Negative Birthday...the Die Cut!

I am having so much fun with the new Simon Says Stamp Love release!  I have used the pretty new Folk Dance stencil to make a birthday card using one of my recently favorite color combos...pink, black and white...using the negative of the die cut on this birthday card...

I used some white embossing paste on the stencil....this stencil is soooo pretty... then die cut the Simon birthday sentiment die from the fully dried(overnight...I think it was almost a full day for me) stencil. I layered a couple black layers underneath the embossed panel, then  used my pick up stick to not only adhere all the tiny pieces of the sentiment to the layers but to the cut out sentiment.  Here's a close up...

Ok...simple fun...but great fun!!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Love is Everyday!

 I recently got the Memory Box Double Stitched Heart Rings dies and made a couple cards

...With Love...

I love these hearts...two different shaped hearts in five heart dies...such fun!!  I die cut and layered the five hearts and die cut five different colored pieces of cardstock to adhere over the white layers.  I added a Simon Says Stamp sentiment and some enamel dots.  Here's a close up...

 The second one, I used the three similiar shaped dies, and made the outside ones pink and one red one in the center.  I added my striped recycled papers on the top and bottom of the panel...

Here's a close up...

Hearts are for everyday...FUN!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Flower Filled Repeating Circles

I used the fun, new Repeating Circles die from Simon Says Stamp's new Love release to make a Flower filled sixlet of circles...

I used the Flowers from the Simon Floral Burst Collage die to make the flowers.  They are layered twice, and have an enamel dot in the middles.  I used the gray cardstock for the top panel and stamped the Simon Grid background stamp with white ink , die cut then layered the panel from underneath the cut outs twice for depth.  The sentiment is from the Hydrangea Blooms stamp set.  Here's a close up...

Having SOOOO much fun with this new release!!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Simon Says Stamp LOVE Release Blog Hop and Giveaway!

The season of Love is upon us...and love is not only in the air, but it's at Simon Says Stamp with their  new release, appropriately called...LOVE!!  This release has some amazing new stamps and dies that have made me, and I'm sure will make you, fall...in...love!!

You should have reached my blog on the hop, from Heather Ruwe's blog!

I have used one of the sweet new dies from this release for the three cards I have made to show you today, Cupid's Heart Border die ...I am smitten with this die!!...

My style of creating is generally pretty clean and simple, which is probably why I'm so in love with this die...the Cupids Heart Border die is wonderfully simple and simply lovely...perfect for a clean and simple cardmaker!!!

I die cut and adhered the hearts, leaves and dots in the three colors, to the card, which I had embossed with the die onto the cardstock, making it easy to place all the pieces!  I layered the hearts twice, and everything else once.  I stamped the pretty and timely sentiment from the Simon set, Hydrangea Blooms set,  and clear embossed.  Here's a close up...

The second one, I used paint chips for the colored hearts and the same sentiment as the first...

  I die cut the border from the white cardstock, then layered two more times below the top panel.  I, again, embossed the heart border onto white cardstock, and adhered the colored hearts and pieces to that embossed piece.  I then adhered the hearts and borders together.  I added Tonic Jewel Drops onto the hearts and card...just thought they added some extra pretty!  The striped papers are recycled paper from gift card packaging.  Here's a close up...

The third one is done much like the first, except I hand cut off the bottom piece of the panel below the die cut border,  and added a black polka dotted bottom onto the front panel...  

 I popped up the heart panel over the polka dots and added some of the Jewel Drops. 

Well, THAT'S  MY fun...it's on to yours!!...

 Simon Says Stamp will generously be giving a $25 coupon to one commenter from each and every blog on the hop, simply leave a comment for a chance to win!!  The winners will be chosen and be posted on the Simon Says Stamp Blog this coming Wednesday, so make sure you check the blog to see if you're a winner!

The next stop on the hop is back to the top of the hop, The Simon Says Stamp Blog!!  All the participants of today's blog can be found on the Simon Says Stamp Blog, you can head there if you should get lost...hope you will check out everyone's inspiration today!!

Thanks so much for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Gingham Happy Birthday!

I just can't get away from birthday cards!!  Here is a card that I originally started for the Simon Says Stamp Friend blog hop a couple weeks ago, but just never liked how I finished it, so I didn't put it up for the hop, and put it on my desk for later.  I took it apart three times and put it back together a different way each time(always trying to fit it into or onto a heart like I did with the other three for the hop).  Yesterday, I simplified and I was finally HAPPY...get it?!...

I used the Simon Says Stamp Stained Glass Love stamp/die set to make this sentiment.  I LOVE using these letters with patterned paper...gives them such a fun look!!  I stamped and cut the letter pieces with a scissor.  I adhered them to a stamped and die cut "HAPPY". I added tiny black hearts and glossy accented them.  I tied three die cut heart balloons to the sentiment and popped it up on a black gingham strip with "BIRTHDAY" stamped below it.  All were adhered to a card that I had embossed with my go-to favorite thing right now, burlap!  

Here's a close up...

Rainbows and birthdays are just so much fun, I never get tired of putting them together...they make ME happy:)!!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Streaming Heart Done Three Ways!

Simon Says Stamp has a new release at their store today, LOVE!  Oh...my...goodness...what a wonderful release...I am in LOVE!!!  I have been having so much fun creating with the new dies and stamps!!  I made three cards to show you today, using the new Streaming Heart die!  To say I love this die would be an understatement..it's a heart...it is a beautiful heart...the possibilities are endless with a beautiful big heart...oh yes, I forgot to mention...it's wonderfully big:)!!  

Simple designs...this heart is a show stopper all by itself!!
...the first... simply a heart of LOVE... 

All three cards were made using paint chips...die cut and layered with chipboard.  I embossed the card with a piece of burlap, added a beautiful Simon sentiment from the Thoughtful Messages stamp set, and added some jewel dots.

The second one, the heart turns to Birthday love...

This one made much like the first, with a change of color and the dots are crystal drops...

The third, the heart turns to Thinking of You love...

I used the Simon Circle of Leaves die to add leaves to the layered heart.  I die cut, then hand cut the leaves from the die cut circle and layered twice.  I added another sentiment from the same Simon sentiment stamp set(LOVE this set, too!!).  The bottom stripes are from a gift card packaging paper(the packaging has a top and bottom set of stripes...enough for TWO cards...yay:)!!)...I bought a LOT of gift cards(I love this local restaurant, too!)...

Here's a close up...

The Simon Blog is going to have a blog hop on Saturday...hope you will join me and a lot of amazing artists to see and get inspired by this new release!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Happy Birthday Wishes

If you've been around my blog for any length of time, you know how much I love rainbows.  My son's name is Noah and there's Noah and the ark, and the rainbow is one of God's promises...put the two together, and rainbows are incredibly special to me!!  I have used the new Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday die to make a card for someone's special day...in a rainbow!!... 

I just want to say...I absolutely LOVE this die!!!!  The font is so universal, I already have ideas for a couple more cards that are both guy and girl cards using this die.  The "BIRTHDAY" die font is sooooooooo cool, it is easy to work with and is just so amazing looking...what's not to love??!!  The die is 3 1/2" long, so I used 7 colored strips each 1/2" wide cut from the Doodlebug pad of rainbow patterned papers, and die cut the sentiments from the strips that I had adhered to a piece of thin cardstock(LOVE this pad of papers, too...wow...a card full of love:)!!!).  I then layered the pieces of the die cut (the birthday comes in 3 pieces...fun!!), and adhered them to an embossed card, that I made using the Simon die, Mod Circle Frame.  I added a "wishes" sentiment and 3 jewel dots made with the very cool and pretty  Tonic Nuvo Jewel Drops.  Here's a close up...

Ok...super fun!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Cosmo Thanks

I made a card with the new Simon Says Stamp Cosmo Flower Frame die today..

I was inspired by none other than a television program whose colors are light pink, black and white.  I took note of the colors during multiple commercials, and decided to make a card using that color theme.  I think this new flower die from Simon is SOOOOOO PRETTY!!!!  I used Tim Holtz distress ink, and brushed it onto watercolor paper.  I embossed the die onto the brushed paper,  hand cut the flower from the embossed image, and adhered the paper to a layered die cut with all the pieces removed.  I die cut and layered the Simon Thanks sentiment and adhered the panel to a card with a polka dotted piece of patterned paper.  Here's a closeup...

Slowly but surely coming through the January cold freeze we're having and the fog of my continued cleaning...always having FUN!!!   Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Sending Hugs

I have been in the middle of tearing apart my craft room!! Now, mind you, my craft room is 1/2 my daughters old bedroom.  The room is still a bedroom and serves as guest room when we have visitors.  I have supplies in the closet and some various storage containers throughout the room, but the bottom line is... I have way too much stuff, and it is very disorganized!!  One of my words for 2018 is lean...and I don't just mean me.  My sister's words to me in the middle of cleaning any part of my house is to "thin the herd", and I remember one crafter saying some years ago, that too much stuff and a cluttered room stiffled her creativity.  That being said, my space for creativity is a bit chaotic right now.  I have held onto things for YEARS, and am realizing that getting my space cleaned out and up is going to be amazing, but it is also going to take some real time.  

I made today's card a little bit ago...thought today would be a perfect day to show it to you!...

 I die cut the Papertrey Ink "HUGS" from washi tape.  Yes, I love washi tape!!  Of late, I especially love wide, and cool colored washi tape!  The tape I used for this card, I purchased at ACMoore, and it looks like this...

It was the perfect width to totally fit this sentiment die with one piece of tape.  I layered a couple times, and added it to a card that I had embossed Papertrey Ink diagonal stripes and a PTI coordinated sentiment to.  Here's a close up...

Such fun!!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Simon Says Stamp Friends Blog Hop and Giveaway!

I am beyond thrilled to be a part of today's Simon Says Stamp blog hop, showcasing Simon's newest release, Friends! 

You should be arriving here from Kathy Racoosin's blog!

This release has wonderful new stamps and fun new dies and even some new stencils... with friends in mind!  There is such a wide variety of themes...there truly is something for everyone in this wonderful release...WHAT FUN!! 

  Today, I chose to use the pretty new Stained Glass Love stamp and die sets to make a trio of cards with these stained glass sentiments!...

  This set of stamps and dies is similiar to another stained glass stamp/die set released for Christmas.  With Valentines Day around the corner, this set of sentiments has little hearts in the letters, and there is lots of love in the sentiments...I love them!  I saw something a little different when I thought of creating with these stamps...PAPER PIECING!!  It has been a while since I paper pieced, but thought these sentiments had such great versatility and fun possibilities with patterned paper!
  I started with  polka dots on kraft...

 I stamped, die cut, and layered the "LOVE".  I used a stencil and black ink to make some polka dots on kraft paper... making my own patterned paper.  The letters on these sentiments are small, and paper piecing means having small designs or patterned paper to work with.  I then stamped and embossed the "LOVE" on the polka dots(this one below was one that didn't make the cut😆)...

I cut out the letters and adhered them onto the die cut sentiment. I die cut the little hearts for the sentiment from the Simon Falling Hearts die, and used my pick me up stick to adhere them to the sentiment.  I put them over a panel that was heart die cut, layered from underneath and embossed with a piece of burlap for some texture...

The second just like the first, but gingham black patterned paper for the letters,  a bigger heart and glossed hearts on the letters...

 Here's a close up...

The third...just like the first two, but with little flowers to a friend...with a yet bigger heart for a longer sentiment...

Here's a close up of this one...

Ahhhhh...such great fun!!!!  Now to the fun for all of you!!

 Simon Says Stamp will generously be giving a $25 coupon to one commenter from each and every blog on the hop, simply leave a comment for a chance to win!!  The winners will be chosen and be posted on the Simon Says Stamp Blog this coming Wednesday, so make sure you check the blog to see if you're a winner!

The next stop on the hop is to Nina-Marie Trapani's blog!!  All the participants of today's blog can be found on the Simon Says Stamp Blog, you can head there if you should get lost...hope you will check out everyone's inspiration today!  Just a head's up...there is another blog hop tomorrow morning, hope you will check it out for even MORE inspiration!!  Oh what real fun:)!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa