It's All About Love

Hi my friends, yesterday was all about steampunk, today is all about love and two very simple and easy cards I made using only products from the Simon Says Stamp Garden Greetings July Card Kit. The kit is still available to buy HERE or if you wish, the items from the kit can be purchased individually.

I trimmed the papers from the kit to be slightly smaller than an A2 card blank

I cut a slit under the flower petals and leaf using Tim Holtz/Tonic Craft Knife and fixed the left over strip of paper underneath. I fixed the panels to the card blank, trimmed and scored from the Neenah White Cardstock included in the kit, using the Simon Says Stamp Dot Runner which also comes with 2 refills.

I used the "squeezers" from Tim Holtz/Sizzix Shaping Kit to pick up and align the Super Cool Mini Puffy Alpha Stickers.

I trimmed the paper to be slightly smaller than the A2 white card blank and fixed a strip of left over paper from the previous card using the Dot Runner.

I added Super Cool Mini Puffy Stickers, stamped the image from Simon Says Stamp Garden Greetings stamp set, inked with Simon Says Stamp Embossing ink, sprinkled with Simon Says Stamp White Embossing Powder and heat set.

Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous - Observations

Hi my friends, I'm excited to be sharing the first project I made for the launch of the brand new stamps and stencils from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous and the just as exciting release of my favourite Distress Archival Inks in standard size pads, woohoo, thank you Tim and Ranger for listening and making lots of makers very happy. If you missed Tim's YouTube Live, you can catch up with the new releases and amazing inspirational makes from many talented friends over on Tim's blog HERE. I used a Small Etcetera Tag to feature this handsome dude from the Observations stamp set.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to be slightly larger than the tag, smooshed Rusty Hinge and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink pads on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and laid the card on to the ink. I dried and then tapped the card back into the ink to pick up the remaining droplets and repeated until I was happy with the background.

I stamped the circle image from the Inquisitive stamp set, inked with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink.

I spritzed the back of the Metropolis Layering Stencil with Black Soot Distress Spray Stain and pressed on to the background to create a monoprint effect.

I stamped the gears image from Observations, inked with Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide, randomly on to the background and while the ink was still wet, sprinkled with Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze and heat set. I die-cut the title from Distress Watercolor card and Idea-ology Black KraftStock from the Neutral stack using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Classic Lower and Stretch Upper Thinlits, layered to create dimension, sanded to reveal the kraft core and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium.

I inked the main image with Black Soot Distress Archival ink and stamped on the tag. I had Idea-ology Collage Paper standing by just in case I didn't get a crisp image but hey ho, check out the inky blackness and all the amazing details from the best rubber stamps ever.  I cut a circle of acetate slightly bigger than the eye section of the image, fixed in place with dots of Distress Collage Medium around the edge and added Idea-ology Ball Chain over the stamped monocle.

I stamped the sentiment and added Ball Chain underneath the sentiment, to the full stop on the question mark and button on his collar.

I sanded Idea-ology Mini Flair pins, added a coat of Distress Collage Medium, coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Crayon and wiped back with a soft cloth to create a vintage worn look.

To finish, I applied Distress Collage Medium to an Idea-ology Hinge Clip, coloured with Rusty Hinge Distress Crayon, sprinkled with Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze and heat set. I scribbled Black Soot Distress Crayon over the hinge  clip, rubbing it into the detail with my finger and removed the excess using a soft cloth.

I'll be back soon to share more makes with the fabulous new stamps and stencils from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous, in the meantime, happy shopping.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Red White And/Or Blue

 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...

RED, WHITE AND/OR BLUE

I created a card with a nod to the 4th of July but instead of stars and stripes I went with a floral theme using new releases from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous, Floral Outline, Bold Sayings and Mini Dotted Line Layering Stencil from Set 51 with Faded Type, an old favourite. If you missed the YouTube Live launch of the new releases from Stampers Anonymous and Ranger, you can catch up and check out all the amazing inspirational makes over on Tim's YouTube Channel HERE.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to 5" x 7", inked one of the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Floral Outline with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder. I added lots of water to the background and applied a wash of Stormy Sky Distress re-inker allowing the colour to pool around the image and dried. I inked the script sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Faded Type with Barn Door Distress Archival and stamped randomly over the background. I applied Faded Jeans Distress Oxide through the Mini Dotted Line Layering Stencil from Set 51.

I stamped the Hello Friend sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Bold Sayings, inked with Barn Door Distress Archival, sprinkled the word "friend" with Fired Brick Embossing Glaze and heat set. I stamped the sentiment again, inked with Versamark, on to a scrap of vellum, heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder, fussy cut the individual letters of Hello and fixed in place with 3D foam to create dimension. I trimmed around "my" and fixed flat with dots of Distress Collage Medium behind the letters. I added splatters of white gesso and while it was wet, sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set. I coloured the flowers with Barn Door Distress Paint, highlighted some of the Faded Type script with a Distress Embossing Pen and sprinkled Fired Brick Distress Embossing Glaze over the flowers and lettering and heat set.

I trimmed the panel to 5" x 6", added Idea-ology Small Talk Stickers and matted on to a 5.1/4" x 6.1/4" white card blank.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp in the links below and Simon Says has a great deal on a "I Want It All" bundle, for a limited time only, of all Tim's newly released products from Stampers Anonymous and Ranger.

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

Simon Says - We Can See Clearly

 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...

We Can See Clearly

I used Waffle Flower A7 Layers Dies, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Abandoned Paper and acetate to create a frame for my Vintage Style shaker card. I used Distress Crackle Texture with Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Deco Arch Mini Layering Stencil to create texture on the background, added Prima Art Stones and sequins and decorated with images from Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Layers Engraving, coloured with Distress Crayons and Clippings Stickers.

I began by fixing two of the A7 Layer Dies together with packing tape which will hold up far better than washi tape when you are making multiple cuts to create a 5" x 7" frame. I die-cut the frame 6 times from 300gsm white card and fixed together with Distress Collage Medium. This is my preferred way to create a shaker frame, can't be bothered faffing around with 3D foam tape and dislike that everything sticks to the sticky sides of the foam tape. I die-cut the top frame from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Abandoned Paper, removed the inner die and die-cut acetate and paper from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Departed for the shaker background. I used Distress Crackle Texture Paste with Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Deco Arch Stencil from Set 49 and added Idea-ology Field Notes Snippets to add interest and texture on the background.

While the paste was still wet, I sprinkled lightly with Speckled Egg, Peeled Paint and Rusty Hinge Distress Embossing Glazes and once dry, heat set.

I tapped a Versamark ink pad repeatedly over the Layers Engraving images, sprinkled with Ranger Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder and heat set. This gives tooth to the slick surface of the card and allows the images to be coloured easily.

As you can see, I had a change of heart and selected some different images which I coloured using Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Crayons using a Distress Detailer Brush, drying between layers to add shading.

I painted the die-cut frame with Ground Espresso Distress Paint, making sure there was no white showing on the edges and fixed to the background paper.

I added Prima Art/Mini Art Stones and a selection of Sizzix Sequins into the frame and fixed the acetate frame in place with strong double sided tape. I fixed the Idea-ology Layers Engraving and Clipping Stickers in place with Distress Collage Medium.

I finished by fixing the shaker panel to a 5" x 7" White card blank.

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