SSS DieCember Blog Hop!

Hey guys!

Welcome to my stop for day 1 of the Simon Says Stamp DieCember blog hop! You should've arrived here from the very talented Gayatri and her blog, Handmade By G3. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, head to Simon's blog here.

I love DieCember! It's a month long celebration of die cutting with special features, sales, education and inspiration that focus on die cutting and it all starts with Simon's exclusive, new release!

I'm so excited you're here and I can't wait to share my cards with you but first, we need to take care of some important business.

FREE GIFT:
As you can see in the graphic above, Simon is giving away an adorable, exclusive enamel pin, free with any purchase! How fun is that?! You can choose which pin you'd like and use the corresponding code at checkout. This gift is valid until 12/8 at 11;59pm ET, or while supplies last.

GIVEAWAY: 
Simon is also giving away a $25 gift certificate at every stop along the hop, from the comment sections! Be sure leave a comment below for your chance to win! They'll announce all the winners on Wednesday, December 11th, on their blog.

SIMON GALLERIES:
Did you know Simon has card galleries for each of their releases and their card kits, and even a video gallery? It's true and you can add your very own cards and projects to these galleries! Here's a link to all the Simon Brand Galleries and here's the link to the new, DieCember Gallery. There is so much inspiration to see! I encourage you to check them out and add your own cards/projects!

CARDS:
Okay, let's get to my cards because I know that's why you're all here - to see some inspiration. I had so much fun playing with some of the new products!

For my first card, I used the, "Hello Crafty Friend" die set. It's perfect for all your crafty friends, near or far! My background was created using Alcohol Pearl Inks.

I created another card with the same die set but this time I also used the matching background die. This one is clean and simple. Just a bit of shading with some Distress Oxide Ink.

This next die set could be used for so many special people in your life. Whether it's your spouse, partner, a sibling, or a close friend, they'd love to receive a card with this sentiment! It's called, "The Best Is Yet To Come." I used an older stencil, with some pretty shading, for the background.

While I had that stencil out and before I cleaned it, I spritzed the remaining ink with some water, took a watercolor card panel and laid it on top of the wet stencil. It's a fun technique! The die for this one is designed by Cathy Zielske for Simon and I love the simple yet bold letters! I don't know about you but I can never have enough "Thank You" dies! It also comes with a matching background.

Next up is the, "Burst" die and it's a fun one! So many possibilities with this one! I used Alcohol Pearl Inks again for a fun and striking look!

 Here's a different angle so you can see the shimmer from the gold.

Okay, last card, I promise! ;) For this one I used the beautiful "Winter Wishes Circle Die," along with one of the many dies from the "A7 Thin Frames" die set. I also added some leaves from an older set. More Distress Oxide Ink and some white splatters make for a pretty card!

That's it for me. I hope I've given you a bit of inspiration for using some of the new DieCember products. Thank you for your visit! I appreciate it so much!  

Day 2 of the hop will be this coming Friday, December 6th.

Your next stop on the hop is the wonderful, Lea Lawson at her blog, Lea Lawson Creates. 

Enjoy the rest of the hop!

 PRODUCTS USED:

SSS Cheer and Joy Release Blog Hop!

Hey guys!

Welcome to my stop on day 1 of the Simon Says Stamp, Cheer and Joy release blog hop!

You should have arrived here from the blog of my talented friend, Karin. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, click here to be taken to Simon's blog.

I'm so excited to share my cards with you today but first, there's some exciting things I need to tell you about.

FREE GIFT:
As you can see in the graphic above, Simon is giving away their adorable Post Office Box pin, free with any purchase! How fun is that?! Just use the code: HPYML9 at checkout. This gift is valid until 10/13 at 11;59pm ET, or while supplies last.

GIVEAWAY: 
Simon is also giving away a $25 gift certificate at every stop along the hop, from the comment sections! Be sure leave a comment below for your chance to win! They'll announce all the winners on Wednesday, October 16th, on their blog.

SIMON GALLERIES:
Did you know Simon has card galleries for each of their releases and card kits, and even a video gallery? It's true and you can add your very own cards and projects to these galleries! Here's a link to all the Simon Brand Galleries and here's the link to the new, Cheer and Joy release gallery. There is so much inspiration to see! I encourage you to check them out.

CARDS: 
Okay, let's get to my cards because I know that's why you're all here - to see some inspiration. I had so much fun playing with some of the new products! 

For my first card, I used a sentiment from the new, "Holiday Greetings Mix 1" stamp set. I love this set!

It didn't take me very long to create this card. I just did a bit of Copic coloring, added some little star embellishments and popped the panel onto a couple of pieces of colored cardstock and I was done! 

 
My second card was created using the same sentiment set, along with the gorgeous new, "Marie Snowflake" Die.

I just love playing with snowflakes, don't you? And I mean the paper kind, not the real ones - ha! (I am not a winter lover) This is another very simple, quick card. A little ink blending, then cutting the snowflake from a couple of different glittery papers, layering and attaching them. I really love that sentiment too!

 
Okay, I'm gonna be honest with you now and tell ya that this next card is not my fave. I loved water coloring the image with my Zig Markers but I don't love my color choices. That's okay though - sometimes we make the wrong choice, but I still think it's a fun card and the "Christmas Kaleidoscope Background" cling stamp is awesome! I'm looking forward to playing with it again soon - but I'll leave out the purple next time. Lol!

The next two cards focus on the new, "Prayers" Die. I first used the word die by itself, along with some watercolor flowers from a previously released set.

Then I used both the word die and its shadow image, which comes in the set. A little Alcohol Inking was all it needed.

Okay, last one. And I have to tell you, I ADORE the new, "Winter Floral Layering Stencil Set!" Gosh, it's fun to play with! And seriously, so easy to use to create another quick Christmas card!

That's it for me. I hope I've given you some inspiration for using some of the awesome new products in this release! Next up on the hop is the very talented, Crystal Thompson!

HOP ORDER:

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Jennifer McGuire

Cathy Zielske

Nina-Marie Trapani

Amy Rysavy

Suzy Plantamura

Lisa Addesa

Heather Ruwe

Gayatri Murali

Karin Åkesdotter

Barb Engler you are here

Crystal Thompson

Marge Yoon

Lea Lawson

Betty Wright

Thanks so much for your visit today! Enjoy the rest of the hop and don't forget - day 2 of the hop is tomorrow!

Hugs and happy stamping!

New Release and Other Products Used: (affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.)

STAMPtember Blog Party + Free Gift Code!

Hey guys!

It's the most wonderful time of year! STAMPtember is here and I'm so excited! 

I always love this month because over at Simon Says Stamp, they celebrate card makers and crafters all month long with new, awesome products, tons of inspiration, amazing projects, collaboration stamp sets with our favorite companies, giveaways, surprises and so much more! And it's the 10th anniversary of STAMPtember this year, so it's even more exciting!

It's a month filled with the love of stamping and it brings so many of us together, making this hobby even better! ♥♥♥

There are a lot of designers posting today and each one of us has a different coupon code for you to use to get free products - yay! Think of it as a scavenger hunt for some fun, free stuff! It all starts on Simon's blog where you'll find a list of everyone who is participating in the party.

FREE GIFT! 
I've got a special code for you today, for a free bottle of Tonic Studios Mini Nuvo drops in the beautiful, Bohemian Teal color! Just use the code in the graphic below with ANY purchase.

GIVEAWAY!
And did you see this?! Such an amazing giveaway! Take a look and read below! It is so generous of Simon Says Stamp!

GALLERIES!
Did you know Simon has galleries for each of their releases and card kits, and even a video gallery? It's true and you can add your very own cards and projects to these galleries! Here's a link to the Simon Brand Galleries. And here's a link to the STAMPtember Gallery.

CARDS
Okay, so I was generously sent some new products to play with and I'm excited to share my cards with you.

Have you ever ordered Suzy's Watercolor Card sets? Oh, my gosh, I love them! I love to color most of all, so they're perfect for me. But they are also so awesome for practicing your coloring. They come in a pack of like 10-15 and are pre-printed on watercolor paper but you don't have to watercolor with them. You can use markers or pencils too! I loved this pack created for STAMPtember and I've created 3 cards so far.

This first one comes without a sentiment so I added one from an older set called, "Choose Happy." I used Copic markers to color the cute scene.

This one was just so fun to color! I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers this time for a watercolor look.

The reason this one is cut into a square is because one of my red Copic markers blobbed all over but it turned out so cute, I couldn't bear to throw it away! There is always a way to fix those mistakes. The sentiment was added from the "30 Days of Thankful" set, which was designed by Cathy Zielske for STAMPtember.

For my next card I used the beautiful Tumbling Leaves stencil. I love how this turned out too! So sparkly!

It was so easy to create the pretty sparkle on this card. All I did was use a couple of soft Distress Oxide Ink colors to blend through the stencil, then I spread some clear embossing paste right over the colors, again through the stencil. Simon has a gorgeous glitter that I used to sprinkle over the embossing paste before it dried and the ink colors still show through. I hope you'll give this fun technique a try! And the sentiment is again from the "30 Days of Thankful" set.

My next two cards were created using the gorgeous, "Poinsettia Background" cling stamp. I LOVE this stamp!

I have always loved pink poinsettias so I just had to color the flowers in a soft pink shade! I used my Zig markers again to do some water coloring. The sentiment is from an older set called, "Christmas Essentials."

Last but not least is this beauty. The traditional red poinsettias, colored with Copic markers.

I thought the sentiment from last year's, "Stained Glass Greetings" set was perfect but I didn't like how busy it looked against an already busy background, so I just colored in the open areas of the stamp with a black marker and liked it much better! 

That's it for me. I really hope I've inspired you to give some of these products a try! 

HAPPY STAMPtember!!!

NEW RELEASE PRODUCTS: (affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.)  
 

SSS Believe In You Release Blog Hop!

Hey guys!

Welcome to my stop on day 1 of the Simon Says Stamp, Believe In You release blog hop. I'm so happy you're here and I'm excited to share lots of cards with you today!

FREE GIFT:
Did you know that Tim Holtz is Simon's Brand of the Month for July?

If you purchase any Tim Holtz product now through the 31st, Simon will add a Mini Distress Resist Spray to your order for free, while supplies last! So fun!

GIVEAWAY:
Simon is giving away a $25 gift card to every stop along the hop and will choose the winners from the comment sections! The winners will be announced on the Simon blog Wednesday, July 31st.

GALLERIES:
Did you know Simon has galleries for each of their releases and card kits, and even a video gallery? It's true and you can add your very own cards and projects to these galleries. Here's a link to the Simon Brand Galleries and here's the link to the new, Believe In You Gallery. There is so much inspiration there! I encourage you to check them out. 

CARDS:  
I have lots of card to show you today, so lets get started. (The new release products and other products used are listed below.)

My first two cards are simple and pretty. I used the "Sunflower Stem" Die for both of them. One was created with Distress Oxide Inks and the other with Alcohol Inks. So easy!

      
For my next card, I used a really cool set called, "Thanks and Encouragement Word Mix 1" and I decided to use the sentiments, from one of the mixes, all together, to create a sort-of subway art look.

Next up is the pretty, "Daisy Square" Die. I love this little die and thought a shaker card would be fun. I used a couple of Copic Markers to add some simple shading to the dies, and a bit of Distress Oxides for the background.

The new, "Scallop Waves Cling" stamp is so fun! I white embossed the image and used Distress Oxides with the resist technique. I couldn't "resist" making some rainbows out of a few of the waves with a very steady, light hand using Copic Markers.

This next one is another really simple card. Just a fun stencil, one Distress Oxide Ink color and some shimmer spray. The stencil is called, "Faceted Stripes" and it's really cool! 

Okay, last card. I adore this stamp set! It's called, "Never Quit Swimming" and I had so much fun creating this one. The critters are adorable and fun to color, giving you endless possibilities for creating some really cute cards! And I love the fun sentiments included in this set too.

Whew! If you're still here, thanks for sticking it out to the end. I know that was a lot of cards but as always, I want to show you as much as I can to help inspire you with this awesome new release. I hope I've done just that!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of the hop and don't forget tomorrow is day 2, with lots more inspiration coming your way.

Blog Hop Order:

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

         Cathy Zielske

        Nina-Marie Trapani

        Jessica Frost-Ballas

        Amy Rysavy

        Suzy Plantamura

        Lisa Addesa

        Heather Ruwe

        Gayatri Murali

        Barb Engler  (you are here)

         Marge Yoon

        Lea Lawson

PRODUCTS: (affiliate links used at no extra cost to you)

Trinity Stamps 1 Year Anniversary Blog Hop!

Hey guys!

I am so excited and honored to be joining Trinity Stamps 

for their one year anniversary blog hop!  

They're not only celebrating with a hop but with a huge new release too! It was such a pleasure playing with some of their new products and I have a couple of cards to share with you today.

GIVEAWAY:
One blog hop reader will be randomly selected to receive a $20 Trinity gift card and a birthday surprise gift. Leave a comment on all the stops along the hop for a chance to win.

FREEBIES:
Trinity Stamps is giving away a free Mini Balloon Die and a free Cake Smash Sprinkles Embellishment Mix to everyone who makes a purchase during their birthday celebration!
 

Orders over $50 will also receive their exclusive, "Kind One" Senti-Mini Stamp Set, and orders over $99 will also get the matching die set, along with free shipping! These gifts are available through July 15th or until supplies last.

CARDS: 
My first card uses the, Catching Some Rays Stencil Set. It's a two-piece set and I wanted to try something different. Instead of placing the stencil across the whole card front, I only used it on half the card. Not sure I like all the white space but I do love the shimmer from the embossing paste and glitter I used.

Here's a closer look.

For my second card, I used two different stamp and die sets. One is called, Fairy Wonderful and the other is called, Succulent Sparkle.

I colored all the images with Copic Markers. Aren't those fairies the cutest?!

I hope I've given some ideas on using a few of the products from this fabulous release. Next up on the hop is Bobbi Lemanski.

BLOG HOP LIST:

Trinity Stamps

Angelica Conrad

Barb Engler ** You are here

Bobbi Lemanski

Brenda Noelke

Caly Person

Carly Tee Minner

Christine Burillo-Kirch

Courtney Kreeber

Daniel West

Emelie Hessler

Emily Mydlowski

Jeannie Lieu

Jennifer McGuire

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Kathy Racoosin

Katie Brooks

Kelly Latevola

Lisa Cisneros

Laurie Willison

Shanna Slater

Enjoy the rest of the hop and thanks so much for stopping by! ♥

PRODUCTS USED: (Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.)