Simple Stem Two Ways

I have used the Simon Says Stamp Simple Stem die from the DieCember® release to make two simply designed cards, showing the versatility of this pretty die!  I've made one for Christmas time, and the second for anytime! 

I die cut and layered the leaves of this pretty die with two shades of paint chips.  I dotted the leaves with with enamel dots that I had colored red with a sharpie marker.  Then I brushed the leaves with my Wink of Stella glitter marker for some Christmas bling!  I used an older Simon sentiment stamp that I thought fit the length of the die, and made me happy!  Here's a close up...

The second one, I opted to use a rainbow of colors to fill in the leaves and make a card to bring happy to whoever I send it to...

I filled in the leaves like the first one, and instead of glitter, I used my Tonic drops and dotted some of the leaves, and outside the die cut for other dots.  I used another longer sentiment die, that has become one of my favorites during these times!!  Here's a close up...

I won't be posting until after Christmas...so for those of you who celebrate  this wonderfilled day, I hope you have a very merry Christmas!!  I'll see you after the 25th!!

Thank you so much for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Just Because

I've made a card with the new CZ Design Just Because die, from the new Simon Says Stamp Love You release...just because...

I used strips of heart patterned papers adhered together, to die cut the background of the sentiment.  I die cut the sentiment in white cardstock and layered.  I embossed the new Simon Mini Hearts Party die across the card panel, and used the same die to die cut three hearts, in the colors of the open space above and next to the sentiments,  and layered them   I used the sentiment stamp from the new Love Greetings Mix sentiment stamp set, and cut out with scissors.  Here's a close up... 

Hope you are all doing well!  With one week til Christmas, I hope you are not going Christmas crazy....please stay safe!!

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

You Have My Heart

I know that Valentines Day will be the next big day for cardmaking after Christmas, and who doesn't love to send cards expressing love to others, but can I just say, love is for any day!  The stamp and die set I used for my card, today, are by Simon Says Stamp from their newest Love You release!...  

I used the beautiful You Have My Heart stamp/die set. I think this heart shaped wreath is simply beautiful! I stamped the wreath in my MISTI with a gray ink, colored the flowers and leaves, put it back into my MISTI and this time stamped with versamark and then gold embossed.  I LOVE this technique for using with gold/silver embossing, as it's important to get the image colored before embossing, so the metallic embossing doesn't become colored from the markers.  I know yellow might seem like a strange choice for the roses, but I chose yellow as I'm missing my dad, and I always gave him yellow roses for his birthday, so yellow made me happy!  I dotted the berries with white Tonic drops, added one of the sentiments, from the set, and gave my green card panel some darker green stripes with a Simon background stamp, to match the leaves.  Here's a close up...

I hope you are doing great, wherever you are, on this amazing planet of ours, today!  Please stay safe!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Rainbow Floral

I've made a card with the beautiful new Simon Says Stamp Floral Card Front die from Simon' s newest Love You release!...

One of the things I was feeling when I saw this die was "rainbow"!  The number of elements in this die was perfect for a rainbow, so I used two different shades of each of the six colors I chose .  I layered the entire die cut and added a stamped sentiment on the card, from the Simon Healing Hugs stamp/die set.  Here'a a close up...

Sending happy thoughts your way for a happy day!!

Thanks for stopping by,  today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Love Birds

Simon Says Stamp has come out with a new release, today, Love You, to celebrate the upcoming season of love!  I have made a card with one of the new dies, Love Birds and a sentiment from one of the new sentiment stamp sets from this amazing new release!...

I am a bird lover...I have four bird feeders and have a pair of bluebirds that come to my feeders every day!  I think they are just beautiful!!  It's also easy to see them as a pair, as the male is so blue with an orange chest, and the female gray with blue specs in her wings.  I thought this die fit them perfectly!!  I die cut the birds, adhered an empty of pieces die cut on top of the first die cut, filled in with colored pieces, then adhered tow more layers on top of those,  I stamped the sentiement from the new Love Greetings Mix stamp set, and used a die cut, popped up heart  as the homefor both the birds and sentiment. 

Here's a close up...

I hope you will check out this new release...will have lots more to show you in the days to come...

so much fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by to visit today, it means a lot to me!! Hugs!! Lisa

Chunky Hearts Panel

I made a couple cards with the new Simon Says Stamp Chunky Hearts Panel die, from their new DieCember® release!...

The first one, I used the die as is, and adhered it to a die cut piece of craft foam for depth.  I added two die cut hearts from patterned paper to "mimic" two friends, and added the new CZ Design Friends die, layered, and a CZ Design sentiment strip.  Here's a close up...

The second one, I used the craft foam pieces from the first one, and 4 shades of paint chips...

The sentiment is from the Simon I am With You stamp set!  Here's a close up...

LOVED making these cards!!  Simon will be coming out with a new release in a couple days...so hope you will check back!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Autumn Splendor Two Ways

I've made a couple cards with the pretty new Simon Says Stamp Autumn Splendor die from their newest DieCember® release!...

Without looking at the name of the die, I "thought", at first glance, that this die was a Christmas die...Christmas greenery and some holly berries.  So...that's what I made my first card.  I die cut, placed different shades of green paint chips into the die cut before layering, then added some glossy accents on the berries for some fun.  I added a gold die cut and layered CZ Design Joyful for the sentiment.  The background is the pretty Simon Petal Plate die.  Here's a close up...

Then, I went and looked at the NAME of the die, and decided that I would do a more Autumny version...

I again used paint strips...the colors more on the lighter side of Autumn, and did the same as the first.  I used the CZ Design Thankful die and the Simon Wood Planks stamp for the background.  I again dotted the orange berries with Glossy Accents.  Here's a close up...

A very versatile die...and I am having so much fun with DieCember®!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

DieCember® Blog Hop!

I am so happy to be joining a whole bunch of really talented artists, today, to celebrate Simon Says Stamp's wonderful new DieCember® release on the Simon Blog!  The December release is an annual one, and, as is in the name, this release is comprised solely of...you guessed it...DIES!  

I have used one of these amazing new dies to showcase, using it on two different cards for today's hop...

I have used the very cool new CZ Design Hugs die for both my cards.  I think all of us could use some hugs, and others would love to receive some "hugs"...paper hugs being the next best thing to the real thing, right now. I die cut the sentiment in six different colors and die cut another for each, from craft foam, to give them height off the card.  I arranged them on the card...a bit bigger than the usual cards, about an A7 size card...6 3/4"x 5".  I used a sentiment from the Simon Paper Hugs stamp set, and cut the hearts from the Simon Stacked Hearts die, and layered with foam, like the "hugs".  Here's a close up... 

The second one, I chose to link the hugs, and give color to only the one in the middle...

I discovered these hugs fit perfectly into one another, so I linked them together on the card!  I used the same craft foam as in the first one, to give the words some height, and used strips of color adhered together for the middle one.  The sentiment is made from two sentiments stamped together, and the heart was cut from an old favorite Simon heart die.   The card is 6" x 4 1/4".  Here's a close up,...

Well...I had so much fun making these,..now it's time for fun for you!  Simon will be giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from our blog comments section, so make sure you  leave a comment for a chance to win...that's a LOT of chances if you leave a comment on each artist's blog!   Winners will be chosen over the weekend and will post on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, the 9th of December, so make sure you check the Simon Blog on the 9th to see if you're a winner!  

Below is a list of all today's participants:

Simon Says Stamp Blog   

Kristina Werner

Cathy Zielske

Nina-Marie Trapani

Nichol Spohr

Caly Person

Suzy Plantamura

Amy Rysavy

                                        Lisa Addesa<----- YOU ARE HERE

Heather Ruwe

Sidnie Des Jardins

Cheiron Brandon

Barb Engler

Lea Lawson

Jo Nevill

Yana Smakula

 

Don't forget about the offer in the banner above...use the code JINGLE when you make a purchase at Simon, to receive a free American Crafts tag kit!!  

AND...make sure you check back to the Simon Blog tomorrow for day 2 of inspiration with a second hop!!

Thanks for visiting me today!!

DieCember® is Here!!

Simon Says Stamp's amazing, annual, December release is out today, DieCember®...a release named for and filled with, you probably guessed it...DIES!!  For those of you who know me, I LOVE dies!!  I have made a card to share with you today, that uses three of the new dies from this release...

My mom LOVED sunflowers!!  My daughter's flowers when she was married were sunflowers!  So, it seemed only fitting that I would start the celebration of this new release using the beautiful new Sunflower Petals die set!  I had so much fun putting this beautiful sunflower together.  I started with the round outside circle from the set and put adhesive all over the circle.  Then I placed twelve die cut petals all around the base.  I die cut the petals from three different shades of paint chips...one of the colors was actually sunflower! Here is a pic...

Then I put some adhesive on each of the next 12 petals and adhered them inbetween the first twelve...

You'll notice that the core of the sunflower's piece has little "spikes"...don't know what else to call them, but I used my exacto knife and pushed each of them out.  I layered the center and used some thick glue dots to adhere to the petals...

I used the pretty new Detail Bohemian Plate for the background and the new CZ Design Hello die for the sentiment.  Here's another close up...

This is one wonderful release, hoping you will join me tomorrow for the first of two days of blog hops on the Simon Blog, to celebrate this release...it is sure to be filled with LOTS of inspiration using the new products from this amazing new release!!  

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

This one was for you, momma💕!!

Tags for Christmas

I have made some tags for Christmas with the fun new CZ Design Let's Make a Tag stamp/die set, from the Simon Says Stamp's Holly Jolly release!...

I had a lot of fun making these tags...with all the stamps in this set, the possibilities are endless!  I stamped, embossed, die cut, colored(my wonderful daughter Emma colored the tree snow globes for me:)!!), and layered the globes.  The others are pretty easy stamp and emboss tags.  The middle "ho" on the "ho ho ho" tag was embossed with an old green embossing powder, but it looks yellow...but know my intent was to green emboss!  The CZ Design tag dies are really cool, too....there are SO many sizes of tags, the tags I made today, use three of the five tag sizes.  Below are close ups of the tags, as well as the backs of the tags in the last pic.  

...and the backs of the tags...

Such great fun!!  Next stop, Christmas...wow...it's just a little over THREE WEEKS AWAY!!  Hope you are doing well...take care!!

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

A Rainbow Christmas

I have used the fun and cool new CZ Design Chunky Trees and Holly die set from the Simon Says Stamp Holly Jolly release, to make a rainbow flavored Christmas card...

I die cut and layered the trees, putting in a different colored piece of patterned paper into each of the tree's openings.  I used Sunny Studio paper for the colored paper, and turned the striped paper in different directions when cutting.  I used some Tonic Jewel drops to give a little bling to each tree,  the sentiment is from the CZ Design Good Cheer stamp set.  I popped up the panel on either side of the trees.  Here's a close up of the trees...

I love Christmas and love rainbows...so much fun getting to put the two of them together!  

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

Embossing Folders with a Brayer

I have made a couple cards, using a couple of the new Simon Says Stamp embossing folders and sentiment die from the new Holly Jolly release, and my very old brayer...

The technique I used for both these cards is one that I have used on cards before, HERE and explained in a bit more detail HERE.  I used Cloudy Sky Simon Ink on my brayer.  I only brayered the trees, and left the space below the trees white to look like snowy land.  I LOVE this technique...not a perfect cover every time, but pretty cool and love the effect it gives.  I will say, unlike the first time I did this, I did run a bit of adhesive behind the card stock to keep the paper in place in between running it through my Big Shot...just to make certain it kept in place.  I did another one, and it gave the look a bit of a "double vision" thing as when it was embossed a second time, the positioning was a tiny off.  I used the new CZ Design Peace die, layered, for the sentiment.  Here's close up...

Okay...this second one, I got a bit of a different idea with my brayer.  I used versamark and gold embossed the inked sections...

I will say, the final product was not perfect (and that's hard for me!), but a fun attempt to try something a little different. I used my magic embossing bag to rub over the card stock before beginning.   I have a versamark marker, and  after running the folder and cardstock through and gold embossing the first and only time,  I was able to use my marker to fill in the spots that were missing and then gold emboss them.  I used a layered CZ Design Thankful die for the sentiment.  Here's a close up...

I won't be posting until after Thanksgiving, so I want to take this moment to express to all of you, my readers and followers, how so very thankful I am for all of you!  Thank you for taking the time to visit and follow my blog, comment on my posts, and purchase from my links!  I love making cards, and am so incredibly happy to think that I might encourage, inspire, or bring happiness to others by this craft that I love so much!!  YOU bring me so much happiness, thank you so much...you truly make my heart so happy!!  For those of you here in the states, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving...no matter what it may look like...please stay safe!!  I will miss my family this year, but I am hopeful that next year will be very different...and I want to be around to enjoy that!!  

Much love to you all...Huge Hugs!!  Lisa💗