Simon Says - Friendly Flowers April Card Kit

 Hi my friends, I've been having some fun with the Simon Says Stamp Friendly Flowers April Card Kit.

The kit contains the beautiful Friendly Flowers 6" x 8" stamp set, 12 - gorgeous 6" x 8" papers from Simple Stories Simple Vintage Cottage Fields Collection and 3 sheets of co-ordinating stickers. I am not a fan of stickers BUT decided to challenge myself to see how many cards I could make using them and, at the same time, make a dent in my overflowing box of backgrounds

Here are the first 3 cards I made

Once I had decided on the backgrounds, I chose flower stickers and sentiments from the sheets to match. I trimmed some of the sentiments apart and added Foam Adhesive to the backs.

I fixed the stickers on the panels

added a strip of vellum across the bottom of the second panel to make the sentiment sticker stand out more

and matted the third panel, which was smaller, on to patterned paper from the kit trimmed to 4" x 5.1/4"

I matted all 3 panels on to A2 top-folding card blanks and added heart stickers, covered with Glossy Accents, sentiment and butterfly stickers.

I'll be sharing more cards made using the stickers and papers from the Card Kit next week, in the meantime I'm planning to spend the weekend in the garden. Enjoy your weekend whatever you have planned.

Hugs Kath xxx

Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Chapter 2 - Brushstroke Flowers 3

Hi my friends, I'm sharing the acetate card I made for the YouTube Live launch of Tim Holtz/Sizzix Chapter 2 release using Brushstroke Flowers 3 Thinlits. If you missed the Live, you can catch up with all the new dies and amazing samples from all the Makers over on Tim's blog HERE.

I began by trimming heavyweight acetate that I've had in my stash for years to create a 5.1/2" square card. (I have lined Acetate cards from Hero Arts below although they are pre-scored and are not the same size as I used). I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to create 4 - 5" square panels and applied Ranger Crackle Texture Paste through the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Latticework Layering Stencil on to one panel. Once the paste had dried, I sprayed the panel with water and lightly with Speckled Egg Distress Spray Stain allowing the water to move the spray around until I was happy with the background. I smooshed Ground Espresso Distress Ink on to the craft mat, spritzed with water and tapped the panel into the ink to create splotches of colour. I sprayed Speckled Egg Distress Spray Stain on to the craft mat, spritzed with water and used to colour the remaining 3 panels. I inked the sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Handwritten Thoughts with Black Soot Distress Archival ink and stamped on to one of the 3 panels.

I fixed Sizzix Adhesive Sheets to panels of Distress Watercolor card which I had coloured using Antique Linen, Speckled Egg and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide inks and die-cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Brushstroke Flowers Thinlits.

I darkened the edges of the main flower and some of the die-cuts with Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink using a mini round blending tool, die-cut extra foliage from Distress Watercolor card, die-cut the flower centre from Idea-ology Metallic KraftStock, assembled and fixed to the front panel using Sizzix Foam Adhesive. I stamped the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous  Field Notes with Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink and Versamark Ink and heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder.

I stamped the Field Notes images again on to the inside panel, added extra foliage die-cuts and flower centres die-cut from Idea-ology Metallic KraftStock. I then fixed all the panels to the acetate card blank using Scor Tape. It is important not to fix the panels in place before heat embossing because the heat will more than likely distort the acetate.

I'll be back soon, in the meantime, have fun with whatever you are creating.

Hugs Kath xxx

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Chapter 2 - Folk Flowers

Hi my friends, I'm sharing 2 cards I made for the YouTube Live launch of  the Tim Holtz/Sizziz Chapter 2 release using Folk Flowers Thinlits. If you missed the Live, you can watch the replay and check out all the amazing projects from the Makers over on Tim's Blog HERE.

I

I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to 5" x 6" which is slightly larger than the Folk Flowers die, smooshed Twisted Citron, Kitsch Falmingo, Spiced Marmalade and Peacock Feathers on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and laid the panel on top. I dried the panel and tapped back in to pick up the remaining droplets of ink.

I die-cut using the Folk Flowers Thinlits and matted on to a 5.3/4" x 6" white card blank covered with Tim Holtz Ideaology BlackOut Kraftstock.

I fixed Sizzix Adhesive sheets to scraps of Distress Watercolor card coloured with Kitsch Flamingo and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and BlackOut KraftStock and die-cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Stretch Upper and Tiny Type Thinlits.

I

I coloured a panel of Tim Holtz White Yupo using Pitch Black and Slate Alcohol Inks, spritzed with Rubbing Alcohol, die cut using the Folk Flowers Thinlits, matted on to white cardstock and fixed to a white card blank, covered with Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock. I die-cut the Folk Flowers again 3 times from BlackOut KraftStock and paper pieced some of the larger drop out pieces back into their spaces. Once the third layer was fixed in place, I sanded the pieces to reveal the kraft core.

I fixed an Idea-ology Sentiments Label Sticker to white card, trimmed to leave a small border and fixed to the card with Sizzix Foam Adhesive.

I'll be back soon to share another Chapter 2 project, in the meantime, have fun with whatever you are creating.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Not A Card

 Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

NOT A CARD

I created a sign for my cubbyhole with a gentle reminder that tucking into my treat box too often can have BIG consequences. I decorated a Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Small Etcetera Tag with papers from Idea-ology Backdrops Volume 1, Worn Wallpaper Scraps, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Bold and Label Thinlits and added the star of the show, the gorgeous Bernice from Tim Holtz/Sizzix Chapter 2 Colorize Collection, dressed in her Sunday best.

I began by selecting papers from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Backdrops Volume 1 and trimmed them into 1.3/4" squares.

I fixed the squares in place with Distress Collage Medium using a T Square Ruler to ensure they were aligned straight.

I added a larger section of the pink paper at the top of the tag, applied Dina Wakley White Gesso around the edges and randomly over the tag using a palette knife and covered the hole reinforcer with the script paper.

I fixed Sizzix Adhesive Sheet to the smooth side of Distress Watercolor card and die-cut the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Bernice Colorize Thinlits. I coloured using Hickory Smoke, Gathered Twigs and Spun Sugar Distress Inks by dragging the ink pads across the textured surface of the die-cuts, spritzed with water, dried and repeated the process until I was happy with the colours. 

I inked the edge of each die cut with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink using a mini round blending tool, removed the self adhesive backing and assembled. I fixed strong double sided tape to Bernice and created her ra-ra skirt from elasticated ribbon, white ric-rac and lace I had in my stash.

I applied of Distress Vintage Collage Medium over the tag and added shading around the edges and paper squares using a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, smudging the colour out with my finger. I added small strips of the white ric-rac ribbon, Idea-ology Worn Wallpaper Scraps and added splatters of White Gesso. I applied White Gesso lightly to Idea-ology Ruler Pieces, added shading around the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Crayon and fixed in place. I added Bernice popped up on Sizzix Foam Adhesive.

I fixed Sizzix Adhesive Sheets to scraps of Distress Watercolor card and black card from Idea-ology KraftStock Neutral, die cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Bold and Label Thinlits and layered the Bold words to create a drop shadow.

I applied Distress Collage Medium to the Worn Wallpaper Scrap flowers,, sprinkled with Chunky Black and Gold Embossing Powder and heat set until melted.

I die-cut the small flowers from Distress Watercolor card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Funky Nature Thinlits, coloured the centre of the bottom layer with a black marker, the top layer with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium.

I trimmed the elasticated ribbon to remove the elastic section, threaded through the hole in the tag and tied in place with white twine.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend online at Simon Says Stamp

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx