simon says stamp funky hearts stencil

The To Be Loved collection just arrived in the Simon Says Stamp shop and it's delightful!!! There are so many sweet sets but my favorite might be the bold Funky Hearts stencil!

Isn't it so fun?!!

For this card I placed a piece of low-tack masking tape along the bottom of my card. With the tape in place, I ink blended three of the stencil layers with Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo & Black Soot).

After stenciling I removed the tape and stamped part of a sentiment from the Hugs to You set.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

my favorite clean and simple card designs

I love clean and simple card designs and I have a couple that are my favorite for critter cards! Let me show you more!

BTW, Pretty Pink Posh has a fabulous new release and I'm thrilled to joining day 3 of the blog hop to share ideas with you!!!

Before we talk more about cards, there's more fun! There are 4 $30 gift certificates to Pretty Pink Posh up for grabs! Enter to win by leaving comments along the hop by 11:59pm PST of January 15th, 2025. The winners will be announced on the PPP blog.

Now let's talk easy, clean & simple card designs...

I love to mask the top section of my card with a little low-tack tape and then ink blend to add color. Then I like to stamp over the ink blending to create a little background scene for a critter.

In this case I used images from the Valentine Icons set and the Valentine Ghost Friends to create the background for one of the ghost friends.

This simple strip background/scene design always makes me happy!

Another card design I like to use often for critters is a circle window like this...

The window can be a shaker or not, but always makes a fun place to ground a critter like this sweet Valentine Ghost Friend! This one is a shaker over a ink blended background and filled with chunky glitter.

Your next stop on the hop is Dana's fabulous blog and I know she is going to share something gorgeous!

And here's the whole list if you need it...

Pretty Pink Posh blog 
Leanne West
Barbara Tarayao
Rachel Kleinman
Carly Minner
Dana Kirby
Zsofia Molnar

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

Carly

simon says stamp circle sentiments

Is there anything better than sending a card just to say "I love you"? 

I've got an easy card to share with you today that does just that! And it would make a sweet valentine too!

The Simon Says Stamp Circle Sentiment set really does all the hard work here! I just stamped the bubble letters in different colors of Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Saltwater Taffy, Salvaged Patina, Shaded Lilac & Blueprint Sketch).

Then I stamped the sentiment below in black. Quick tip...if you want to stamp over Distress Oxide inks in black, make sure they are dry first to get the sharpest impression. Or if you are impatient like me, use Distress Oxide Black Soot😉

And finally I finished with a little faux black splatter by just dotting a few pens around.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

simon says stamp falling in love

Looking for a clean, simple and quick card design? I've got one to show you with the Simon Says Stamp Falling in Love stencil!

I started by placing a piece of low-tack tape on the bottom of a white card panel as a mask. Then I used a blending tool to apply Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy to the unmasked section.

Immediately after (I didn't want the Saltwater Taffy ink to dry too much), I placed the Falling in Love stencil over the panel and applied Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry ink through it. Since the Saltwater Taffy wasn't dry, the Picked Raspberry blended with it a bit for a soft & dreamy look. For a sharper look, I could have let the Taffy blending dry completely before stenciling.

Then I removed the stencil & tape and stamped a sentiment from the Circle Sentiments set. The final touch was a little faux splatter made by dotting a few black pens around.

By the way, this adorable stencil also coordinates with foil transfer cards for really cool techniques! I'm planning to try that next.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Carly

P.S. Have you checkout the latest Simon Says Stamp release, To Love? It's pretty fun and I'll be sharing much more with it in the next few weeks!

simon says stamp love letter

The new To Love collection just arrived in the Simon Says Stamp shop and it is lovely! One of my favorites is the Love Letter set!

I love word stamps but a solid word stamp like this is extra exciting! One of my favorite techniques is multicolor stamping with solid stamps because it is so easy! 

I used a blending tool to apply Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry to the top of the word stamp and another blending tool to apply Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy to the bottom. 

After stamping the love word, I added a sentiment in black from the Printmaking Hearts set. One of the scripty sentiments from the Circle Sentiments set would have been beautiful too!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

sss jolly birdie

I love dies that work for many seasons like the Simon Says Stamp Jolly Birdie! I was originally intended to give the birdie a little Santa hat for a Christmas card but when I sat down to create, I made a little lovey, Valentine-type card instead...

I started by die cutting the birdie from white cardstock and then I added color to the pieces with Distress Oxide inks (Blueprint Sketch, Salvaged Patina, Picked Raspberry & Saltwater Taffy) and blending brushes. 

After assembling the birdie, I die cut a few of the individual branches from the Rustic Nest set and colored them with a Copic marker.

The nest needed something to sit on so I die cut three of the adore words, coloring one with Blueprint Sketch and then layering all three together to make a little shelf. 

Next I stamped a sentiment from the Printmaking Hearts set under the adore. And finally I finished with a little faux splatter made by dotting pens.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Carly

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