Simon Says Stamp DieCember | Cozy Christmas

Hello there, today is an exciting day as Simon Says Stamp has collaborated with Hero Arts to create a wonderful die for DieCember. It is called Christmas Sweater and is exclusive to Simon Says Stamp. I have created two cards with it today, one from cardstock and one from felt.

 

I started off my first card by die cutting the Christmas Sweater Fancy die from white cardstock. I then created stripes on to it using masking tape and Distress Inks. I masked off stripes above and below where I wanted to ink and then using an ink blending tool, blended on Distress Inks in rainbow colours.

 

 

I then took an A2 card base and cut 1/4" off the side so that I could add the sweater hanging off the side but it still fit in an A2 envelope. I stamped the sentiment from the Christmas Messages stamp set on to it using black ink. I then added a small strip of black and white paper to the left side and added the sweater on top with foam tape.

 

For my next card, I wanted to cut the sweater from felt. I cut it once from lilac felt and then cut it again from white. I cut out the tree from the lilac one and added in the tree from the white one. I also added the white star. I took a 4.75" x 4.75" white card base and added some score lines on to the front for some interest. I then added the sweater on top with foam tape.

 

I took the same sentiment from the Christmas Messages set and stamped in on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to a strip and added to the card with more foam tape. To finish off, I added a few jewels.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

The possibilities are endless with this die. You could make some really fun patterned and colourful sweaters! Thank you so much for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Hero Arts December 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there, today we are celebrating the release of the Hero Arts December 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit. For me, I think they have saved the best kit till last! It is absolutely beautiful! It has a magical fairy theme and I think it will be perfect for lots of occasions.

If you are following along in the hop, you should have arrived here from the amazing Jessica, but if you get lost along the way, I have the full list of participants below.

I fell in love with this mouse as soon as I saw him. So cute! I thought he would look perfect sitting on top of the toadstool/mushroom. I first stamped the mouse, masked him off and then stamped the mushroom below. I also stamped the sentiment at the top. I then made a mask for the mushroom so that I could do some ink blending in the background.

I masked off the edges of the panel with Post-It tape and then blended on Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks at the bottom and Tumbled Glass and Broken China inks at the top. All of the masks were removed and then the images coloured with Copic Markers (the colours I used are listed below the supplies section). The panel was added to a white A2 card base with tape runner.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

COPIC MARKERS: Mouse - W5, W3, W2, W1, W0, R00. Mushroom - R89, R37, R29, R27, R24, E43, E42, E41, E40. Grass - G46, G43.

THE KIT:

 

The December 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit contains a 6" x 8" clear stamp set, 18 coordinating Frame Cuts, 8 5.5" x 8.5" sheets of shimmer cardstock (Misty Rose, Lime Gold, Breeze and History), Moonshine confetti mix and a Sakura Stardust Jelly Roll pen. All of this is worth $65 but you can get it for $34.99 (approximately £28 depending on exchange rate). The kits are limited edition and often sell out quickly. You can subscribe here so that you never miss a kit.

 

ADD-ONS:

There are also some fabulous add-on products this month. These are not limited edition and can be purchased from your favourite Hero Arts retailer. Here is a look at them:

BLOG HOP:

Here is the full list of people participating in the hop today:

The Hero Arts Blog

Caly Person

Emily Midgett

Ilina Crouse

Janette Kausen

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Michelle Short

Nichol Spohr

Yana Smakula

Jennifer McGuire

Kathy Racoosin

Debi Adams

Lydia Fiedler

Julee Tilman

Emily Loggan

Libby Hickson

 

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts are giving away one kit to one lucky blog hop reader. The winner will be selected from all of the comments left across all of the stops in the hop. The giveaway closes Sunday, December 9th at 11.59pm. The winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. Good luck!

 

Next on the hop is the amazing Nichol. Thanks so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the rest of the hop!

My Monthly Hero | December 2018 Kit

*This is my second post of the day, please see below for my Purple Onion Designs post*

Hello there, today I am over on the Hero Arts blog sharing a look at the new My Monthly Hero Kit for December 2018, which releases tomorrow. It is such a wonderful kit with a lovely magical fairy theme to it.

 

  

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.

 

COPIC MARKERS: Fairy skin - E13, E11, E00, E50. Hair - E25, E23, E21. Dress - BG15, BG13, BG11, BG10, V17, V15, V12, V01. Wings - V01, V0000. Flower - G46, G43, R85, R83, R81.

 

For more details on the card and for a chance to win a kit for yourself, please head over to the blog post here. Thanks so much for visiting me today. Have a great rest of the day!

Snowflake The Snowman

Hello there, today I have a card to share using the gorgeous Snowflake (Snowman with Top Hat & Candy Cane) from Purple Onion Designs.

 

I started off by stamping Snowflake on to a panel of white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then coloured him and the rest of the panel with Copic Markers (the colours I used are listed below the supplies section).

 

 

I took a white gel pen and added dots all over the panel to create snow. I then took the sentiment from the Holiday Blurbs 1 set and stamped this with black ink on to white cardstock. This was fussy cut out and added to the panel with foam tape. The panel was then adhered to an A2 white card base with foam tape.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

COPIC MARKERS: Snowman - BG72, BG70, BG11, BG10. Nose - YR18, YR16, YR15, YR23, YR12. Arms - E57, E55, E51. Hat - C10, C9, C7, C6, C5, R89, R37, R29, R27, R24. Scarf - R89, R37, R29, R27, R24. Candy Cane - R89, R24, C2. Sky - B26, B24, B23, B21, B12, B00. Snow - as the snowman.

 

The Purple Onion Designs Holiday Sale is still running but ends on the 7th December, so make sure you get your orders in before then to receive 25% off all stamps. Thank you so much for popping by to see me today. Have a great day!

VIDEO | Clearly Besotted December 2018 Release Preview

*This is my second post of the day, please see below for my Simon Says Stamp Die-cember cards*

Hello there and welcome to Clearly Besotted release day! The December products from Clearly Besotted release today at 8pm GMT (3pm EST). What a wonderful release! There are some last-minute Christmas sets, plus lots of other sets that are suitable for all year round, as well as Valentine's Day.

 

 

You can purchase the new sets from the Clearly Besotted shop (UK based, ships almost worldwide) and at Simon Says Stamp (US based, ships worldwide). Here is a look at the new sets and a recap of the cards that I made:

 

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I shared in the video. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new release. Thank you so much for visiting me today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Simon Says Stamp DieCember | Christmas Banners

Hello there, today kicks off the start of DieCember from Simon Says Stamp. A month long celebration all about dies and die-cutting. To celebrate they have released a wonderful new collection of dies. Today I am sharing the new Nested Banners dies with you. This is a wonderful set of dies that are perfect for sentiments, but can be used in lots of different ways too. There are four different shapes and each shape has three sizes.

 

My first card uses the smallest of the fishtail banner shape. I started off by covering a panel of white cardstock with Distress Oxide Inks. I used Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans and Peacock Feathers. I placed the Holiday Tree Medallion Stencil over the top and then inked through it with Black Soot. I removed the stencil and it left the colours that I added on first to be the design of the stencil. This was a technique that Kristina Werner shared last year. You can see her post here. I sprayed the piece with Shimmer Spray and set aside to dry.
 

 

I took the sending die and cut this three times from white cardstock with Stick-It adhesive on the back. I added the inked panel to a white A2 card base with foam tape and then added the sending word on top, stacking them up three high. I took the Tiny Words Christmas set and stamped the sentiment on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. I then cut this out with the small fishtail banner from the Nested Banners set and added to the card with foam tape.

 

My second card uses the same stencil. This time I placed it on to a white cardstock panel and blended Distress Ink Oxides on to it. I used Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio and Twisted Citron. For this one, I used the ink blending tool first and then went in and used the Ranger Detail Blending Tools to get into the finer details. I spritzed it with Shimmer Spray and set aside to dry.

 

 

I took another of the sentiments from the Tiny Words Christmas set and stamped it on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut using the middle size of the rounded banners from the Nested Banners set. I added the inked panel flat to an A2 white card base and then added the banner on top with foam tape. To finish, I added a few Iridescent Jewels.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

Thank you so much for popping by and thank you to Simon Says Stamp for sending me these wonderful dies. It was a little difficult to make them the focus of my cards but let me tell you, they are so versatile and very useful! Please do check out the rest of release, it is wonderful! I will be back later with my Clearly Besotted release video.

Concord & 9th | Geometric

*This is my second blog post of the day, please see below for my Clearly Besotted Teaser Post*

Hello there, I am back today with my final post as a guest designer for Concord & 9th. Today we are using the fabulous Geometric stamp set and dies. This is a wonderful set that can be used for so many occasions and I think is particularly great for cards for men.

 

My first card uses scraps of alcohol ink backgrounds that I already had (what a great way to use them up!). I took the background that was made with adding various shades of blue alcohol ink on to Yupo paper and then adding silver foil on top, and cut it using the Geometric Dies. I used the triangle in the set. The great thing is, with two dies you can get multiple different layers of the triangles. I ended up with a triangle frame and a solid one from the alcohol ink background and then I cut a further triangle from white cardstock..

 

 

The triangles were adhered flat on to an A2 white card base with liquid adhesive. I then stamped the sentiment from the stamp set on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to a strip and added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added a few Raindrops.

 

 

My next card uses the circle from the stamp set. I took a panel of white cardstock and stamped the circle three times with turquoise ink. I used MFT Sno Cone, Berrylicious and Blu Raspberry. This was added to an A2 white card base with foam sheet and DST.

 

 

I then took the 'hi' word from the die set and cut this three times from black cardstock that had Stick It on the back. The die cuts were layered up and then added to the card. I took the sentiment from the set and stamped this on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to a strip and added to the card with foam tape.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the cards. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

Two really simple cards but sometimes a few elements is all you need! A big thank you goes to Concord & 9th for having me guest with them this month. For more inspiration using this set, please head over to the Concord & 9th Blog. Thank you so much for visiting me today. Have a great day and a fabulous weekend!

Clearly Besotted Teasers | Birthday Kitty

Hello there and welcome to day four of the Clearly Besotted teasers. The new products release tomorrow at 8pm GMT, so not long to wait now! For my final teaser, I am using the new Cupid Cutie stamp set. This is geared towards Valentine's day but I think it can be used all year round too.

 

I started off by stamping the kitty holding the balloon from the Cupid Cutie set on to a panel of white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then made a mask from mask paper for it and placed this on top. I also made a mask by die cutting an MFT Dome Stax die from a panel of mask paper and added this over the cardstock panel. I first blended Broken China Distress Ink on to the sky using the MFT Mini Cloud Edges stencil. I then added some grass with Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn inks.

 

 

The masks were removed and the kitty coloured with Copic Markers (the colours I used are listed below the supplies area). I then stamped the sentiment from the Just Saying stamp set below (I did have to mask this also as it was part of a longer sentiment) with more black ink. The panel was added to a white card base with foam sheet and DST and then finished I off with Aqua Shimmer Pen and Crystal Glaze on the balloon and collar.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

COPIC MARKERS: Cat - N7, N5, N3, N2, N1, R20. Balloon and collar - BG15, BG13, BG11, BG10.

 

Isn't she cute? The rest of the critters in the set as just as cute! Please do pop over and see what my teamies Stephanie, Keren and Lisa have been up to. I will be back tomorrow to share a look at the new release. Have a great day!

Clearly Besotted Teasers | Yippee!

Hello there and welcome to day three of the December Clearly Besotted Teasers. Today I am using the new super cute Head Over Heels set. Yes, the hippos are back and this time, they are doing summersaults! This set is great for Valentine's but I think you can use it all year round as well.

 

I started off by stamping the three hippos in the Head Over Heels set on to white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I coloured them with Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies section) and then fussy cut them out, but there will be coordinating dies available. I also stamped the 'yippee!' sentiment and die cut this out with one of the speech bubbles from the You Said It Die Collection.

 

I took a panel of white cardstock and die cut this using the MFT Stitched Triple Peek-a-Boo Window Die. I then stamped the 'congratulations' sentiment below from the Occasion Calligraphy set, with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I took an A2 white card base and masked off the edges. I blended on Distress Oxide Ink in Peacock Feathers first, concentrating most of the colour at the bottom. I then placed over the Basic Spots II Stencil and blended over more ink.

 

 

The masks were removed and then the panel added on top with foam tape. I added on the hippos and speech bubble with a combination of foam tape and tape runner. To finish off, I added black glaze pen to the hippo's eyes.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

COPIC MARKERS: W7, W5, W3, W2, W1, W0.

 

Aren't these guys just so cute? I love them! I do apologise for the quality of my photos. If you live in the UK, you will understand. We are getting one day of sun a week here and it is proving very difficult to take photos, sadly. Please do check to see what my teamies Stephanie, Keren and Lisa have been up to. See you tomorrow for day four. Thank you so much for visiting me today, I really do appreciate it. Have a great day!

Clearly Besotted Teasers | Just A Drop

Hello there and welcome to day two of the December Clearly Besotted Teasers. Today I am using the new Just A Drop set. It is so pretty and features snowdrops and fuchsias. I decided to go with the snowdrops for my card and went with a bit more of a mixed media feel to it.

 

I started off by stamping the snowdrops image, from the Just A Drop set, on to a piece of watercolour paper with Fog ink. I then watercoloured the background with Distress Inks. I smooshed the ink on to a slick surface and then picked it up with a paintbrush and water. I used Broken China, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet. Once these were dry, I splattered on some water, let it sit for about 30 seconds and then picked it up with a dry cloth. This created some interest and I thought the bright background would go well with the more muted snowdrops.

 

Once the background was dry, I then coloured the snowdrops using Polcychromos colour pencils (the colours I used are listed below the supplies section). The image panel was cut down and added to an A2 white card base with foam tape. I took the 'happy birthday' sentiment from the Happy Birthday All set and stamped this on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was then cut down in to a strip and added to the card with more foam tape.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

POLYCHROMOS PENCILS: leaves/stems - 267, 174, 112, 168, 171. Snowdrop heads - 275, 274, 272, 271, 270.

Like I say, this does have a bit of a mixed media feel to it. I love that I can combine media and still keep the CAS look. Please do head over to see what my teamies Stephanie, Keren and Lisa have been up to. See you tomorrow for day three. Have a great day!

VIDEO | Tim Holtz Media Mat Quick Review

Hello there, today I have a quick review of the Tim Holtz Media Mat to share with you. I wasn't necessarily planning on doing this, hence why it is a quick review as I am rather late to the party, but I have been asked my thoughts on it.

 

 

OK, so first of all, it is a great mat! I find it to be a good size (14" x 23" = 35.5cm x 58.3cms), with it being glass, you can use lots of different mediums on it and it will clean up nicely. You can even use alcohol inks on this and it will not ruin it. I do find that it cleans up well, the only disadvantage for me is that I cannot always see if it is dirty, especially with Distress Inks. I find that they do not show up on the black colour of background. There is, however, a white background piece to the right. This works well as a palette, so that you can see the true colour of the medium. The only thing for me, is that I prefer to work straight ahead of me, rather than to the side, so I often take the non-stock mat that comes with it and pop that at the front and ink blend on that, although I think the results of ink blending are better directly on the glass.

 

I think it looks really nice on my desk and it is very heavy duty. That bad boy will not be moving around on my desk, it has nice non-slip feet to keep it in place! It is a bit of a higher price point compared to a lot of other craft mats but this is solid glass. As I mentioned in the video, I did manage to scratch mine with a craft knife, so I no longer cut directly on the surface now, but ordinarily, glass is a good cutting surface to use with craft knives.

 

VIDEO:
 

 If you are viewing this post via email subscription, you can watch the video here on YouTube.

 

Jennifer McGuire has done an excellent review of that mat so do check that out if you haven't already.

 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used in the video. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

Do you have the mat? Do you like it? I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Clearly Besotted Teasers | Christmas Scene

Hello there, today kicks off the start of the December teasers for Clearly Besotted. For the next few days, the Design Team will be sharing teasers with you using the new sets, up until the 1st December which is release day. My card today uses three new sets.

I started off with a panel of white cardstock and stamped the Santa and reindeer from the new Shake It Up set on to this with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I made masks for them and placed these on top. I then stamped the new Picture It Christmas stamp on top. This is a fabulous scene stamp, perfect for all the little Christmas critter stamps but equally beautiful on it's own. I removed the masks and then coloured the image with Copic Markers (the colours I used are listed below the supplies section).

 

I added a strip of black cardstock below the scene to ground it and then stamped the sentiment from the new Christmas Type set below. The panel was adhered flat to an A2 white card base with tape runner. To finish off, I added some snow on to the scene with a white gel pen.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were kindly sent to me to use.
 

 

COPIC MARKERS: Sky - B39, B79, B29, B28, B26, B24, B21. Houses - E49, E59, E57, E55, C2, B00. Trees - BG78, BG75, BG71. Big tree - G28, YG67, YG63. Lights & star - Y28, Y26, Y13, Y11. Mountains - B97, B95, B93, B91, B00, B000. Snow - C2, C1, B00, B000, B0000. Rudolf - E59, E57, E55, E53, E51, R89, R27, R24. Santa - E13, E11, E00, E50, W2, W0, C10, C7, C5, C3, C1, C0, R89, R37, R29, R27, R24. Moon - E41, E40.

 

This card took some time to colour but I love how it came together! Please do check out what my teamies Stephanie, Keren and Lisa have been up to. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. Have a great day!