spellbinders felt candy cane die set

Have you seen Nichol Sphor's adorable Felt Stitch & Create collection at Spellbinders? It's ridiculously cute and so fun for the holidays! 

Now stitching does not come easily to me but these dies make it incredibly straightforward and they are so cute that they make me want to practice! 

Spellbinders was kind enough to send me the Felt Candy Cane set and I've created a few things that I'm excited to show you...

I started with a simple card using just the holly leaves and berries. It turned out so well that now I want to make a lot more cards with felt accents!

This candy cane might be more than just an accent though, LOL! I made my pale pink card a non-standard size so I could fit the whole candy cane and I added a little sentiment strip on the side. It reminds me of a little candy cane rattle my son was given for his first Christmas.

And lastly I tried making a candy cane wand! I'm definitely going to need so more practice stuffing and blanket stitching but my kids think it's so fun so I'm happy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carly

easy watercolor wreath with crafty meraki

Have you seen the fun countdown to Christmas that Crafty Meraki is doing? There's so many fun cardmaking ideas and I'm delighted to be adding one today with a new video! I hope you have a chance to check it out and let me know what you think!

Have a great day!

Carly

mini christmas tree pinata

Wanna know a little secret? I'm obsessed with making mini pinatas and pinata cards! I just think they are so cute, so fun to give as gifts and I just love fringe!!!

So speaking of fringe, Pretty Pink Posh has the cutest Fringe Tree die set and it seemed like a great way to make a mini Christmas Tree pinata!!! 

I even made a quick process video...

What do you think? Are you tempted to make a mini pinata?

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

Carly

P.S. Wanna see more pinata stuff? Check out this card!

P.P.S. Pretty Pink Posh is celebrating Christmas all week and you can snag the Fringe Tree die set for 15% off!😉

simon says stamp woodland treescape

I have a tendency to look at all dies and wonder if I can make them into a shaker card but the Simon Says Stamp Woodland Treescape couldn't be more perfect as a shaker window!

I blended Distress Oxide Blueprint Sketch & Salvaged Patina inks (my new favorite combo) on the card front.

Over the dry ink blending I used foam tape to make a container and then filled it with a little chunky glitter and these awesome sequins. Then I sealed the container with a piece of acetate.

I die cut all the layers of the Woodland Treescape in white and a few snowflakes too. I snipped the lamp post off (because I was going for more forest-y) and adhered the layers together. 

After stamping the sentiment from the Peaceful Trees set, I adhered the layers over the shaker window. And added a little faux splatter with some pens.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

Carly

P.S. Simon Says Stamp has the cutest Tim Holtz die set gift with purchase! In case you need encouragement to treat yourself to some new crafty goodies😉

DieCember 2024 blog party

Happy DieCember everybody!!! The Simon Says Stamp DieCember release hit the shop today and we are celebrating with a giant blog party!

Before I show you the cards I've made, check out this beautiful Fancy Ornaments embossing folder you can get FREE with a $100+ purchase!

And visit the SSS blog to see all the participants because you will definitely want to see what everyone made for DieCember!!!

Ok, now let me show you what I've made...

I am positively smitten with the Grand Pixie Snowflake and you know that the first thing I had to make was a shaker card!

I die cut the snowflake from a white cardstock panel and then did some Distress Oxide ink blending for the background. Blueprint Sketch with Salvaged Patina is my new favorite combo!

I filled the shaker pocket with some chunky glitter, adhered the snowflake panel over it and finished with sentiment strip using the Reverse Winter set.

And then I was loving the Blueprint Sketch and Salvaged Patina snowflakes so much that I made this one...

Since the snowflake is so delicate, I ink blended some white cardstock first. I added a little Peacock Feathers Distress Spritz for shimmer, let it all dry and then die cut the snowflakes.

I adhered the snowflakes to a white card and added a sentiment from the Peaceful Trees set.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon!

grateful card with simon says stamp

Do you ever make a plan for a special card and then not get it done? This happens to me soooo much, especially around the holidays!

I designed a clean and simple card for Thanksgiving with the adorable Simon Says Stamp Give Thanks and Eat Pie set but I didn't get it done in time for the holiday. I still want to show my gratitude for a few sweet people in my life so I decided to change the color palette...

What do you think? I used my MISTI to do a little repeat stamping of the thankful word. It's so easy to do that way! 

I just place the stamp where I want in the middle of my card panel. I ink and stamp, then move the panel 11/16 of an inch down (the measurement depends on the size of the stamp) using the ruler on the edge of the MISTI, then ink and stamp again.

After the stamping off the top edge, I moved the panel back to the starting point and then moved 11/16 up to ink & stamp.

Once I was finished stamping all the thankfuls, I stamped the "and grateful" at the bottom and added a period with a pen. And I couldn't resist adding a few more pen dots as faux splatter.

The color palette is a little Christmas-y or a little lovey, giving me lots of time to get these cards sent😉

If you are shopping this weekend, don't forget to shop small. Simon Says Stamp is having a sale today (use the code SVE24) and they have a super cute gift with purchase too!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

Carly

easy multicolor stamping

There are several great ways to ink up a stamp with multiple colors but my favorite is super easy! All you need is a gorgeous solid stamp like the SSS Heartfelt Snowflakes, a stamping tool like the MISTI, inks that will blend nicely and a few blending tools.

Check out this quick two minute tip video to see the process...

Wasn't that so easy?!!!

I think the key to success is to use inks that will blend together beautifully like Distress Oxides! I love this combo of Shaded Lilac and Salvaged Patina so much!!!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

Carly

P.S. The sentiment is from the Peaceful Trees set!

birthday shaker cards with simon says stamp

If there was ever a card that called for an extra bit of sparkle, it's a birthday card! And I always need more birthday cards so I grabbed a few of my latest Simon Says Stamp goodies and made these!

I love nothing more than using a big phrase die to make a shaker window and the Bubble Script Birthday makes a fabulous one!

I ink blended the front of my card and made a pocket over it with a piece of acetate. I filled the pocket with chunky glitter and sealed it.

Then I die cut the Bubble Script Birthday from another panel, stamped a sentiment from the Beautiful Blooms set and added a little faux splatter with some black pens. Finally I adhered the window panel to the card front.

For this card, I used the same process but with the Bunch of Candles as the shaker window. I also added some candles on the top of the window panel. BTW the sentiment is from the Birthday Party set.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

spellbinders florals through the year

I only recently dove into creating with the BetterPress system and I am so happy I did! The BetterPress is super simple to use and creates such stunning letterpress designs! And Spellbinders keep creating really cool new plates, in fact they just released a gorgeous collection Florals Through the Year!

The Florals Through the Year plates are designed to create a stunning letterpress calendar but they are also amazing for cards! I decided to start by creating a little set of notecards that I think would make a fabulous gift!

For this simple design I used watercolor cardstock and masked a small section. Then I used Distress Inks (Carved Pumpkin, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet & Mermaid Lagoon) & blending tools to add color. After blending I added a little Picked Raspberry Distress Spritz.

I removed the tape, let the panels dry and then it was time for the BetterPress!

I used the August Poppy, October Cosmos and February Violet with black ink. Aren't they so fun!

One little tip if you decide to make something similar...you see how the black isn't as bold on my orange & pink August Poppy card? Well I think I was a little too generous with the Distress Spritz on that one and the shimmer dulls the black ink of the flower a bit. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

simon says stamp festive fun release blog hop day 1

I am thrilled to be joining in day 1 of Simon Says Stamp blog hop celebrating the new Festive Fun release! (You should be arriving from Studio JD!)

Before I show you what I made, there's are prizes!!! There are $25 gift certificates to Simon Says Stamp up for grabs at each hop stop! Enter to win by leaving comments along the hop!

And there's a gift with purchase!!! Just follow the instructions on the graphic below when you go to shop ;)

Ok, now let me show you what I made...

I've been loving the stand-alone dies that Simon has been creating lately! The Pocket Full of Mushrooms are just ADORABLE!!!

I die cut the mushrooms from white cardstock and then added color with Copic markers on the stems and Distress Oxides (Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac & Salvaged Patina) on the caps.

I didn't really know what I was making, I was just having fun making mushrooms and I ended up with a bunch, LOL! So I decided to make some rows/stripes of mushrooms.

I adhered some flat to the card front and popped some up with foam adhesive.

I used a white pen to add a few dots and the sentiment is from one of my favorite sets, Beautiful Blooms.

And I liked the rows of mushrooms so much, I tried it with Snowman Cupcakes! 

Maybe not quite as successful but I still like it! (And BTW, the sentiment is from the Printmaking Hearts set.)

You're next hop stop is Bobbi's beautiful blog!

And here's the whole hop list just in case...

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Caly Person

Nichol Spohr

Jennifer McGuire

Suzy Plantamura

Amy Rysavy

Emily Midgett

Debby Hughes

Lisa Addesa

Miriam Prantner

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Kim Hamilton

Jean Doeringsfeld

Carly Minner ---> you are here

Bobbi Lemanski

Lea Lawson

Thanks so much for hopping with us! Hugs!!!

Carly

P.S. And check out the inspiration galleries for the Festive Fun collection!!!

simon says stamp snow buddies

The Festive Fun collection just arrived in the Simon Says Stamp shop and it's delightful! And of course it's hard to choose a favorite but if I had to...it might be the Snow Buddies set!

The storybook style of this set is just so charming! And since the illustrations are so perfect, I wanted to keep the card simple. I stamped the sweet little fox and a sentiment (from the Peaceful Trees set) in black.

Then I did a little simple Copic coloring (very little shading) and added a few faux paint splatters with a black pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

thanksgiving pie card

Halloween is still a few days away but I have to admit I've been thinking about Thanksgiving! And more specifically, I've been thinking about the pie, LOL!

And since I've been thinking about pie AND it's Autumn Week at Pretty Pink Posh Stamps, I made this...

I LOVE the Big Fall Cupcake die set because it is just packed with adorable shapes that work with the cupcake and alone, like this cute slice of pie!

To make this card I die cut a bunch of slices from white cardstock and then I inked blended with Distress Oxide inks (Dried Marigold, Abandoned Coral & Seedless Preserves) to add color.

For the lattice and crust I used Copic markers to add color.

After assembling the slices, I added two more white "wedges" for a little dimension.

The sentiment is from the Sentiment Strips: Fall set and the splatter is faux, done by dotting a pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Carly

P.S. There's going to be lots of fall inspiration on the PPP blog and 15% off all the FALL GOODIES!!!

alex syberia designs october release blog hop & giveaway

I'm delighted & grateful to be joining my friends at Alex Syberia Designs to celebrate their latest release! This release is lovely and fun! (BTW, if you are hopping with us, you should be arriving from Sylvie's blog...isn't she so talented?!) 

Now before we talk cardmaking, let's talk about something else fun...prizes! 

Alex Syberia Designs is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 1 winner and a $15 gift card to 3 lucky winners!!!

Open internationally, all 4 winners will be drawn from the entrants that have played along with this Blog hop by midnight BST October 31st, 2024. Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs blog 'Giveaway Winners' page on November 1st, 2024.

Ok, now let's talk about what I made!

The Garden of Blooms layered stencils are GORGEOUS! You could stencil those blooms on trash and it would be instant art!

I started by using the coordinating die to cut a panel and make a shaker window. Then I used the die cut panel as a guide for where to position my stencil on another cardstock panel.

I used Distress Oxide inks to stencil the blooms.

Then I wrapped the stenciled panel with some scrap plastic, adhering it on three sides to create a pocket. I added glitter to the pocket and sealed it shut.

I stamped a sentiment from a Beautiful Day on the die cut panel and then adhered it to the pocket panel.

Then I adhere all of that to a folded card.

I have many more cards to share with this wonderful release but there are so many more fun stops on this hop so you need to get going! Your next stop is Bonnie's blog and I know she is going to have something gorgeous for us!

And here is the whole hop list just in case...

Alex Syberia Designs

Samantha

Rachel

Hannelie

Emelie

Hanh

Allison

Erin

Colleen

Sylvie

Carly

Bonnie

Amanda

Bobbi

Brenda

Nicky

Lien

Sandi

Nicoletta

Thanks so much for hopping with us! Hugs!!!

Carly

meraki craftober giveaway hop

Are you looking for a little crafty inspiration to kick off the week? Join us for the Crafty Meraki Craftober video hop!!!