beautiful moments

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

Hi friends! I am back today with a sweet project that uses some old, some new, and some leftovers! I love when I can pull so many different elements together to create a cohesive project, and adding in some pretty blooms and cute critters just makes it that much sweeter. The Friend Like You mini stamp set is such a sweet little set that gives you a lot of bang for your buck, especially if you add in the coordinating dies. I created this sweet springtime friendship card with lots of texture and small details, even using some of my leftovers from a previous card. Let’s get started with the details!

To begin, I die cut a panel of white cardstock using one of the nested Modern Teardrops dies, then stamped the adorable little critter pals from Friend Like You using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink, which works nicely with alcohol markers. I colored the images using my OLO Markers, keeping things simple because the images are modest enough to not need a ton of shading details. Once I had finished coloring the stamped image, I used blending brushes to lightly blend Cabbage & Sky Pawsitively Saturated Ink for some “grass” and “sky” respectively.

I wanted to add some interesting but relatively simple texture behind the main image, so I ran an A2 panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the new Fanfare embossing folder. This is such a pretty and unique pattern, and I think that the points on the individual embossed teardrops complement the points on the ends of the Modern Teardrop die cut so nicely! I popped up the colored and blended die cut in the center of the embossed panel using thin foam adhesive squares.

After stamping a greeting from Friend Like You, again using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink, I used the coordinating die to cut it out neatly. I had some colorful leftover blooms and leaves from THIS project, so I decided to embellish my sentiment with some pretty flowers. I popped up the greeting with thick foam adhesive squares, then tucked the blooms from Country Basket around and beneath the sentiment, using both liquid and thin foam adhesive for lots of dimension on my project. Finally, I added a trio of Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the points on each side of my Modern Teardrop die cut for a little added sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Sadly, an annoying polar vortex has turned all of the budding daffodils and tulip trees a depressing wrinkly brown. The warm springy weather should be back tomorrow, though, so fingers crossed things start to perk up and look colorful again soon! Until then, we will just have to channel springtime with paper and ink. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Hi friends! It’s going to be a week full of dreary, rainy days here in the Midwest, for which the ground is thankful but my eyeballs are not! The daffodils and crocuses are beginning to peek out from their winter slumber, and the warm temperatures by which we’ve been teased a few times are making me yearn for spring! I am a winter girl who loves cozy sweaters, Christmas, and cuddles by the fire, no doubt about that, but I’m going to embrace the new season and try to not think about summer and it’s relentless heat. (Ha.) The new the new Beautiful Moments release from Simon Says Stamp is filled with fabulous products to fulfill your every springtime design need! (Check out the full Beautiful Moments release HERE!) The fantastic Wildflower Bucket has a variety of blooms and foliage, along with a generously-sized bucket that you can fill with this floral abundance. I think my new motto should be “when in doubt, triple it!” I used lots of vibrant cardstock scraps to create a rainbow of flower buckets. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

When designing this card, I was envisioning a florist’s bench beneath an awning, filled with a row of posies from which people can pluck their own flowers to create a bouquet. With that in mind, I pulled out my scrap bags and selected six shades of coral, pink, and purple, then used the individual floral dies from Wildflower Bucket to die cut the flowers for each bucket. I also cut some greenery using the foliage dies, as well as three buckets from some brushed silver foil cardstock.

Once I had die cut the individual components and adhered the detail pieces to each bucket, I wanted to create a halo of coordinating color before beginning the assembly process on my card front. I used blending brushes to blend Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Shell, Peony, and Orchid, which in my mind adds a bit of a coordinating glow behind each bouquet! I popped up a thin strip of white cardstock towards the bottom of the blended panel, then used that as my “table” for the buckets. I adhered the buckets with more foam adhesive squares, then began arranging the blooms and foliage, creating a lovely array of flowers in rainbow order!

For the greeting, I decided to use one of the lovely sentiments from the new Good Greetings 1, heat embossing two of the greetings on white cardstock using silver embossing powder. I die cut the finished sentiments with their coordinating dies, then mounted them on the front of the buckets, tilting the larger sentiment at a jaunty angle! I tucked a bow created with Simon Says Stamp Silver Cord beneath the sentiments and added a few Clear Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love that the flowers from Wildflower Bucket are individual so that you can make intentional color choices and cuts without any waste. I had plenty of leftovers from this card, so I will be saving them for a future project! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

A Friend Like You with New Simon Says Stamp!

Buckets of Rainbow Flowers with New Simon Says Stamp!