Simon Says Stamp Pure Sunshine Release Blog Hop!!

I don't know where YOU live, but here in Virginia, the winter was harsh, the spring very cold, but I've got to say...the SUNSHINE is FINALLY here!!!  The SUNSHINE is here today at Simon Says Stamp, too, as Simon is celebrating their newest release: PURE SUNSHINE!!!
                   
I am super thrilled and so excited to be joining a whole bunch of incredible artists today, to show you some of the amazing new stamps, dies and stencils from this collection by way of this fun blog hop!!

 I am using the new Diamond Parade Die for my cards today!!  Diamond Parade follows on the heels of three other amazing Simon dies...Heart Parade, Stars Parade and Butterfly Drift dies.. and two MORE like these in the Pure Sunshine collection...Bubble Parade and Cloud Bank (I have them all linked below my supplies!)...dies that cut not only the shapes, but outlines of those shapes in one cut.  You can use the shapes by themselves, the outlines by themselves, or both together...and that's just the beginning of the possibilities!!   This Diamond Parade die is no different...so much fun with lots of possibilities, I have four to show you...

This first one, I used some striped paper from the Lawn Fawn collection Hello Sunshine...yes, I thought it fit perfectly in more ways than one!  I LOVED using straight lines with the diamonds...I DID die cut the lines of the paper going in opposite directions...one way for the full diamonds, the other way for the partial diamonds, and popped up only the full diamonds.  I die cut the heart (and layered)and added the sentiment, a new sentiment from the Pure Sunshine release set Made By...

The second one I went with my favorite color scheme of rainbows.  I used a stamp from the Simon set Circle Friends (released last year) for the lines on the colored diamonds...I SO love lines with diamonds!  I simply versamarked the lines on the diamonds and, again, made the lines go in opposite directions...on this card opposites every other diamond. I layered the white diamond borders (remnants from the first card). The sentiment is a partial sentiment from a new release set, Bring the Sunshine...

The third one I inset the diamonds, like the first and used textured paper for the diamonds with more masculine colors...

 I loved the textured paper ON textured paper, I put a piece kraft cardstock behind the diamonds, popped up all the diamonds,  and used a sentiment from the new stamp set Tiny Tag Words...

The fourth and last card, I used the leftovers from the third card, adhering the four colored borders on top of one another...

 I then glossy accented the diamonds and added a sentiment from the Simon set Stripe Greetings.  Here's a close up of the "glossy"...

I also added the end of the sentiment on the inside of the card...

Yes, I DO LOVE this die!!

To celebrate the Pure Sunshine Release, Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a Goody Bag to one lucky reader from not only My blog, but all fourteen, yes, 14 other designer's blogs, so you will have 15 chances to win a bag of goodies from Simon!!

Simply leave a comment for a chance to win!!  The chance to win a Goody bag will close on Thursday, May 22nd at 6:00pm EST...so don't miss out!!  My blog's winner will be posted on my blog, as well as with ALL the winners, on the Simon Says Stamp Blog on Friday, May 23rd. 

Check out the Simon Says Stamp store site to see the complete Pure Sunshine release...AH-MAZING!!!

The next stop on the hop is the amazingly talented Suzanne Dahlberg!! If, for any reason, you encounter a broken link, you can go the Simon Blog, to find a list of all participants of the hop!!  Thanks so much for visiting me...have fun hopping:)!!!  

Hugs!!!  Lisa

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Father's Day Sailboat

A quick post...made this card this morning with a new die from Paper Smooches for my dad(he had his own small sailboat for years)...

Googled sailboats and though most sailboats have all white sails, I DID find a couple with one patterned sail amongst the white...one had wide light and darker blue stripes...thus my card.  I used wood veneer paper for the boat, except that the die when cut as is, faces the OTHER WAY...so I die cut the wood veneer paper from the back side to have my boat face the other way...I just thought the sails "fit" this way better:)!!.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I layered all the boat pieces 3 times.
This sailboat is too stinkin' cool/cute...LOVE IT!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms of the world, past, present and future!!  I have been enjoying a quiet day at home with my family...did go to a local nursery and bought a couple perennials:)!!

My daughter Emma had THIS all waiting for me when I woke up this morning(notice by my coffee maker, my first stop of the morning!!)...

 My favorite artist (Steven Curtis Chapman is on my bucket list of people I would LOVE to meet...his music has shaped my life and strengthened my walk with the Lord!!)...my favorite doughnuts, and I got up at 7:30am for church, so you can only imagine with the store a 1/2 hour away what time Emma got up...

frycakes made as you wait...the white one is maple frosted...can you tell which kind is MY favorite?...and saving the best for last, Emma MADE me a card...with my  beloved "Rainbow of colors"...and an inside that made me cry for 1/2 hour!!  What a wonderful Mother's Day...I am so blessed!!!!

Thanks for stopping by...HUGS to you!!  Lisa

Balloons Aren't Just for Birthdays

I LOVE balloon dies...and the heart ones are just too cute!!(I wish there would be star balloon dies, too:)!!).    As I was making a card, I thought, how perfect for a wedding...

I used metallic red with red hearts and silver metallic with floral design on it to die cut.  I also die cut one red balloon and glossy accented it.

 Then a mix of shaped balloons for a baby...

I used Papertrey Ink patterned paper for the balloons and white floss for the strings.

 And then some balloons with die cuts within the balloon, for our son, Noah's, primary physician ( our family loves this man) who just ran for a 6th term for our city's council seat and won...got the highest number of votes...a wonderful man!!...

I adhered some of the stars around the card.  This card was a bit difficult to photograph, here's a close up of the balloons, 3 metallic, one glossy accented and one simply die cut on card stock...

AND...this was the only one of the 3 that I glossy accented the layered sentiment...

I used Paper Smooches, Penny Black and Lil Inker Designs balloon dies (I sure hope I can get them back into the right envelopes when I clean up!!).  I used the same Penny Black die cut sentiment for all three cards and Stampin Up silver thread for two of the cards.

 Balloons ROCK!!  Thanks so much for checking in with me, today!!  Take care...Hugs...Lisa:)

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Happy

I LOVE the Pharrell Williams song "Happy"...and although it has been around a while, it has been making me dance a lot lately...

 A full card die from Papertrey Ink, cutting the middle out, and a sentiment die from Crafty Cutts. I layered the striped cut outs for depth, the "happy" being flat against the card.  I used five different colors for the card and sentiment and brushed my Wink of Stella glitter brush over the letters for some extra "happy":)!!...

Hope you have a really "HAPPY" day:)!!  Hugs!!  Lisa

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Less is More 170...Three Colors

I wanted to used a colored stamped flower I made a couple days ago, and the Less is More challenge this week is PERFECT...three shades of one color or three different colors.  I used yellow for the flower, red for it's center and green for the leaves....

This flower, leaves and sentiment are from a new set from Simon Says Stamp, Flower Garden,along with the matching die cuts!  I think this flower is sooooo pretty!! I hand drew the stem, and I used glossy accents to dot the circles in the center of the flower...

I thought of doing it so many ways with so much more...but... Less Is More!!  :)!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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CAS(E) this Sketch #73...Big Red Flower

It is definitely Spring here in Virginia!!  I have been busy redoing the landscape in the front of our house...it has been real work and taken ALOT of my time, but I finally finished yesterday, and hurriedly made a card to enter the challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch!  Here's my card and the sketch...

This has been a two week challenge, CAS(E) this Sketch combined their sketch and challenge with Runway Inspired Challenge...so I will be entering my card in their challenge, too:)...

OK...I found a patterned piece of paper from Michael's for the patterned material of the model's pants and a red flower to go with both challenges.  My gray went darker, my flower's center went yellow I "wanted" blue, tried black...yellow just made ME happy...and at the end of the day, and it WAS the end of the day, yellow was the color:)!!  I used a darker red for the flower's outline, a much lighter red for the centers.  The outline is layered 4...yes 4 times...and a traced and cut out flower on the bottom with adhesive to make certain the centers of the petal stay put! 

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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