couple days, just when I felt ready to go and make some cards one of my dodgy shoulders decided it would have a bit of meltdown so more forced resting. Its not quite right but its better than it was and just have to be careful not to over do it.

But I have piles of cards with inserts now but from now on when I photo a card I'm going to put an insert in and not wait till I nearly have hundred cards. Once I found where the safe place for my Christmas card I had a count up and I'm still halfway done, so be warned Christmas cards need to made as often as possible.

Snowy

I've had Snowy from Penny Black for a few years but I noticed that Penny Black have now brought out a die which I'm hoping will fit my old stamp and they haven't  tweaked the design so I have to buy the stamp again as well! To be honest if it doesn't fit when it arrives I will have to sell it, the die not the stamp.

So in preparation for the new die I used the stamp with my favourite Christmas Papers at the moment from Doodlebug I may have to buy a third pack. I've used the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles and I have their new Scallop Stitched Borders which you can just make out on my middle panel.

The Snowflake cut from Fun Foam is again a Simon Says Stamp and so is the tiny Snowflake which is from the Stitched Snowflakes. And yes thats this year's favourite sentiment from the Simon Say Stamp Christmas Toys which is now been left on the acrylic block for continuous use.

I've come back from a few days away with a sore throat but it hasn't turned into anything too nasty but I do feel really tired but one job I want to do this weekend is to have a count of the Christmas cards made so far this year and to finish off the my version of Wedding Pocket Pages.

Snow Tot One

Apologies for the crooked and awful photo, I'm sure it didn't look that bad when I took it. But it is a square even though he doesn't look like it.

I used the cute Snow Tot One image from Mo Manning, isn't she/he cute, I've coloured using traditional Christmas Colours because initially I was going to use more of the Doodlebug papers instead the card turned out completely different.

First of all I decided to used the Memory Box Warm Wishes, I cut the words off in white added some double sided tape under the holes and added the red version to the back. I did have to save all the red dots so I could place them in the white, it was far too fiddly and probably won't be done again.

My Memory Box trees are newish (this is not a word but it should be) so I felt the need to use them and then I added the hills from My Favourite Things and before I knew I hardly had any space for my little Snow Tot. She was easy to cut out so I found a little space at the beginning of the words.

Cheeky Monkey Gift Card

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Anything Goes Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.
We will be back soon with the name of the lucky winner of the $50 Voucher
This week the challenge is

Gift It 

make a gift card/bag/box, or a gift for someone special.
This week we are showcasing Clearly Besotted Products.  You don't have to use them for the challenge but if you have them we would love to see them used.

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store

Making a gift card is not something I do often and having brought the Clearly Besotted Cheeky Monkey stamp set for this challenge I had to work out how to use them for this challenge.

In the end I decided my cheeky monkey should hold the gift card and since they are hanging they would need a tree to hang from. I used the Memory Box Birch Tree and their Woodland Branch dies. I then had to work out what to use to stop my gift card falling out of the monkey's arms and thats where the My Favourite Things Grassy Fields die came in. I stuck the three strip together and then use a thin bit of tape ad the bottom leave a bit of a pocket for the gift card.

The patterned paper is Echo Park I Love Family  and I used one the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Ovals to help bring your eye to the centre. I only put glue under the monkey bottoms so that the gift card can slide into place whilst doing this I got glue on the white oval so I used the Simon Says Stamp Mini Flowers die which had little leaves just right to hide a little mess.

So now it's YOUR turn.  Happy Crafting

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too !

There are fabulous Give Aways and inspiration from fabulous designers on a daily basis over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog , if you haven't subscribed by email you may want to so you don't miss out

You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

Bella Sketch

Its sketch time on Everybody Art Challenge and it just so happens I had some new Doodlebug papers and I decided since we were in the middle of a heat wave maybe a cocktail was necessary of course now I need Hot Chocolate. But I love this fabulous Stamping Bella image isn't she great.

Not much in the way of embellishments, just the pesky retro punch from EK success which I added some tiny white flowers for the centres and for some reason I decided it needed jet pearls. I would have added more but I restrained myself.

The brilliant sentiment came with the stamp, although it should read one, red wine, two red wine, three red wine, floor.

Do pop over and check out the team.

Cheque Card

A friend ask for a gift card suitable for a cheque. Well I knew what I wanted to use but to get the right size was a bit tricky.

First of all I used this die from Stampin Up and added the pink since that was the colour of the wedding. My friend already had a proper wedding card so I added the Penny Black lots of love die keeping everything simple.

As you can see inside I added another piece of the die cut to hold the cheque. What should have taken no time at all took ages.

Nature

So we are on our Mid Month reminder on Penny Black Saturday Challenge and in case your had forgotten the theme is Nature.

So I thought it was only right to use this slapstick stamp of Holly and Robin, I tend to avoid using it because the Holy does take time to do, especially has I cut out the berries too.

I think the papers are Simple Stories from a few years ago. The Circle is Simon Says Stamp along with the fishtail banner along with my favourite Christmas sentiment for this year.

All the white space annoyed me so I added some sequins.

Do pop over and check out what some of the team have done for the Mid Month reminder.

I shall be starting on some DT projects since I away for a few days in Norwich soon.

Possibly a Reindeer!

Oh deer (pun intended) my poor Reindeer didn't quite turn out looking like the pattern. It was a paid pattern and I'm not even going to show what he should look like.

Possible the wrong wool and I like my tension to be quite tight when making animals so I used a smaller hook.

Don't get me wrong he is still cute and someone will still love him (hopefully) but I think I will stick to simple patterns.

Hoping to buy some cheap mugs and make some mug cosies for my Sister to sell at the Nursing Home Christmas Fayre.

I also have twenty Blizzard granny squares all with their ends sew in and half way to my next ten but it looks like it eats the wool so I may have to buy some more.

Autumn

Time for another Blog Hop with Mo Manning's Dream Team, this month Julie as chosen the theme of Autumn.

We are in midst of a mini heatwave her in UK it feels like a hot summers day, if it wasn't for the leaves falling from the tree otherside of our wall you wouldn't believe its Autumn.

I just so happened to have the Echo Park Fall is in the Air so I matched Valerie in Autumn to the papers.

I also used MFT leaves and yes its that pesky EK success Retro Punch showing its face again. I finally had a reason to use the Cottage Cutz Toadstools. My border is the Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop border and a bit of ribbon.

Hopefully you have found yourselves here from Gaynor and now you need to HOP, SKIP and JUMP over to Daria.

Don't forget to comment along the way to in with a chance to win one of the two $5gift vouchers.

Ho Ho Ho

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Stamp It Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.
We will be back soon with the name of the lucky winner of the $50 Voucher
This week the challenge is

Clean And Simple 

This week we are showcasing CAS-ual Fridays Products. You don't have to use them for the challenge but if you have them we would love to see them used.

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store

So this week we are going Clean and Simple but I think I've tried to be too clever and it didn't turn out like it did inside my head.

I used CAS-ual Fridays Snowflake Greeting on a piece of card that had already be cut with the Simon Says Stamp stitched Rectangle. I stamped in Versamark and then used WOW white embossing powder.

Then I went a bit mad with Tim Holtz Dusty Concord with the idea of adding some pattern paper but I think it would have been too much so I kept it simple by using another Stitched Rectangle and added some flicks with a paintbrush and some Lucy Things Sequins.

Added the Avery Elle Sweet Scallops and the bit of silver thread I found in my stash. Still not sure if I like it. If I did it again the purple Snowflakes I would use the second impress so it wasn't so dark. Maybe even just stamp and emboss in Silver with a touch of the purple colour. Oh well hindsight is a wonderful thing.

So now it's YOUR turn.  Happy Crafting

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too !

There are fabulous Give Aways and inspiration from fabulous designers on a daily basis over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog , if you haven't subscribed by email you may want to so you don't miss out

You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

Time for Tea

It's Anything Goes on Everybody Art and I decided to use a Saturated Canary Image before she closed down the shop and go subscription only.

I love any image that has a teapot or coffee so this was a winner straight away. I paper pieced her top with the old Stampin Up papers and because she only a part image I decided to use my favourite Floral Oval.

The little teacups are an old MFT tea set, I noticed they have made another with two teacup that are opposites but I embossed my so you can't really tell that one has been turned over. I'm in two minds whether to get the new die set when my old one is perfectly fine.

The flowers are EK success retro punch with a Stampin Up punched circle for the centres. Finally the finishing touch of ribbon and the La LaLand corner.

Gnome Home/Stamptember

I love using Toadstools houses for a New Home card and the new stamp set from Simon Says Stamp Secret Garden has a perfect one.

I fussy cut the windows, doors etc to layer and I stamped a standalone toadstool so I could add it. The papers are Echo Park Happy Summer, I used the Simon Says Stamp Wavy Stitched Scallop border on the sky piece and layered over the green abstract pattern one then used Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle over then both.

I haven't used the sentiments on the stamp set, for example Gnome Sweet Gnome wouldn't work because I didn't use the gnome! So I used the Simon Says Stamp Furry Cat in a box which has several occassions covered.

I confess that I don't bother trying to avoid the dots on the toadstools I much prefer to use a Unit-Ball White pen works a treat.

A heatwave is expected here in the UK so not sure how much card making will be happening may need to hide out in the coldest room in the house with a fan on!

Road Trip

Hopefully I would have completed some layouts yesterday because this is my last layout in my drafts. The photo is of my brother with his son.

The papers I've had for ages so pleased they got some use, the splats are a Tim Holts die and the cogs are dies from a chap at the craft fairs I think he has changed the name of his company so not sure what they are called.

My tiny inky splats are Gorgeous Grunge from Stampin Up and I finally got to use up some brads that I have far too much off and should use them more.

I still have two layouts of Harry Potter to be done hopefully before we return in November see the Great Hall dressed for Christmas but before I do get them done I decided to some Wedding layouts, hearts and flowers should be an easy project!

Road Hog

I saw this Hedgie on someones' blog or it could have been a prize can't remember now but I wanted him. Someone very kindly offer to stamp a few of him for me but to be honest I need about six images to just to be able to layer him in my style and I wanted to be able to use him loads of times.

So I managed to find him in Simon Says Stamp and as you can see he's made his home with me, don't be surprise to see a several times.

The papers are Echo Park Little Man and I cut the wobbly border out of one the sheets of patterned paper works a treat. Some Fish tail banners using the reverse of the papers and my job is done. Oh the sentiment is Simon Says Stamp Seeing Stars.

Well its been a expensive week first off we have paid for our funerals, it worked out so well for my Mum and Dad that I wanted that worry taken away from my children. We also put down a deposit on a cruise in 2018, I know thats a long way ahead but Hubby wanted to a suite to celebrate our Ruby Wedding and they go very quickly so that why we got in first.

Today I'm off to a crop in Bracknell, my bags are packed, my post is scheduled and all I need to do is make my lunch. My poor friend is being my bag lady as my sister is looking after her Grandson.

New Brother

This image called Brothers from Mo Manning and when I saw the sketch on Sketch Saturday I decided to make it work with the image.

The only problem with cutting across the image is that I have to layer the image first let it dry and then trim round the mat. Normally layering at the end of making a card so it often feels the card has taken longer.

I used Echo Park Little Man and I had to make the sentiment and used Stampin Up punches to punch it out. Final finishing touch are Stitched Stars from Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes.

Have you seen the fabulous new images from Mo Manning what with LOTV making Digi Stamps there will be no money in my Craft Money Box.

Stamp It

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Anything Goes Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.
We will be back soon with the name of the lucky winner of the $50 Voucher
This week the challenge is

Stamp It

STAMPtember® is a very special month on the Simon Says Stamp  calendar and this week we are showcasing some of the latest STAMPtember® products. You may not yet have any of the new products but we would appreciate you using Simon's Exclusive Products if you have them, although it isn't necessary to join in with the challenge.

The Monday Challenge also has the same theme this week so you will be able to have 2 chances of winning a $50 Gift Voucher if you enter both challenges!

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store

I was very lucky that Simon says Stamp sent me some new stamps, you've already seen my Christmas Toys cards but today I'm using the beautiful Hydrangea Blooms. I didn't get the dies so I attempted and small white line round my leaves and flower head with my scissors I've now decided to put them on my wish list which gets longer everyday.

I actually made the flower head first and fussy cut the individual flowers, basically I didn't know what to do when a parcel arrived with some Lucy's Little Things in Sugar Plum (brought it to go with Polar Pals from Doodlebug) but worked perfectly with purple Hydrangea.

So a shaker card was made using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Oval and My Favourite Things Tranquil Textures. The sentiment came with the stamp set but I used the Simon says Stamp Stitched Banners . 

Even with the white mounted on the patterned paper there was an awful lot of white space so I added a few sequins to break it down.

So now it's YOUR turn.  Happy Crafting

Follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too !

There are fabulous Give Aways and inspiration from fabulous designers on a daily basis over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog , if you haven't subscribed by email you may want to so you don't miss out

You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

How would you like a chance to win a fabulous Dream Craft Room Makeover AND loads of products!!??

CLICK HERE for more details of how to enter and watch a presentation to see what YOU could win!

Leaves

Leaves is the new challenge over at Everybody Art Challenge and I decided to use a House Mouse image, I don't have many because they don't seem to work when I layer them but the few I do have like this one works OK.

I've used the Echo Park Fall in the Air papers and I used a sketch from Splitcoast Stamper SC608.

The leaves are Impression Obsession and the branch is from Memory Box, the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Uplifting Thoughts.

I was quite please how this card turned out, do pop over and check out the team.

I had planned to make a card yesterday but Hubby and I got caught up choosing a cruise for 2018 in the end it was down to whether they had a swimming pool I can get in and out of. I can't use ladders. At our Disabled Swimming Club the local pool take them out and replace them with proper steps and its surprising how many can manage on our own to get in and out. Thankfully the Customer Service team at P and O was able to tell us which ships had a pool with steps and we have a shortlist of three cruises. But it did mean I've a half started card on my desk that need to be finish.

Penquins/Stamptember

I've already shown how Simon Says Stamp Christmas Toys can work all the year round but what about Christmas.

Whats better than one penquin, lots of Penquins. I made a little scene with them using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes and Hills die along with their SketchTrees dies.

I also used the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles which gives a finished look so that it could be mounted in the middle of the card. The fabulous sentiment is from the above stamp set you better get used to it, I think this sentiment will be used for my Christmas Cards for the rest of the year.

Can I have a Puppy

I had these fabulous photos of my Gt Niece who was in her element puppy walking with my nephews dog. The papers are some bits of Simple Stories I had left.  I think the butterflies are Memory Box and you should be able to recognise the flowers my favourite EK Success Retro Flower punch.

There's a little blue border using a very large Martha Stewart punch and the leaves and swirls are Cheery Lynn. The little rectangle of words I believe are from Kaiser Scrapbooking.

A sneaky visit to Hobbycraft yesterday with my daughter meant I only made one card and I promised her to frame her cross-stitch today but fingers crossed I'll get to make one more card and maybe sort out the photos of my nephews wedding.

Nature

A few weeks ago I went to a Stampin Up class that two of my friends run and they gave us all an empty stamp box which was to keep us getting mucky with this technique. Basically we use a baby wipe placed it into the box and used ink refills to make random coloured dots but what was brilliant you could close the lid while you made your card. If you wanted to use it again it was instantly ready to go again.

I wanted to use this technique again so I decided to use again to make my Nature card for Penny Black Saturday Challenge, have to say its more dramatic in really life. The stamps are Foliage Fancy from Penny Black and the sentiment was in the same stamp set

I fussy cut out a few of them to give a bit of dimension, I'm wondering now whether I should have trimmed the card more and layered same mats but I was too impressed with myself that I barely got mucky hands.

Do pop over and check out the rest of the team, I've already coloured my Mid Month card images.
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Stamptember

Its Stamptember that means a whole month of inspiration, challenges and new stuff and I was lucky to received some Stamptember stamps.

This set is called Christmas Toys but I wanted to prove that they work not just for Christmas. So I stamped the plane and train then cut them out, dies are available and on my wish list.

They worked a treat and I made a mat using the Simon Says Stitched Rectangle and backed it with some MFT Farm Fresh Gingham. My clouds are Simon Says Stamp Cloudy Sky using the dies too. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Furry Cat.

Now to follow whats going on in Stamptember make sure your a followers of the Simon Says Stamp Blog.

Say it Ain't So!

Today is a new Anything Goes Challenge on Mo's Challenge Blog and seeing I post a Mo Image card on the day of the new challenge I joined in with the team with Say it Ain't So. I remembered to dot her skirt with a white pen.

The papers are Taylor Expression not many sheets left now and since they were bright and sunny I just added a few flower using my retro flower punch which works well small dotty paper.

Can you believe it, its the 1st of September, all down hill to Christmas.