simon says stamp favorite things release blog hop day 2

I am thrilled to be joining in day 2 of Simon Says Stamp blog hop celebrating the new Favorite Things release! (You should be arriving from Misty's blog!)

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 created two cards with the adorable Eggstra Special stamp set, one for when you are in a rush and when for when you have more time to create!

This card is for when you only have five minutes...

I stamped the group of Easter eggs off both sides of my card front with Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry.

Then I stamped the sentiment in black and added a little faux splatter by dotting a black pen. 

Cute, easy and so fast!

This card is for when you have a little more time to relax and color...

I arranged six of the adorable chicks in a grid pattern with the sentiment at the bottom and stamped them all at the same time.

Then I colored them with a collection of pastel Copics.

Lastly I added a little faux splatter.

You're next hop stop is Rachel Alvarado's amazing blog!

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

Simon Says Stamp Blog 
Caly Person
Suzy Plantamura
Jennifer McGuire
Debby Hughes
Emily Midgett
Lisa Addesa
Miriam Prantner
Bibi Cameron
Sandi MacIver
Kath Stewart
Betsy Green
Misty Elam
Carly Minner ---> you are here
Rachel Alvarado
Revati Panickar

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

Carly

P.S. And check out the inspiration galleries for the Favorite Things collection!!!

this might be my new favorite card design...

...if you're looking for day 4 of the Pretty Pink Posh birthday blog hop, you've found it! I can't wait to share this birthday card with you, it might be my new favorite card design!

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

Now let's talk about my new favorite card design...

This is not the first card I've made with the adorable Pretty Pink Posh holders (ghost & fox) dies holding candy but the Dog Holder made me realize how fun they could be for birthday cards! Plus I've decided we should all be sending a lot more candy to each other! I need a little sweet treat mixed in with the bills, LOL!

For this card I used a combination of the Streamers dies and Layered Garland stencils to create a background.

I die cut the Dog Holder from some light tan & kraft cardstock and assembled him, adding pink cheeks with a colored pencil and a party hat from the Birthday Holder Additions die set.

I adhered a plain white cardstock Dog Holder behind the tan one for a little extra stability and then adhered the whole thing to my card. 

I used tweezers to pop out the arms and glue dotted a mini Reese's Cup there because who doesn't love candy?! LOL!

The sentiment is from the Birthday Dogs & Cats set and it's so perfect!

And even though I think candy is the perfect treat for the Dog Holder to give, there are so many options! A real balloon with a message written on it to blow up...little bag of confetti to sprinkle...a gift card...or any of the adorable things from the Birthday Holder Additions die set!

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 
Joy Baldwin
Allison Frazier
Carly Minner --> you are here
Dana Kirby
Melody Rupple
Debbie Frank

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

Carly

P.S. There's a free gift and a discount when you shop!!!

simon says stamp pretty bows

The Favorite Things collection just arrived in the Simon Says Stamp shop and it is so much fun!!! There are so many things that I can't wait to create with but I started with the Pretty Bows die set!

This card was inspired by a friend who just had a baby shower with bows on the wall like this for a photo backdrop! 

Each bow on my card is a stack of three die cuts with Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo & Milled Lavender) added to the top one.

The sentiment is from Circle Sentiments, one of my favs! And the splatter is just made with a few black pens.

Thanks so much for stopping by & stay tuned for more SSS Favorite Things projects! Hugs!!!

Carly

alex syberia designs february 2025 release blog hop & giveaway

I'm thrilled to be joining my friends at Alex Syberia Designs to celebrate their latest release! The release is full of love and goodness knows we can all use a little more of that! (BTW, if you are hopping with us, you should be arriving from Sylvie's amazing blog.)

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 GMT March 8th, 2025. Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs blog Giveaway Winners page on March 9th, 2025.

Ok now let's talk about the card I've made...

I'm a sucker for a good floral and the From Our Hearts set is not just good, it's FANTASTIC!

I stamped the smaller bloom on my card front twice and left it uncolored.

Then I stamped more of both blooms and die cut them before coloring with Copic Markers. And since realistic coloring isn't really in my skill set, I used colors I like and added lots of little polka dots.

After coloring the blooms, I used foam tape to adhere them to the card front and then stamped a little sentiment.

The final touch as a little faux splatter, made with black pens.

I have many more cards to share with this wonderful release but there are many more fun stops on this hop so you need to get going! Your next stop is Amanda'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

Emelie
Erin
Colleen

Sylvie

Carly --> you are here

Amanda

Bobbi

Brenda

Nicky

Nicoletta

Sandi

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

Carly

sbc market bloom florals & blooming sentiments

Do you love making floral cards? They are some of my favorite!!! Let me show you my latest...

Scrapbook.com's Market Blooms Florals are already one of my favorite die sets but the Blooming Sentiments stamps (found in Laura Graff's SBC Fest kit...more on that later) have me falling in love with the flowers all over again!

The "Bloom bravely..." sentiment is just GORGEOUS and it was so easy to create with! I started by stamping the sentiment on a white cardstock to use as guide for the placement of the flowers.

Then I die cut the flowers, saving the positive pieces to add later.

I ink blended the front of my folded card with Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry and Carved Pumpkin. Then I added a little Distress Spritz Picked Raspberry over the ink blending. I couldn't capture the amazing shimmer in the pics but it's awesome!

I adhered the stamped panel with the negative flower cuts over the ink blending. Then I added color to the positive flower die cuts with more ink blending, added black flower middles and adhered them on the card front.

I love the combination of the positive and negative die cuts! It gives the card texture but makes it still easy to mail!

Before you leave, let's chat about SBC Fest! It's a virtual cardmaking & scrapbooking event coming up on March 14th! It's going to be packed with fabulous tutorials & techniques and it's FREE! I can't wait! And you can find more HERE and I highly recommend it for some crafty fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!!!

Carly

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