Using floral stamps (S.Y.S Day 7)

Hello blogger friends!

I'm back today after taking a much-needed long weekend. I'm playing catch-up in the Stretch Your Stamps class that I'm taking. As a matter of fact, I completely skipped over day 6 (a bonus day that was given this past Saturday), so look for that post soon.

Anyway, the focus of day 7 was floral stamps. They taught some fantastic techniques including coloring on glitter, and shading with a blender pen. However, the inspiration for my card set came from another card that was linked as a sort of bonus idea. It simply floored me! It was so right up my alley, that I had to give the idea a go...

Here's my take on it:

Yes, I know, I kinda over did it with the flowers. I love the idea of it though. I know now, that with this  style, a little less is more. You know me though, I couldn't just stop at one version...

Here's the purple...

The green...

Actually, this was the first one I made (my favorite color is green)


And finally, the yellow...

The full set:

   

I thought the trendy gradient look would be lovely with the bold, black floral stamps and I love the way they turned out. I'm still learning how to work with the Copics (hence the streaked look), but I actually liked the water color type effect. 

Well that's all for now. Please take a moment to join and comment! I'm strongly considering starting a bi-weekely card challenge blog but I need participants...

Thanks so much, and have a fabulous day!

She's at it again...

...and by she, I mean me ;o)

Hello blogger friends!

I'm sure you're wondering if I have any semblance of a life when I've been blogging so much as of late.

Well to answer your question: Yes, I do have a life. I just have a lot of pockets of free time throughout the day...having no children helps too.

Anyway, I'm here again with another card for the Stretch Your Stamps class.

Just a reminder: The focus of day 5 was to stretch your sentiment stamps. I have to admit, I may have cheated a little because the main sentiment isn't a stamp, it's a rub-on. I redeemed myself by using the 'hello' & 'hiya' sentiment stamps to make custom washi tape. I really like how it came out.

Here's a closer look:

I might have been a little heavy handed when transferring the rub-on image...lol.

Please comment, join, & most importantly, be blessed.

P.S. I'm thinking about starting a card challenge blog of my very own...

Ideas? Comments? Thoughts? Please share below or email me at simisweetcreations@yahoo.com

Using sentiment stamps (SYS Day 5)

Hello blogger friends!

I'm baaaaaack! This is the most I've ever posted in a week. 

So, last night (or should I say this morning) I posted a card for 2 challenges:

The Play Date Cafe challenge #140  

& 

CAS-ual Fridays challenge #61

Well here I go again! I just couldn't resist either of these challenges...with that being said, here's my 2nd  (of at least 3) entries:

In addition to entering them in the challenges mentioned above, I'm also practicing the technique form day 5 of the Stretch Your Stamps class that I'm participating in. The focus is on using sentiment stamps. I decided to give my sentiment the starring role instead its usual supporting role. 

"Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup..."

I cannot even tell you how much I LOVE this stamp!



I guess that's all for now.
As always, I thank you for stopping by to check me out in my little corner of the blogger-verse .
Please take a moment to comment...and join me!

Until we meet again...

A CASe of insomnia...

Hello blogger friends! 

(Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible for spelling/grammatical errors and/or babbling because as I type it's 3:08 a.m.)

I had energy until the very second I sat down to create this post, so I won't be long.

Surfing the internet a.k.a my favorite card making blogs, I came upon two challenges that instantly inspired me so I created a card.

 CAS-ual Fridays #61 challenge  & The Play Date Cafe Challenge #140

Let's strip...lol

I so adore the color combo!

Here's my creation:

The challenge was to use 'strips' of color or pattern in your card design & the color choice is pretty obvious.

Here's a close up of the detail on the banner...

I really love the look of stamping with the VersaMark watermarking ink pad! It's such an easy way to add a little detail without over powering your clean & simple look.

Ok. I'm officially about to pass out, so it's off to bed I go...

(AFTER I post my cards to the challenge galleries!)

I really hope you enjoyed my late night/early morning ramblings.

Please leave a comment and/or join! I'm really a lot of fun :o)

Have a great day!

Using Graphic Stamps (SYS Day 4)

Hello blogger friends!

I've just come up for air from my craft area to share my creations for day 4 of the Stretch Your Stamps class. Today's lesson was using graphic stamps, which I must admit is my favorite style of stamp. They really work for the clean and simple style that I tend to enjoy.

Here's my creation:

I used a piece of vellum card stock to emboss my graphic print onto and layered it onto a shimmery eggplant colored card base. I embellished it with 2 different shades of purple bling and popped a sentiment across the bottom. 

I really liked how it came out...so much so, that I created a few more...

Here it is in Shades of green...

...shades of pink...

...and shades of red.

I'll be rummaging through my stash to find supplies to create on in shades of "Grey"...lol.

(I know at least ONE of you will get that joke!)

Anyway, here's a group shot for good measure:

P.S. I wanted to share a couple of tips/tricks that I discovered while creating this set.

I'm sure you noticed the wayward embossing powder on the purple birthday card in the set...

Trust me, it was much worse before I did a little work to it, which leads me to:

Tip #1: Use a white gel pen to fill in missing spots on images that have been heat embossed in white.

The solid petal shapes on the purple card were full of holes and spaces! All I did to fix it was go crazy with a white gel pen.

  (I was looking for a crisp bold image, not a distressed one)

Tip #2: Use a VersaMarker watermark pen to fill in any holes/spaces before you apply the embossing powder.

Before filling in

After filling in

Can you see how nice and solid the petal shapes look in the after photo?!?

It really made a HUGE difference in the end result...just check out the green, pink, & red cards.

Lastly,

Tip #3: Removing wayward embossing powder is a "breeze"!

(Excuse the pun...lol)

Don't you hate it when you've used your powder tool, inked the stamp ever so carefully, took care not to press too hard, and STILL end up with embossing powder in unintended areas?!? I know I do! Well I have a solution...use a dry paintbrush to brush it away.

 I'm sure you're saying "Duh, I already knew that! Tell me something new!" 

Well here it is...gently blow on it at the same time! (Hence the breeze pun above) I found that just using a dry paintbrush was just moving the powder around versus actually getting rid of it. A gentle blowing while moving the paintbrush over the loose particles works wonders. YAY!

That's all for today folks! Thanks ever so much for checking me out. I hope you learned something from my long-winded post today.

*Please comment/join*

Hope your day is marvelous!

Stretch Your Stamps: Day 3

Hello blogger friends!

The response to my card from day to was overwhelming! I thank you all so much for your kind comments...

Now on to day 3(although I 'm posting it on day 4)

 Day 3 was all about using your alphabet stamps. I have to admit, I have at least 5 different alphabet stamp sets and they rarely get used. I'm just not that into them. With that being said...

Here's how I decided to use them:

You know how they say "You're your own worst critic"? Well let's just say these cards aren't my favorite...but we ALL have our creations that we'd rather not see the light of day...lol

Here's the other card I did:

Because of the more muted tones in the first card, I tried to make this one really bright and cheery...I'm thinking it might have been overkill.

In any event, I got them done. The silver lining around this cloud is that the lessons from day 3 did teach me something new...I just have to work on the techniques. 

Thanks for stopping by! Please comment and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful day :o)

CR84FN Color Challenge #58...revisited.

Hello (again) Blogger friends!

I decided to try this challenge for a 2nd time after rummaging through my stash of barely used washi tapes. I've been slowly collecting them and to my surprise, I had the PERFECT colors/designs for the inspiration photo!

(Don't you just love when that happens?!?)

Here's the inspiration pic...again.

And here's my creation:

This card was so simple to make that I almost feel guilty...lol.

I really do like when a project comes together so quickly and easily. 

(Here's a slightly different view)

Thanks so much for checking it out!

Be blessed and have a fantastic day :o)

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!