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:
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.)
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.)
