Stretch Your Stamps Day 2...

Hello blogger friends!

Earlier today, I posted yesterday's card using a background stamp in a different way. Today's class was about using collage stamps. I'm a fan of the clean & simple style of card making so the idea of using a busy collage wasn't my favorite idea. But what's the point of taking a class and NOT participating in every challenge?!?

My discomfort with collage stamps was so severe, that I hadn't even LOOKED at them in the craft stores, as a matter of fact, they were invisible to me until I saw one on the supply list for the class. So when choosing one, I decided to go smaller than the normal background size. I was drawn to the Inkadinkado Time Flies stamp, so I brought it home.

Using a card layout similar to one I saw in class, I came up with this:

The whole time I was making this card, I was unsure if I liked it or not...it wasn't until attaching the sentiment strip that I fell in love.

I really like the colorful butterflies against the b/w of the rest of the card!

I fell a little deeper in love after adding a little sparkle with my Sakura clear stardust pen.

(Here's my attempt at capturing the sparkle on camera)

Well folks, that's all for now.

Hope you enjoyed your visit...thanks for stopping by!

Please join/comment...I read EVERY comment and appreciate them all.

UPDATE: I just realized that this card qualifies for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #60. 

 See, there's ANOTHER reason for me to love collage stamps!

It's Tea Time...

Hello Blogger friends!

Yesterday, I began my 2nd online card making class called "Stretch Your Stamps" given by an array of awesome, talented, card makers/paper crafters.

(the link to the class info is below)

The topic of the class was using background stamps in different ways. Man, oh man did they offer some wonderful ideas for using a background stamp that I probably never would have thought of! 

Anyway, I combined a few ideas from this lesson with the Tea Party Color Trends Challenge over on the Embellish Blog.

Here's the inspiration:

Here's my creation:

Believe it or not, I used a little dollar stamp to create this awesome background! It's only a 3 3/4 square stamp...gotta love a deal :-)

The for the sketch came from this video by Kristina Werner. I just stamped on each color of card stock and heat embossed it in clear. I was inspired by one of these cards to color in some of the spaces with my white gel pen. I also used my Versamark water marking pen to create the deeper toned diamond shapes. I then created the embellishment by paper piecing a little tea cup image.

(My paper piecing needs work, I know)

Here's a close-up of the detail:

Well, what do you think?

Please comment with paper-piecing suggestions, tips and/or tricks...I'd love some feedback.

As promised, here's the info for the class that I'm taking. 

I'm getting ready to dive into day 2! Join us, it's a great opportunity to meet new card making friends and learn tons of fun, cool techniques...

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have an awesome day!

CR84FN Color Challenge #58

Hello blogger friends!

(for the 2nd time today)

I've been feeling very creative today...yay!

In that spirit, I'm submitting my 2nd card for a 2nd challenge...(is that a pig flying outside my window??)

I must admit, I found this color combo to be a little difficult. I just kept thinking of the golden arches, which made me want fries...lol. Anyway, here's the inspiration for the CR84FN Color Challenge#58:

I immediately gravitated toward the florals & this is what I came up with:

I was also inspired by the different textures represented in the photo which is where the different types embellishments came from...

Thank you so much for checking my creations out!

Please take a moment to comment and/or join me here at Simi-Sweet Creations...

Have a wonderful day.

Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #21

Helo blogger friends!

Today I have another challenge submission. It's a my first time entering anything for this blog.

I mean really, look at this inspiration board!

How could I not give this a go?!?

I'm sure you can see what inspired this creation...lol.

I started with a piece of gray card stock and used my trusty Martha Stewart score board to score at every 1/2 inch. I traced the score line with a white gel pen. I then matted it on black card stock and popped the whole panel up on dimensional adhesive. I heat embossed the simple greeting on a scrap piece of the same card stock used for the matte, and created a flag shape on one side. I made a simple embellishment using 5 little heart punched pieces glued on top of each other, and added a little bling for balance. 

Hope you enjoyed! Check out Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #21 to see the lovely projects that the design team created too...

Have a fantastic day friends!

For my favorite graduate :-)

Hello blogger friends!

I know this is a super a tad late...lol.

Back in May, I was asked by a beautiful young lady to do her makeup and photos for her prom! Needless to say, I was really honored as I'm neither a makeup artist or a photographer (although, I love to do both)

She was really into the 20's style look...and ended up looking so BEAUTIFUL!

Here she is with her date:

I just fell in love with her simple lace dress with the black sash. I did a really simple look and did a bold, gorgeous red matte lip. 

In the spirit of this look, I made her a card for her graduation which was the following week...

She loved it and 'got' it immediately...lol.

In addition to the card, I presented her with a framed photo that I put a few extra special touches on...

I've known this lovely young lady since she was about 13 and I must say, it's been a real pleasure.

She's funny and silly and super sweet <3

Here's to you Ceara! 

Good luck on all of your future endeavors...

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please take a moment and add yourself and/or leave me a message...I'd really appreciate it!

Color Throwdown #198

Hello blogger friends!

Last night, I submitted a card to a color challenge with 3 minutes left until submissions were to close! 

(Talk about LAST MINUTE!)

In the spirit of color challenges, I'm submitting my first entry into the Color Throwdown #198 and from what I can tell, I'm going to be the first entry! 

(Probably a first & last for me...lol)

With all that being said, here's the inspiration photo:

I mean seriously, how BEAUTIFUL is this color combo?!?

Here's my first entry for this challenge:

I couldn't capture the color of the gray the way I wanted...it's reading black to me in EVERY photo!

(iPhone photos...please forgive me)

This challenge will be open until July 2nd at 6 p.m., so I'm going to attempt to submit multiple entries. I'm so in love with these colors!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 Please comment and let me know what you think, and join me! 

The Play Date Cafe #137

Hello Blogger friends!

I'm having to keep this post short and sweet...I stumbled upon this color challenge at about 10:30 tonight and I loved the colors so much that I HAD to give it a try (despite it closing at midnight)

Here's the challenge:

and here's what I came up with Quick, fast and in a serious hurry!

Here's a side view to show the dimension...

I'll come back tomorrow to add the list of supplies used...right now I need to submit! 

(It's 11:57!!!)