Heart Mandala Love

I've made a card with the beautiful new Simon Says Stamp Layering Heart Mandala stencil set, and the Outline Love die, from Simon's newest And Back Again release!...

I brushed three shades of Simon pink inks over the different sectioned stencils, starting with the lightest shade at the outer most parts, blending to the darkest shade in the center.  I added a die cut and layered "LOVE" die in gold, and stamped a sentiment from the So Much Love stamp set with versamark and gold embossed.  Here's a close up...

I hope you have had a great weekend...and hope this next week, as we finish January and start February, that your week is a special one, hoping you have a crafty February!  Thanks so much for stopping by...please stay safe!  Huge Hugs!  Lisa

Happy National Puzzle Day!

I LOVE puzzles!!   It is National Puzzle Day, and I thought it the perfect day to share some cards I made that so go with this day!!  I've used the cool new Simon Says Stamp Piece of My Heart die from their new And Back Again release, to make three cards to share with you today...

This first one, I cut 1/2" squares of patterned paper and adhered them together.  I wanted the heart to really fit the sentiment..."love you to pieces"...the puzzle halves AND the pieces of the heart halves.  I used the "love" part of the CZ Design Love You 2 die, and a sentiment from the So Much Love stamp set.  Here's a close up...

The second and third ones, I did something a little bit unconventional...I used my printer to print sentiments for both...they are sentiments that are just perfect for a puzzle card... 

I lined up the stripes on this card, and on the heart paper below, so that the lines and hearts matched up perfectly.  I used the CZ Design Love You die for both...die cut and layered.   Oh, I had so much fun making these cards!  Here's a close up...

And the third one, made with heart patterned paper...

For this one, I printed out "you complete me"...another sentiment that I thought was perfect for a puzzle.  Here's a close up...

Hope you are having a great start to your weekend.  Here in Virginia, 20º, we got another couple inches of snow and wind gusting to 40mph...not typical of southern Virginia, but the perfect day to stay indoors and make a card...or make a puzzle...or make a card WITH a puzzle!!  Happy National Puzzle Day!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Love you Bunches

I have used the adorable new Simon Says Stamp Love You Bunches stamp set, from their new And Back Again release to make a multi-layered love filled card...

I stamped, embossed, colored and hand cut out the flower shaped heart and individual flowers.  There are dies for this set, which would definitely have made this card a bit easier(and I've added a link to the dies below), but cutting the flowers out was really relaxing!  I popped up the flower heart on my card, and was going to use the separate flowers for another card, but then thought how cool some added dimension would be...so...I popped them up on the heart!  I added a sentiment from the set, and used a piece of Sunny Studios paper for the background.  I also dotted the dots on the card with tonic drops for some bling.  Here's a close up... 

Hope you are having a great day wherever you are ...thanks so much for stopping by!
Hugs!! Lisa

Stylized Hearts

I have used the beautiful new Simon Says Stamp Sylized Heart die from their To the Moon release, and part of a wonderful new sentiment stamp from their And Back Again release to make a card to share with you today...

I die cut the heart with three pieces of polka dotted paper in different shades of red/pink.  I placed the random pieces into a die cut and adhesive filled heart with an outline over the adhesived heart.  This makes it super easy to lay each piece into the openings.  After I had all the pieces in place, I glued one more die cut outline over the pieced heart for some dimension,  I then added a part of a sentiment from the XL Love Greetings set.  I loved the font of this sentiment, so I masked all the words around the "I love you" line, and stamped with versamark and black embossed.  Here's what the masking looked like(I still put one more piece of tape over the tiny letter still exposed...just so you know)...

Just wanted to show you, in case you've never tried it, that there are ways to make more of sentiment stamps.  Cutting the sentiment is an option, but I opted to mask it.  Here's a close up of the card...

The second one, I used three shades of pink paint chips...

I started with the darkest of the three shades down the center of the heart, and worked out to the lightest.  I added an older CZ Design sentiment.  Here's a close up...

Hope you're having a great day, and start to this last week of January...wow, 2022 is already flying by!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Snowy Greetings

Snow is expected here in Southeastern Virginia today, 3"-6", and that's a pretty uncommon event!!  I couldn't thintk of a better time to show a card I made, perfect for today...

I used the new Simon Says Stamp Mini Slimline Snowflake Window stencil and the Snowy Greetings die, both from the new And Back Again release.  I sprayed pixie spray on the back of the stencil to hold it on the cardstock.  I used three shades of blue Simon Pawsatively Saturated dye inks on the stencil, and on the background of the sentiment die.  The die cut sentiment didn't show well by itself, and I wanted it to be white, so blending ink on the background helped the sentiment to stand out, but "go with" the card.  I added some Tonic drops to the centers of the flakes with space in their middles.  Here's a close up...

 Below, is what the bread aisle looked like yesterday, in the store I shop at, in anticipation of the coming snow.  Having been born and raised in Buffalo, NY, I don't "get" the craziness, but truth is,  because Virginians don't get much snow,  they don't have a lot of experience living or driving in it, thus the craziness ...

Stay warm, stay safe...hope you have some fun today!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!! Hugs!! Lisa

And Back Again Blog Hop!

I'm so happy to be a part of today's Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop, celebrating Simon's TWO newest releases, To the Moon, which came out last month, and And Back Again, which was released yesterday!! Both releases are filled with lots of love, for Valentine's Day and everyday...for the love of your life, or a friend for life!  I have used the very cool new Folding Heart and Window die for both cards, sweet new sentiment stamp sets for both cards, and the new Outline Love die for the second card...   

I die cut three of the hearts from three different colored striped papers.  I used a guide and piercing tool, and pierced holes down the centers of all three hearts.  I used floss to sew them together.  This is what they look like from the side.  I know it may be thinking way too much, but I started with light pink and ended with red, kind of thinking of the sentiment...

Then I stamped two of the sentiments from the XL Love Greetings stamp and die set.  I adhered the die cut "heart you" over the three sewn hearts, and stamped both the sentiments with versamark and black embossed.  Here's a close up...

I so love it when you stamp with versamark and black emboss, the shine is wonderful...

The second one, much like the first, different color, with different sentiments...

I used Simon Sweets colored ink to brush on ink to the die cut sentiment as well as to the embossed paper along the border.  I used a sentiment from the new Love You Bunches stamp set to go with the Outline Love die cut.  Here is a picture of the layers on this one, different shades of pink below the top layer...

And here's a close up... 

I have had so much fun making my cards, and the fun for you is just beginning!  

Simon is generously giving a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from our comments section, so leave a comment for a chance to win!  The winners will be posted on the Simon Blog on Wednesday, January 26th, so make sure you check the blog on the 26th, to see if you're a winner! 

The list of participants for today's blog hop are below:

Simon Says Stamp Blog   

Nina-Marie Trapani

Caly Person

Nichol Spohr

Jennifer McGuire

Cathy Zielske

Suzy Plantamura

Sidnie Des Jardins

                                         Lisa Addesa<------YOU ARE HERE

Keisha Charles

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Bibi Cameron

Yana Smakula

Mindy Eggen

Barb Engler

Don't forget the offer in the banner at the top of the post...a free Love Gnome stamp set with any purchase!  The offer is good until the end of the day on Janurary 23, or until supplies last, so don't wait!  Also, there is a second blog hop tomorrow at the Simon Blog, so check back with the Simon Blog tomorrow, for more wonderful inspiration using these two new releases!  Thanks for stopping by...keep hopping!!  

Hugs!! Lisa

And Back Again Release Day!

It's the second half of the "love"releases over at Simon Says Stamp today,  with the follow up to the To the Moon release, with today's And Back Again release!  I have used one of the cool new dies and sentiment stamp set, to make a couple cards that will send love... 

I used the new Big XOXO die for both cards(using both sets of die cuts), and the XL Love Greetings stamp set for the first one(I love the sentiments in this set!).  I layered the letters, and loved how the sentiment I used, fit into the shape of the lined up "X andO"...LOVE when that happens!  Here's a close up...

The second one...

For this card, I recessed the x's and o's by popping up the panels above and below the letters.  I used a sentiment from an older Simon set, as I was looking for a "hugs and kisses" sentiment.  Here's a close up...

I have been absent for the month of January...have had a sluggish start to getting back to life after Christmas.  My tree is still up, if that tells you anything.  I hope you will check out this new release...there's lots of love in these last two releases!  And though there may be one "love day" in February,  love is for everyday!  There will be two hops on the Simon Blog, to celebrate this and the former release, together, tomorrow and Friday...hope you will hop along and be inspired!  

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Happy 2022!

Happy New Year, everyone! I am hoping that 2022 will be a better year than the last two for me and for you!   I have made a card with Simon Says Stamp's Be Lovely stamp/die set, from their new To the Moon release,  that's filled with tulips and love, to start the year off right....

I stamped, die cut, colored, layered and popped up the pretty little lady.  I used one of the sentiments from the set, and an oval die cut from a very old MFT Stamps die set...made for shadows, to ground her.  I then had this idea to stamp a tulip frame around the little lady with the three tulips from the set.  I stamped, embossed, and colored them.  I stamped three of them at a time.  My mess up with the stamping came with the top strip.  I wasn't thinking about the tulip on the top of the vertical row being different from the tulip on the bottom of the vertical row, so I started stamping the top row across the same as I had stamped the bottom, but shouldn't have.  I was too into finishing to do a do over, so I left it as you see it...perfection is highly overrated, anyway!  Here's a close up...

Hope you had merry and happy holidays....and hope you are well and staying safe.  Looking forward to what this year holds...I read this quote today, 

"Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent."  Mignon McLaughlin 

 Keep hoping!

 Hugs!! Lisa