Three out of One Background

I got my hands on Whimsy Tartan Background mainly because I wanted Christmas paper is non traditional colours like Pink or Purple. I've decided to use this minting green colour to start with.

I stamped onto the coloured card stock now the plan was to make two cards with the stamped background at the bottom.

I cut a strip of contrast colour to give a finish look between the plain and patterned and then used the bow die from the Simon says Stamp Candy Cane die. I cut it twice once trimming off the bow tails to give a more 3d look.

I used the new Simon says Stamp Marie Snowflake and the Grace one in a matching colour. I wanted to try something different for my sentiment so I used MFT Fishtail Flag die along with Simon's Inside Christmas Greetings.

Once again I had this strip leftover so I wasn't going to waste it, I decided to use smaller snowflakes this time Simon says Stamp Maryann Snowflake but the rest was all the same.

Patterned Gnomes

Yes I'm loving the Simon says Stamp Gnome and there's another in their card kit for this month. I've used them with some leftover papers from last years Christmas papers. Also I had the Simon says Stamp Inside Christmas Greetings already stamped so I thought I would use that too.

I had a sparkly snowflake floating around my craft room so I used that on one card and some pearls in the large snowflakes on the patterned paper. Patting myself on the back for using up scraps and leftovers.

Snow Shovel

Another simple card made to look better by using one of Mo's images, this time call Snow Shovel.
Some old papers from Doodlebug and I thought this brick wall would be a great backdrop for my image.

My old Martha Stewart Holly punch and some Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes job done. Oh final touch the sentiment from Simon says Stamp Tiny Word Christmas.

Starting to feel more myself although the my twisted knee isn't at all happy and my bad foot not happy either but I have to fight through it I'm out on Friday to Portsmouth Victorian Christmas Fayre.
Saturday I'm at an all day crop that could be interesting if my knee doesn't start improving wish I knew how I did it.

Anything Goes

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for joining us last week and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is Anything Goes

We are showcasing Penny Black this week, which just so happens to be Simon says Stamp Brand of the Month. You don’t have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $50 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the challenge Blog. You can join 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

I feel a bit guilty about my card today, I planned to use this Penny Black Snowy Flight but had no idea what to do with it. I saw the robin and knew I should have it but all I could think of was making the backgound blue.

It didn't help not feeling 100% its that time of year with lots of bugs about and I'm on my second one, add to insult to injury I've twisted my good knee all of which hasn't helped my craftying mojo. So I simply cut out my robin with Simon says Stamp Stitched Squares and added a sentiment using Simon says Stamp Tiny Word Christmas.

I decided my berries are mistletoe so that is why they are white, coloured in with a Uni-Ball Signo White gel pen, when they were dry I dotted a black pen it was worth the effort. My robin was coloured separating and layered on top, that way I didn't need to worry about masking.

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

Christmas Floral Spray

I needed to speed up my Christmas Card making, colouring and layering take time so I got out some dies to help me.

First up is the Simon say Stamp Holiday Frame, which not only give a central point but the sentiment too. I did have to put a bit of acetate behind Christmas and add the centres for the A and R.

Finally I used their Christmas Foilage with Poinsettia Parade to make a floral spray, job done. Which colour do you prefer I think the red is my favourite.

Baby Shower

Can you believe that the baby in question is now two and a bundle of mischief. Alice in Wonderland is the mum to be favourite disney film so that was the theme.

My sister got me to make the keys and pocket watch for a display and she made the drink me tags. She made eat me ones too but somehow I didn't get one of those but I had to add them.

Therewas really a colour scheme so any colour worked.

A couple of close ups of each page.

Simple

I had this new die from Elizabeth Crafts and thought I should try it out, it come with the snowflake border and a wobbly strip which you can use to place under the border for a different colour. That's far too difficult for me I just cut the white card and placed it on top of  a coloured card.

I trimmed down so I had a bit border on the side and a large one border at the bottom so I can stamped a sentiment from Simon says StampInside Holiday Greetings. 

Too simple maybe but that still two in more on the pile.

Filled with Joy

Remember the card I made on Wednesday for Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, well I very carefully cut the circle out of this background I made. At the time I wasn't sure how the card layout would be and it left me with this background, well I wasn't going to waste it and I'm really pleased how it turned out.

The background was made  the snowflake from the Simon says Stamp Holiday, embossed with white embossing powder. I stamped the Inside Holidays Greeting on a separate white bit of card and placed it behing the background.

To finish I used Simon says Stamp Christmas Foliage and Poinsettia Parade to make a floral spray.

Feeling pretty please with myself that I managed to make two cards out of one background.

Bauble Elf

I was in two minds whether to get Mo's Little Elf Kippa, mainly because I thought the elf would be too small to layer. Luckily I managed him but I wouldn't want one smaller.

I paper pieced the baubles including making a couple of more for decoration, I'm not sure whose but I've only a couple of blue ones left now. When you have only scrap left cutting out with a square die makes a good background and it helps that the Simon says Stamp are stitched.

I think the sentiment is an old LOTV stamp which fit in a couple of punches I have. Since it's so busy I left with baubles on the side with a bit of silver ribbon.

Need another 30 Christmas cards to finish for the year and its stressing me out, seriously I say every year I must make them all year round.

Starry Starry Night

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for joining us last week and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is  Starry Night

We are showcasing Stampendous this week, which just so happens to be Simon says Stamp Brand of the Month. You don’t have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $50 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the challenge Blog. You can join 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

The people at Stampendous also do the House Mouse stamps and I decided to use their Cardinal Bell. We don't get this bird here in the Uk and I decided to just to shadow the wings and leave it white.

But I made a night background with blending some blue using a Blending Brush but before I did I stamped the snowflakes from Simon says Stamp Holiday Greetings and embossed with white embossing powder.

I cut the background with Simon says Stamp Stitched Circle dies and backed with a bit of navy card. I embossed the white with the Simon says Stamp Falling Snowflakes stencil to give a bit interest in all the white.

Luckily I remember that the challenge was for Starry Night and I used a Simon says Stamp Holy Stars die with some White Glitter Card. Before I forget the sentiment is Simon says Stamp Tiny Words Christmas.

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

Fa La La La

I'm far behind on my Christmas cards which is why my chose of Mo Image is a Christmas one lately. This chap is sooo cute and has to be used at least once, he's called Fa La La La.

Also because I'm behind my cards are pretty simple like this one. I made a frame using Simon says Stamp Stitched Frames, last years Christmas papers I'm guessing Echo Park. To finish Martha Stewart Holly Punch and Simon says Stamp Tiny Words Christmas.

Really short post mainly because I suffering from the lurgy, much to my hubby's glee I've lost my voice till about 11am so he gets some peace first thing in the morning.

Thanks

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for joining us last week and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is Thanksgiving/Thanks

We are showcasing Hero Arts this week, which just so happens to be Simon says Stamp Brand of the Month. You don’t have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $50 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the challenge Blog. You can join 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

This is my second card for this challenge I didn't like what I made and now I've made the card monochrome I like it much better.

I used the Hero Arts From the Vault Bugs as you see there are some pretty butterflies in the set. I decided to use the Simon says Stamp Quilted Hearts Background stamp because I find it not too busy it would hide the butterflies.

I often forget I've got the SSS Dot Scallop Border die does make a simple card look more interesting, I've covered the dots since it worked better when trimming the pattern paper to fit ontop. To finish I used the Bold Thanks from Simon says Stamp

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

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Hi all and welcome to the start of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event hosted by the fabulous Tracey McNeeley aka In My Creative Opinion ! This is the 9th year that Tracey has hosted this event and Simon Says Stamp is thrilled to be joining in with Day 11!

Each day up to November 28th there will be a different company sponsoring with fabulous crafty give aways and prizes to be won PLUS the company design teams will be joining in with lots of gorgeous Christmas Tags for our inspiration!

The Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenge teams are joining in using Simon's Exclusive Brand Products 

By joining in with the event YOU could win a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp! How awesome is that! ;-) 

I'm a firm believer that tags should be quick and easy and I decided to go for a white tag with a pop of red.

It also gave me another reason to use the Simon says Stamp Inside Christmas Greetings, I used the same sentiment for both of them but there are other suitable for a tag.

I used the bow from Simon says Stamp Candy Cane die but you need to position the sentiment so the bow tails fit all you will have to do what I had to and snip them off.

My Christmas floral spray was using SSS Poinsettia Parade and Christmas Foliage with some red gems.

Nearly forgot the actual tag is Stitched Dressed Tag.

 CLICK HERE  to visit Tracey's blog where there is more information about how you can win the fabulous prizes on offer!

If you upload your creations onto instagram please use the hashtag  #25DaysofTags2019

***************************************

There are lots of ways to win prizes and it is a little long winded so I am referring everyone to Tracey's blog for more info.

This is the info I received by email 

There are many ways that you can get a chance to win a prize. Prizes will be drawn from any or all of these things:

1. Comment on the posts here each day on what you saw that inspires you.
2. Follow the blog hop and comment along the way.
3. Participate by creating your own tags. The rules for participating are simple, you MUST create a Christmas tag inspired by a tag you see during the event and you MUST state in your post the day and whose tag you were inspired by in order to be eligible for a prize. Enter as many tags as you like. 
4. Don't have a blog but use Instagram? Create your project using these guidelines on your Instagram account:

• You need to be a follower of my Instagram account INSTAGRAM
• To win a prize you MUST create a Christmas tag inspired by a tag you see during the event and you MUST state in your post the day and the tag you were inspired by
• So that I can find your work include the following hashtag #25daysoftags2019
• Link up your IG tag here 

To keep  is fair for everyone, only one comment per post please. You may however create as many tags as you would like as long as you follow the rules. The more you hop along and comment and the more you participate the more chances you have of winning! The link up is only on this post (at the bottom of the page). I will keep the link up open until one week after the event is over to give you time to finish up. The contest and linky will close December ?, 2019 at 12:00 am (EST)! Prizes will be announced on December ? here on my blog.

Guidelines copied from the FB group 

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS TAGS 2019 GUIDELINES 

1. Please create a Christmas Tag using products from the company that you are representing--Anything goes! 

2. At least two days prior to the date that you are guesting make sure there is a photo of your tag in the FB album that is designated for the company you are representing. Please add your name and your permalink to the comments for your photo. I will collect them there. PHOTO SIZE—Photos must be at least 800 px wide and please make sure that you leave some room for cropping. 

3. On the day you are guesting please post your tag and blog about the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event on your personal blog at 6:00 am (EST) with: • a link to the company you are representing • a link to my blog http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.ca • display the logo found in the album Event Logo here in the Facebook Group

 Thank you so much for joining me for the 9th Annual 25 Days of Christmas Tags 

Gnome

Another new addition to my craft room Simon says Stamp Gnome die and I had to make a quick and simple card to see how well he works (be prepared I love him so much there's bound to be more).

For quicknest I used the Simon says Stamp Holiday Knit Background die, if I remember right it came quite late for last year Christmas Cards but it so quick to make a background.

All thats left it the sentiment made up from a couple from Tiny Words Christmas then cut out using the Simon says Stamp Stitched Banners.

Have you seen Debby Hughes Gnome she as used patterned paper scraps for hers and it looks brilliant.

Wisley Glow

Not my favourite scrapbook page but it does record the event and we have our tickets for this year.

Quick CAS Christmas card

I think it was last week or it could be the week before but the CAS(e) this Sketch inspired me to search out an old Hero Arts stamp with all the Christmas words. The Stags Head is a die from Newton's Nook but this one was left over from last Christmas.

To finally finish off a few Martha Stewart Holly Leaves from their punch and I have a large selection of pearls for berries.

The card below is exactly the same but with this time I use a poinsettia I made using Simon says Stamp Poinsettia Parade.

New Snowflakes

I'm pretty much a sucker for snowflakes or butterfly dies, show me a new one and I have to have it. Exactly why the Simon says Stamp Marie and Lea snowflakes dies found their way to me. And you simply have to use them. I did also use their Maryanne Snowflake for the kraft centres.

The background paper is Echo Park My Favourite Fall, most wouldn't work for Christmas but this one worked  perfect for the  back drop.

I cut the sentiment circle with Simon says Stamp Stitched Circle and used their Tiny Words Christmas and the dodgy swirls were made by me freehand.

A fairly quick card no I need a few more of the same.

Carrying Wood

I made my white paint a bit watery so my snow doesn't show as well has it should and I was dragged out to do some carpet shopping.

I refuse to go anywhere till I made my card. The image is of course a Mo Manning one called Carrying Wood and I had to have some trees on my card and the ones I used is an old Memory Box one.

I cut the image with a white border so it would help him stand out a bit but I left the white below the scarf and leg so I could use that for snow and to stamp a sentiment which is a Simon says Stamp one.

The snowflakes are cut from Glitter card using Mini Lawn Fawn Snowflake dies.

Mo's illustrated image looks like its paper pieced, I think I will definitely give that a go soon.

Thinking of You

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for joining us last week and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is Thinking of You

We are showcasing Simon says Stamp this week, which just so happens to be Simon says Stamp Brand of the Month. You don’t have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $50 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the challenge Blog. You can join 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

I decided to use another image from Simon says Stamp Fall Frenchies, I love this set I think I've covered nearly every season.

Now the sketch was CAS(e) this sketch 345 but I used the Simon says Stamp Stitched Squares with Echo Park My Favourite Fall and because they are double sided I only messed up two pages rather than four.

I used the Tim Holtz Distress Woodgrain, which I coloured with some colour blending and the sentiement is from the Message for Everday stamp set.

I felt it was a bit plain so I used the Simon says Stamp Luminary Circles die set, they great for flower or Snowflake centres.

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

Left over from a Square

Remember last Friday's card well here's the strip that was left over when I made the card. Just as a reminder the stamp was Simon says Stamp Leaves and Berries background stamp.

I used the Falling Snow Stencil to emboss the white part of the card and once again I've used Tiny Words Christmas for my sentiment and Poinsettia Parade. Since I only need a scallop strip I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop Border die.
This time I added some pearls out of my stash, I found some in the Simon says Stamp Store from Honey Bee called Raw Honey.

Lets Give Thanks

Time for a new challenge on Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge, there's a Thank You Theme, gave me a chance to have a break from Christmas cards.


I've used the very apt image called Thanks but isn't she cute ( you can easily make the image a boy).

My papers are Echo Park Spring Fling and the border is a Lawn Fawn Die but can't find the name.

My Flowers are made to look like the ones the little cutie is holding and thats with an old MFT Upsy Daisy dies folded in half with the centre folded over the middle to hold it all together. The leaves are Simon says Stamp Eucalyptus die, I chose it because it's new and therefore must used at all times!

Freshly Leaves

This was the card that I ended up ripping the sentiment off well I was a bit more careful than that. I had made it with gold embossing powder but decided white would work better. The card was inspired with the Freshly Made Sketch 408. I think it could be last weeks.

I stamped the background using the Simon say Stamps Leaves and Berries Background stamp and watercoloured the leaves obviously i need practice or next time will use a watercoloured pencil I find I have better luck with them.

I had the Sunny Studios Frilly Frames Polka Dot was out on my desk so I used the scallop part and cut my background to fit hiding the dots in the scallops.  The sentiment is Tiny Words Christmas embossing with WOW white embossing powder.

This one I coloured the stripy leaves glad I didn't bother on the other cards I made looks much better when you don't. There is also a nasty mark under my Poinsettia Parade blooms and I added the mistletoe leaves from Simon says Stamp Christmas Foliage, I must get round to making a Christmas spray with them all. I used the Nuvo Simply White drops for my berries and Auburn Pearl for the poinsettia centres although I need more practicing making tiny dots. I think I will fiddle with them and change them to pearls and I'll replace the photo later when its daylight.

Here's the picture I promise with gold pearls to replace the messy gold dots. I've come to the conclusion that more practice is need to dinky dots!