Twigs and Leaves

I've been inspired from pictures on Instagram and Pinterest and I loved a particular card with twigs and leaves and a whole line of birds.

This is my take on it using my supplies. The leaves and twigs are both really old dies as well as the bird. To be honest I'm not sure if I ever used the bird die.

The sentiment is Simon says Stamp Thoughtful Messages and the gold foil paper was floating on my desk. I think it came out of Card Kit box but if I'm honest I haven't a clue. The rustic twine is a bit of natural string that was round some flowers, I separated the strands to use just one to give a more delicate look.

Thinking of You

It was sad that I had to make one of these cards recently and I used Simon says Stamp Moments of Grace for inside and outside of the card.

I tried to colour my flowers lightly and layered the Thinking of You die several times to help it stand out. It's quite a simple card.

These are the beautiful words inside and is very true.

Short and sweet post, I'm off to the Bracknell Crop run by The Scrap Cafe today.

Anything Goes

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the CAS Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is:

Anything Goes

We are showcasing Impression Obsession this week. 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. 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 love how my card worked out but its really strange the cards I'm not so keen on get more views, go figure.

Anyway but to my card I've used Floppy Pup from Impression Obsession, I kinda knew it would be this style of card and decided that I could make it a sympathy card. Especially as I have the beautiful stamp set from Simon says Stamp called Moments of Grace with the meaniful words stamps.

Now rather than walk away after stamping the words I decided to use the Simon says Stamp Paw Print stencil I cheated and used a brown copic pen rather than blending an inkpad. This is probably where I should have done less.

To make the panel my doggy is sitting interesting I used the Simon says Stamp Wavy Scallop Stitched border.

I apologies to everyone trying to comment on my blog seems I forgot to save settings, at least that horrible spammer couldn't comment either.

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

Hero Arts

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Card + Envelope Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is

Clean And Simple 

We are showcasing Hero Arts Products this week. 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 bottom of this Challenge post! 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!

Its strange that on Instagram my CAS cards get the best views but give me a CAS challenge and my brain goes to mush.

I made a card and so wasn't happy with it, so I got out this gorgeous Hero Arts Thorn Tree and Grasses die and with the fabulous Simon says Stamp Moments of Grace sentiment worked out brilliantly together.

Here's the card I wasn't happy with I used the same sentiment and I used the Simon says Stamp Honey Leaves die which I coloured with copics definitely will use this idea again.

The Hero Arts Color Laying Owl I stamped in Browns didn't like it so I stamped it again in Greens I felt it was better but still wasn't happy which is why I made the other card.

The image mat was using Simon says Stamp Stitched Rectangles and the dotty green papers is Pink and Main Sunset Paper. I'm going to have to have another go at this card to redeem myself.

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

Fussy Sympathy Poppy

Did I mention that I brought this Simon says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2 stamp and die set because the two single flowers reminded me of poppies and perfect for this time of year when we remember the fallen.

This one is a bit more fussy rather than CAS that fabulous background is a Lawn Fawn Quilted Backdrop die.  The rest I kept simple, the stitched frame is Simon says Stamp Stitched Oval dies and the sentiment banner are MFT Stitched Fishtail Strip dies.

My favorite sentiment stamps Simon says Stamp Thoughtful Messages stamped in the banner but I had to use the large die to fit properly so it overlaps the card but it just gives a rectangle card a bit interest at least that's my excuse.

It's been a busy week with Hubby's and mine Birthdays and its not ended yet. I'm away this weekend at The Scrap Cafe retreat, I will be checking out the card making ladies for ideas for Christmas cards ideas but I will be scrapbook. On Sunday I will have to finish at lunchtime to go to a very special nephew's 1st Birthday.

Sympathy Poppy

Apparently its World Card Making day and I thought I better post a card today especially as I'm not card making but at a crop Scrapbooking, still playing with paper.

Before I went on my hols I made sure a few of the Stamptember release from Simon Says Stamp were ordered and was waiting for me when I got back.

I brought the Beautiful Flowers 2 stamps and dies although I haven't use the die here. The main reason the two stand alone flowers reminded me of poppies. I decided to use them first.

I tried very carefully to pull the stamps off the backing sheet and managed to rip the stem, I added a pic where I stamped with the broken stem. You just see a gap although cross with myself this is easily remedy using a Memento Pen and you see the my actual card when coloured looks fine.

I started to used the Splitcoast Sketch SC717 but my poppy looked lost so mat and layered the card with a bit of red card. The borders were made with Simon says Stamp Stitched Scallop Border dies.

Finally my sentiment is using my favourite sentiment stamps at the moment Simon says Stamps Thoughtful Messages.

Updated Version

There is a card of mine that seems to be always popping up on Pinterest, after a bit of checking this card comes from 2012 in March. I discovered I had actually cased this card.

When I saw the stamp in the Simon Says Stamp August kit which unfortunately has now sold out and even the individual Modern Rose stamp is now out of stock but I would use the notify when back in stock key that's how I brought their bicycle die which is now winging its way over the Atlantic as we speak. There is no reason why another large background stamp could work the same way.
I used a stamp positioner and stamp the 6inch stamp.

Instead of making my own strips by measuring and cutting, I used the Simon says Stamp Stitched Banners. I cut with the one up from the smallest and cut five full banners, then using the die again but cutting the straight end of the die and now with what would be the waste. I lined the straight ends across my card. This allows for the proper length banner cut down to the size I want.

I made the flower banner using Simon Says Stamp Stitched borders and added a bit of green card, you can use ribbon. My large flower is Simon says Stamp Stitched Daisies and it's leaves are Forget me Knot flowers.

Using the banner across the card trim the small ends to fit underneath it. Then add the full length  banners trimming the ends so they too are hidden under the flower banner. Leave enough room for a sentiment I've used the Simon says Stamp Thoughtful Messages  and the hearts are from the other stamp set in the kit called Mandy's Flowers and at this moment still available to order and look out for the dies they are coming soon.

We had rain yesterday can't believe how excited everyone was, thankfully the temperature as dropped a bit, maybe I'll get more time in my craft room and PC.

Use a Stencil

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

Thank you for joining us for the Boys Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.
This week the challenge is

Stencil It   

We are showcasing our very own Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Products this week. You don't have to use them to join in but if you have some 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

Mmmm I think I go carried away with the stencils, I used Oxides for all of the background well except the sequins. The main colour is Squeezed Lemonade and I covered the whole page, if I did it again I would leave a white space in the middle since I now think it was a bit much.

With the help of post it notes and scraps of paper I carefully used the Tim Holtz Roses Stencil and moving it around I placed my roses. I matched up the roses but covered them so I could use the leaf parts. Finally I used the Simon Says Stamp Large Falling Hearts stencil carefully covering up any hearts that may fall on my roses.

I used the Tim Holtz Stamping Platform for stamping my sentiment because I wanted to make sure it showed up well. The sentiment came from the Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Messages stamp set.

It needed something else so I used the Simon Says Stamp Stitching Butterflies dies, they're out of stock at the moment but I would recommend to use the notify me link because I think they will be flying out of the doors once they arrive back in stock.

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

Thinking of You

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.
This week the challenge is

Animal Magic   

We are showcasing Gina K  Products this week. You don't have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used.
As always the lovely Heidi and team Simon will be giving away a $50 Voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store ! 

Sshh I know its not an animal but a bird I checked google and it mentions that birds are a class of animal.

I've used Gina K Wetlands 2 big apologies since the stamp set is now out of stock but I would recommend using notify me when back in stock. I've used a few times and it works a treat.

One of Hubby's friend as lost her Mum and he wanted a sympathy card, although I find CAS are the best way to go for these type of cards I would rather not make them.

I used Tim Holtz Tonic Stamp Platform especially with new clear stamps and it help me to be able to create a scene. I cut the heron twice and fussy cut one so it is slightly raised.

Forgot to say I had already cut my white card with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles (the most used die set in my whole craftroom). Sorry they out of stock at the mo, will be back soon I'm sure.

My favourite stamp at the moment is Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Messages and it as a beautiful Thinking of you sentiment which I've used here.

A bit of sadness to see so many of the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge leave us for various reason and I wish them all well.

Good news out of hundreds of entries we are pleased to welcome and its worth checking out their blogs I know I have.

Ankita Gupta aka Glitter Doodles

Karin Åkesdotter aka Peppermint Patty 

Kim Hamilton aka Paper Pawz 

Marge Yoon aka Marge Crafts

Mindy Baxter aka My Creative Scoop

Misty Elam aka Happy Ink Designs

Myself with Lols, Jo, Lin, Mandy, Tracy have been invited to stay with the team. 

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

Modern Anemones

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Photo Inspiration Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.
This week the challenge is

Anything Goes

We are showcasing Wplus9 Products this week! You don't have to use them to join in with the challenge but if you have some 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

I've used Modern Anemones from Wplus9 and I knew I wanted to make a black and white card. I layered a bit of white between the two pieces of black to give the card a bit of depth.

The flowers were easy to do by colouring only the centres and I use a fine tip pen to do the tiny stamens. I simply fussy cut the flowers, each flower is cut out three times one to be my base. The second I embossed on the back with a large embossing ball tool and the third one minus some petals. I made the leaves in the same way but only had to cut two of each set of leaves.

I wanted the flowers to sit on something so I thought I would use the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Banners and I stamped the Uplifting Thoughts stamp leaving a space for one of my leaves.

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

Thinking of You

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Christmas Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is

Thinking Of You

We are showcasing Memory Box Products this week! You don't have to use them to join in with the challenge but if you have some 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

This card turned out so much better than in my head but I wish I could photo it better. The latest challenge is showcasing Memory Box my problem could've of been which one but decided on buying a new one and since I don't have any dragonflies so I brought Dragonfly Stems Left Corner die.

I first cut the corner in green and put it to one side while I dealt with colouring my card for the dragonflies and background. I got out my Oxides,

 I used Cracked Pistachio, Broken China and Fossilized Amber for cardstock for the dragonflies.

Worn Lipstick, Candied Apple and Antique Linen for the background and used Iced Spruce for the Simon Says Stamp Good Reading Background stamp but it was the second impression after randomly stamping first on a scrap paper.

I then cut twice for the dragonflies in the corner and fussy cut them out, first with the whole body then for the wings. I repeated this for the random dragonflies.

I had to trim a stem because it was over my sentiment which was stamped using the Misti and the Simon Says Stamp Happy Thoughts stamp set. To finish the card using Simon Says Stamp Stitched Shapes bundle and some Kaiser Rhinestone Black Gems for my Dragonflies.

Look what's coming tomorrow.

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

Floating Butterflies

I cut these butterflies for Wednesday's card but initially I didn't like them but I'm now thinking they would have been better, can't waste them. In the back of my mind I'm thinking about the Less is More Challenge of using Patterned Paper but I'll check before entering.

The Stitched Rectangle and the sentiment both from Simon Says Stamps and the butterflies various Memory Box dies. The strange antennas are drawn by me!

Well its the start of a busy weekend, today I have swimming and have to pack my bags for a crop tomorrow. Sunday we are going up North to lay some flowers at Crematorium on Hubby's Mum's Birthday so we are staying up there for a couple of days. To include a visit to a garden centre whose prices are a lot cheaper.