Stamping for Autism Awareness Blog Hop

 I am honored to participate in the Stamping for Autism blog hop. I believe this is the third year of the hop and I've been in it since year one.

 

Neither of my two kids have autism, but they do have other special needs. Because of this, I know how challenging life can be. I have nothing but admiration for Veronica, Tenia and all the other parents who have to go the extra mile to meet the needs of these children.

 My card celebrates these awesome children and their parents. I used microfine glitter from Elizabeth Crafts to create the sparkly circles in the ring wreath, which is a die from Simon Says Stamp. It took a while to create the wreath, but boy was it fun!  I'm happy with the results so it was well worth my time. One of these days I'd like to do a tutorial on how I created this card.

 I want to apologize for being a day late with my post. I am now working and my job entails traveling to different cities around Ohio. Last week I was in Cincinnati promoting Monster Jam!

There are several talented cardmakers participating in this hop. Click on the link below to  see more beautiful creations.

An InLinkz Link-up

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week Four

It's my very last post for the February Designer Spotlight. :-( I really enjoyed being a part of the Wednesday Challenge team this month. Challenges are a great way to grow your crafting skills. They push you to try techniques and designs you may not have done otherwise. They also push you to do your best and continually strive to improve. You probably already know this if you're on this page because you came to it from the Simon Says Stamp blog!




This week's challenge is Anything Goes featuring Simon Says Stamp products. I know Valentine's Day has passed, but a love-themed card never goes out of style. My card features the new Simon Says Stamp Love and Quotes set.

Simon Says Stamp Love and Quotes	Altenew Red Cosmos Crisp Ink Pads Pack	Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes	Pretty Pink Posh METALLIC SILVER Flat 6mm Sequins	Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
Ranger Multi Medium Gloss 1/2 oz.	Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL Applicator Foam IBT23616	Neenah Solar White Cardstock

To create this card, I first stamped two rows of the smallest heart in the set on the top of the card with the lightest ink color. I then stamped two rows of the second smallest heart in a little darker shade and so on until I got to the bottom of the card. Each time, I used a bigger heart with a darker shade of ink. Then I took the same ink and covered the hearts using my ink blending tool.

Next, I stamped the sentiment onto cardstock and cut it out with the large banner in the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Bundle of Shapes. Here is a trick: The banner was not long enough for the sentiment. To get the banner the right size, I left the top edge of the banner hanging outside of my cutting plates, allowing only the bottom part of the banner to be cut. Then, I re positioned the banner to align with the top half of my sentiment, turned the paper around and left the bottom part of the banner hanging outside of the cutting plate and cutting the top half.

I adhered the banner with dimensional stickers and finished it off with some silver sequins! Bam! Done!!

As I mentioned earlier, challenges are a great way to grow your crafting abilities because they encourage you to try new techniques or designs that you may not have tried otherwise. Sometimes it's good to step outside your comfort zone and grow as a crafter. I encourage you to give it a try. Who knows? You may actually win a prize like a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp!!!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week 3

Hi everyone! It's time for another Wednesday Challenge! I'm in my third week as the guest designer for the Wednesday Challenge!!





This week's theme is Fantastic Florals and we are featuring Altenew. Can I just say how excited I was when found out I got to play with Altenew products!?! They are my absolute favorite stamp company. I love their floral images. I really like their inks, too. They're crisp and they dry relatively fast, which prevents smudging. My card features a whimsical floral set called Hello Sunshine. Check it out!

If you're thinking "Her watercoloring is terrible. It's not even inside the lines!" let me stop you right there because it was intentional.

 I very, very loosely watercolored the flowers after stamping them onto watercolor paper. I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a water brush to fill in the images. Let me add that letting go of control and allowing myself to be more free with the coloring was not easy. I am usually very meticulous.

However, I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone because I like the end result. I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to Margaret Berg, who designed this gorgeous illustration called Pastel Florals.

Inspiration: Pastel Florals by Margaret Berg

I'd like to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Then enter it into the challenge for the chance to win a $50 gift card to Simon Says Stamp.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week 2

I'm back again with another card for the Wednesday challenge this month. Before I get started, I'd like to share the story of how this guest design spot came to be. Back in November, I attended a palette-making party Heidi hosted at the Simon Says Stamp office. (I am fortunate enough to live a couple miles away from SSS!) The very lovely Lorraine Aquilina (Lols) was there also. We started chatting and really hit it off!  Here is a picture of us with our handmade palettes!

And now ...

The theme is "cute" and we are featuring Wild Rose Studio. Here is my card:

I stamped the Bear Hugs stamp with Memento Ink onto some Copic Blending X Press It paper that I had die cut using Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.  I colored the image with Copic Markers and then blended some Tumbled Glass and Bundled Sage Distress Inks onto the top and bottom of the panel. I adhered it onto my card base, which I had covered in colorful patterned by from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook 6 collection. Here are links to the products I used:

American Crafts Amy Tangerine SKETCHBOOK 6 X 6	Wild Rose Studio Bear Hugs	Copic Blending X Press It Paper	Copic Sketch Markers	Melissa Frances PAPER LACE DOILY
Tsukineko MEMENTO Full Size Ink Pad TUXEDO BLACK	simon says stamp stitched rectangles dies	Doodlebug Designs Bumblebee Doodle Twine	tim holtz distress tumbled glass ink pad	Bundled Sage - Distress ink
Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Now it's your turn to create a "cute" card and enter it into this week's challenge for a chance to win a

Hello out there! I'm Baaaack!!

 I'm back and I'm excited to say that I am the February guest designer for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!



The theme for this week's challenge is The Color of Love and we're featuring Reverse Confetti products.

I used paper and Confetti Cuts from the new releases. The card was pretty easy to create. I simply cut out a banner and die cut the row of heart outlines and adhered them to my card base. Then I cut out a 2.25"x2.25" square, rounded the corners on the right and adhered it using three-dimensional foam stickers. I adhered the XOXO and some left over hearts from the inside of the heart outline die, added some enamel dots and voila! You can get these products at Simon Says Stamp. Here are links:

reverse confetti cuts xoxo hearts die	reverse confetti true love 6x6 paper pad	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Sizzix Big Shot	Doodlebug Cupcake Sprinkles
Doodlebug Limeade Sprinkles	RADIUS Corner Chomper 1/4 & 1/2-Blue	Xyron - Sticker Maker	best creation 3d squares foam tape	Scrapbook Adhesives 126 3D WHITE FOAM SQUARES Adhesive

Now it's your turn to create something using the Color of Love theme. You don't have to use Reverse Confetti products to play, but if you have them, go for it!



Remember, if you win, you will receive a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp!