embroidery

Fun with Felt: Floral Duckling Using New Simon Says Stamp!

April 9, 2026

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 with another quintessentially springy project for you today using some super sweet dies from the new Simon Says Stamp In My Heart release! (Click HERE to see the entire new release!) I shared a similar project HERE using the darling little duckling die, but I thought I’d take this one a few steps further with some more florals, some beading, and a touch of embroidery. This is so perfect for a baby gift, I think! Let’s get started with the details!

To start, I fitted an embroidery hoop with some lovely blue and white patterned fabric from my stash. I then die cut the different elements from the precious Cute Duckling die set. When I am working with delicate dies and felt, I try to make sure that I’m using 100% wool felt. The fibers in the 100% wool felt are a bit more tightly woven, and so hold their shape more easily than felt blends. The felt blends do work nicely for larger, solid shapes like the main body of the duckling. I adhered the pieces of the duckling together with liquid felt adhesive, adding a sweet little bowtie from the new Little Bows set. I also added a sparkling gem to his eye using a Pawsitively Dazzling Gems Gunmetal.

To embellish my duckling and make a little wreath for him to sit on, I created an arrangement using some new floral dies from the In My Heart release. I die cut the flowers from the Fresh Crocus Duo and the Jaunty Stem die sets, cutting white crocuses and a yellow blossom to start my wreath, then added foliage from the Fresh Crocus set as well as the Honeybell Floral. I adhered the die cut pieces with more felt glue, arranging them around my duckling.

To add a little shimmer to my arrangement, I used some metallic embroidery floss and beads to add some berry sprigs in my floral arrangement, as well as adding yellow beads to the stamens of the blooms. I cleaned up the back of the hoop by hot glueing the excess fabric on the back as well as a felt die cut circle, cut using the Simon Says Stamp Nested Circles dies and adhered with my hot glue gun. I think this turned out so cute and would make perfect nursery decor!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love playing with felt and finding new ways to use my papercrafting dies. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Fun with Felt: Elastic Bookmark with Simon Says Stamp!

February 5, 2026

Hi friends! I have another Fun With Felt project for you today, one upon which I’ve been ruminating for a few weeks! My daughter loves to read. As a shy child, I always found escaping into a book to be such a comfort, and I am so glad that she has developed a love of reading, as well! I want to nurture and encourage that as much as possible, so I decided to make her a pretty bookmark that she can use to keep her library books neat. I saw a neat bookmark using etched leather and a piece of elastic on Etsy, and I thought that I would try to create my own verson using felt and dies. Let’s get started with the details!

For today’s project, I began by die cutting one of the Chunky Scallop Circle dies from the Heart to Heart Release from Simon Says Stamp (click HERE to check out the entire release!) three separate times from pale pink felt. I used felt glue to adhere two of the felt pieces together and left them beneath a heavy glass paperweight, then while they were drying began to cut my other pieces. I die cut the Plentiful Petals floral dies from pink and green felt, then die cut the detail layer of the new Jewel Heart die set from some metallic pink felt as well.

On the remaining pale pink scalloped circle die cut, I used more felt glue to adhere the metallic heart in the center of the circle, then added a few bubblegum pink blooms, tucking vibrant green foliage amongst the flowers. I love the contrast of the muted blush scalloped circle and metallic heart with those vibrant flowers and greenery!

After I had finished adhering all of the die cuts to the top layer, I used the felt glue to adhere the top scalloped circle to the bottom layers, sandwiching a long strip of elastic from my stash between the layers with a bit more glue. I used that glass paperweight to hold everything together securely while drying, then used some coordinating pale blush thread to add some extra security to the elastic, hopefully keeping it firmly in place while holding the place in a book.

Well, that’s all for my project today! It’s such fun to find new ways to use my dies for items that can be super useful and pretty at the same time! If you haven’t tried felt, I highly encourage you to choose one of the fun new felt palettes from Benzie Designs (click HERE to see them) that are new at Simon Says Stamp. They’re super affordable and such fun to play with. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Floral Holiday Inspiration with New Simon Says Stamp!

January 23, 2026

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back today with some holiday inspiration using one of my new stamp sets from the Heart to Heart Release from Simon Says Stamp (click HERE to check out the entire release!) called Loving You Bouquet. When I was originally illustrating this floral bouquet, I had envisioned it as a holiday bouquet, but Simon Says Stamp decided to accompany it with more versatile sentiments so that it could be used not just for Christmas, but for Valentine’s Day and beyond! The talented designers working with Simon Says Stamp have showcased it in a variety of beautiful colors, but I wanted to share my projects today using more traditional holiday colors, first with an embroidered ornament, then with a beautiful coordinating A7 watercolored card. It’s easy to customize floral bouquets to suit whatever your occasion might be with the appropriate colors and sentiment. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

*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!*

An acquaintance of mine got married several years ago and shared photos of her wedding bouquet on social media, featuring utterly lush and luxurious red anemone flowers. I was instantly smitten with them and have seen them used in holiday floral arrangements all over Pinterest and the florist accounts that I follow on social media! That stunning red anemone was the inspiration for my projects today, featuring a beautifully creamy white gardenia paired with that lush scarlet anemone. I wanted to do some crewel work with needle and thread to create a holiday keepsake as well as a matching holiday card.

I stamped the bouquet from Loving You Bouquet onto some creamy white linen (an old cloth napkin that I found at the thrift store worked perfectly for this project!) using a light gray ink. I then placed the stamped cloth within a 5″ embroidery hoop and began my crewel work. I used what I call a “stained glass” technique, keeping each individual petal unique with one shade of thread on each petal, rather than trying to do too much elaborate shading with multiple shades of thread on each petal. Once I had finished embroidering the image, I added some metallic bronze seed beads from my stash to the flower centers and the tops of the berries. I love the additional texture and shimmer these beads add to the overall effect! I cleaned up the back of the ornament and added some ribbon to hang it from a tree, finally using my hot glue gun to add a coordinating red satin bow at the top. I think this will look so pretty on our Christmas tree next year!

For the coordinating card, I gave myself the freedom to do some detailed no-line watercoloring. When illustrating a new image, I try to add enough details and intricacies to the floral bouquets that they look lovely stamped on their own or with simple coloring, but I also love to just sit down and let my cares fall away as I become absorbed in super detailed watercoloring. I stamped the image from Loving You Bouquet onto some cold press watercolor paper using Inkon3’s Fadeout Ink, then used Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to color the images. With watercolor markers, I like to scribble the color out onto my glass craft mat or porcelain palette, then pick up the color with my damp paintbrush and apply it to the image. This technique allows me maximum control over the intensity of the color on my watercolor paper, as well as keeping the edges and contrast super clean and crisp.

Once I had finished coloring the images, I splattered the edges of the panel with some Simon Says Stamp Gold Splatter Medium. I also used my Simon Says Stamp T-Square to create a gold frame around the edges, bringing the eye towards the center of the card front. I trimmed the edges down slightly, then created a gold embossed sentiment slide using the Label Slides Christmas and coordinating Label Slides dies, through which I threaded some gold cord and adhered to the center of my card, securing the gold cord around the back of the panel. Once everything was complete, I mounted the finished panel on a piece of A7 Rainbow Splash Scarlet cardstock, giving a thin red accent frame around the exterior of the watercolored panel. Finally, I added a gold cord bow beneath the sentiment slide, then added some Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for additional sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am always tickled when I can use the same stamp set for multiple occasions. It’s so important to be able to get as much bang for your crafting buck, and my new Loving You Bouquet definitely fits that bill! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Fun with Felt: Valentine’s Day Edition with New Simon Says Stamp!

January 21, 2026

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back with another Fun with Felt post, this time Valentine’s Day style! I am always up for a challenge, and finding ways to put my papercrafting products to use with anything other than paper is such a pleasure. I love the beautiful details on the new Flourish Heart die from the Heart to Heart Release from Simon Says Stamp (click HERE to check out the entire release!) and thought that it deserved some special treatment with sparkles, beads, and felt.

I created two different felt projects that can be used to add a little love to your Valentine’s Day outfits: a pin and a purse charm! Let’s get started with the details!

To create the purse charm, I used the solid shadow die from the Flourish Heart die set to die cut solid maroon felt, solid maroon glitter felt, and a layer of Simon Says Stamp’s 120 lb heavystock cardstock for added stability. I used a deep maroon alcohol marker to color the edges of the white cardstock so that it would blend seamlessly into the layers! I layered all of these solid hearts together with liquid fabric glue and placed them beneath some heavy paperweights so that they would dry nice and flat. That extra layer of super thick cardstock adds so much support and stability to this purse charm!

For the details on the purse charm, I die cut two of the detail die from the Flourish Heart die set from more maroon felt and adhered them together with a few dots of liquid felt glue. I then used needle and thread to add lots of seed beads and stitched stems with metallic pink thread in order to enhance those beautiful details and make this a special gift! Once I had completed all of the stitching, I adhered this top layer to the solid hearts that had been glued together with more felt glue. I used my super strong hole punch to punch a hole in the top and added a ring so that I could hang it from my purse strap for a festive little Valentine’s Day decoration! It would also be super cute on a backpack or key ring, as well!

For the pin, I decided to create a thinner version of the keychain; the pin presumably wouldn’t be as likely to be roughly handled or jostled, so I used a single layer of felt for the shadow layer and a single layer of metallic pink felt for the detail layer. Before adhering these two heart die cuts together, I used needle and thread to stitch a pin back (purchased from my local craft store) securely, then used more felt glue to adhere the two pieces of felt together, covering up the stitches with the decorative pin front! To make it super sparkly, I used Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems and some other super sparkly gems that I had in my stash to help enhance those beautiful filigree details. Using metallic felt allowed those delicate debossed lines to stand out more beautifully than with regular felt, kind of like using metallic cardstock vs regular cardstock for embossing folders. The metallic top layer just helps those delicate details pop!

Here you can see the back of each project. I think these are so fun and such a neat way to put our dies to use for something other than papercrafting!!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I can’t wait to give my daughter the purse charm to go with her new Kurt Geiger purse that I found at the thrift store in her Valentine’s Day bag! Have you ever used your papercrafting dies with felt? It’s such fun!! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Holiday Fun With Felt: Day 4- Gingerbread!

December 11, 2025

Hi friends! I have some more felt projects to share with you today, featuring the sweetest little gingerbread houses around! My first three projects were created using dies intended for stitching, with convenient little holes punched through to make the stitching process as quick and simple as can be. But, I have been collecting a variety of dies over the last 18 months~ that work beautifully for felt projects. All you need to turn a papercrafting die into a felting die is a little felt, some felt glue, and some imagination! I love a good gingerbread house filled with exquisite details, and luckily for me, gingerbread houses are super trendy right now, so these projects will fit right in to both modern and classic decor. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

This first project is a little bit simpler, with the majority of the work being done by the sweet chateau from Honey Bee Stamp’s Alice’s Gingerbread Lane. I die cut each of the pieces for the chateau from felt from Benzie Design and Poshta, including a gingery brown, petal pink, white glitter, and shining metallic felts in copper and red. I find that, when using smaller, more intricate dies like those of the windows and other accents, using 100% wool felt achieves good results, and metallic or coated 100% wool felt achieving the best results, as they hold their shape when die cut with minimal fraying. When working with larger die images, however, the felt blends work very nicely! I adhered all of the components with felt glue, using the fine end of a die poker tool to add glue to the delicate lines of the windows and doors.

Once I had adhered all of the felt components to the gingerbread house, I added it to my oval embroidery hoop, which is about 4.5″ x 6″ and filled with a minty green fabric from my stash. These small embroidery hoop projects are a great way to use up fabric remnants that are frequently in the clearance bin! I also have thrifted old cloth napkins, tablecloths, and handkerchiefs to use in my embroidery hoops. Once all of the felt glue had dried, I added lots of sparkling seed bead and bugle bead embellishments for snow, Christmas lights, and the pathway, stitching them individually using coordinating embroidery floss. I also added a few glass gems to my bunting and stitched a few freehand snowflakes. The final touch was a silky ribbon loop for hanging and a brown velvet bow!

My second project is a bit larger in scale, featuring the Yuletide Lane die set from Concord and 9th! This die set is intended to create a shaped accordion style card, but I decided to modify it a bit to create this detailed gingerbread house hoop. I thought that the simple and clean images would work perfectly with felt!

Before beginning my project, I selected a beautifully festive tartan fabric from my stash and filled an 8″ round embroidery hoop with it. I then selected coordinating felt shades, with a gingery brown for my house, metallic red for the door, white glitter for the snow, and three different shades of green for the greenery. I die cut the individual pieces for the house and adhered them with felt glue, again using the fine tipped end of my die cut release tool to precisely place the glue on the more delicate pieces. I arranged the assembled felt die cuts on my plaid embroidery hoop and adhered them with more felt glue.

After I had finished adhering the felt pieces to the hoop, it was time to begin embellishing with beads and other bits of sparkle! I die cut gold metallic bells and green wreaths, added different types of ribbon and trim, metallic thread bows, snowflakes, and lots of individual bugle and seed beads. I made sure when adhering my felt pieces to the hoop to use small drops of glue around the edges of the images so that my beading needle could easily pierce through the felt and fabric, making it easy to add these shimmering embellishments! I just adore how colorful and yet still elegant this project is, not to mention incredibly festive. It fits perfectly with that “Ralph Lauren Christmas” theme that I’ve seen going around social media!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I wish that I could spend the next several weeks letting out my creative energy in felt form, because these hoops and ornament projects are just so much fun. If you haven’t looked through your standalone dies yet to see if they will work with your felting projects, I highly encourage you to do so! It’s a great way to get double duty out of your papercrafting stash! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!