original illustration

Fun Vellum Trifold with New Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Release!

September 8, 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 have such a fun card to share with you today featuring my new Floral Follies background stamp that was released with the mega STAMPtember Simon Says Stamp collection (click HERE to see the full release!). Whenever I create a new background stamp set, I always try to share multiple ways in which it can be used for papercrafting, whether you are a colorist or just like the pretty patterns. I chose to use it in a more subtle way today, allowing it to accent the background on my fun vellum trifold card, rather than adding tons of color and detail to bold flowers. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

To begin, I placed the Floral Follies Background in the center of a 5 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ panel of vellum cardstock, then used my MISTI to stamp the detailed background stamp in the center of the panel using embossing ink. I added Platinum Sparkle embossing powder to the stamped background and heated it, then used my trimmer to cut right down the center of the panel to create the opening for my trifold card! (It was a lot easier to cut this one in the center; cutting the panels that I’ve colored makes my heart stop momentarily, ha!) I used a Scoring Board to score the vellum at 1/2″ inside each edge so that an A2 panel of deep green cardstock fit nicely inside. I adhered it with some super strong double sided tape, creating my trifold card base.

To adorn the front of my floral vellum card front, I decided to add a vibrant magenta bloom to the cigar band around the center of the card. Though the Blushing Blooms die includes a stem and multiple foliage options, I ignored the stem and die cut only the blooms and foliage from vibrant magenta cardstock and soft sage cardstock, respectively. I used Shading Brushes to blend Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Pine + Taffy on the die cuts, adding some extra dimension and depth to the images, before adhering the die cuts together with liquid adhesive.

After I had finished creating the bloom and foliage, I die cut a Modern Teardrops shape from some deep green cardstock and blended more Pine ink around the edges to add a bit more interest on the flat die cut. I also heat embossed a greeting from the new To Friendship stamp set on another piece of green cardstock using plain Platinum embossing powder, cutting the image out with it’s coordinating die. I arranged the die cuts on the blended Modern Teardrop shape and then created a belly band to keep the card closed when not being read; I simply cut an 11″ x 1 1/4″ strip of the same light sage green cardstock used for the foliage, then wrapped it around my card base and scored it in the appropriate spots. I trimmed off any excess, making sure that the seam of my belly band would be covered by the teardrop die cut.

Once I had created the belly band, I adhered the blooms, foliage, and sentiment with foam adhesive, then tucked a twine bow beneath the greeting and added some Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of extra sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Sometimes, it’s so fun to think outside of the box and do something different like this trifold card. I just love how unique and elegant this one ended up! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!!

Floral Follies on Canvas with New Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember!

September 4, 2026

Hi friends! I have more inspiration using my newest illustration that was released during the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE to see the whole release!), called Floral Follies. I used some of my favorite blooms for this background stamp, including a huge and fluffy dahlia, some pretty tulips, and a generous garden rose. I shared THIS embossed and watercolored artwork project last week, but I couldn’t resist playing with acrylic markers to create a sweet little canvas wall hanging with some no-line painting. Let’s get started with the details!

Whenever I am at the dollar store, I check to see if there are any fun little trinkets or plain crafty items that I can pair with my stamps for some fun creative projects. I found a 3 pack of these 4×6 hardback canvases and knew that I wanted to use it to create some fun artwork! We moved into our newly-renovated forever home a couple of weeks ago (boy am I glad that I don’t have to move anymore!), and so I’ve been brainstorming how to put my artwork to put on the walls in a unique and curated fashion. I knew that these pretty blooms from the Floral Follies set would work beautifully in my daughter’s bathroom!

I stamped the image on the canvas with some gold pigment ink, then because adding color with acrylic paint markers. If you don’t have access to these hardbacked canvases, you can use a basswood panel or even mixed media cardstock that you back with chipboard to create a similar effect! You just want a surface that is sturdy that will stay flat when hanging on the wall. When working with acrylic markers and mixing the colors, I like to blend the mixed colors with a dry paintbrush, creating a gradient and lots of pretty depth and shading without detracting from the intensity of the opaque paint. Such a fun new (to me) medium with which to experiment!

After I had finished coloring the images themselves, I used a gold paint pen to cover the area behind the blooms and add an element of luxury to the panel. The shimmer is so lovely, but so difficult to photograph! Finally, I used a glue gun to add a peachy chiffon ribbon “hanger” to make it easy to hang this painting on the wall. I just love how it turned out!

Well, that’s all for my project today! The Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember company collaboration celebrations are starting today at 12 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Central, and you won’t want to miss these limited edition sets. Be sure to bookmark my blog or become a subscriber so that you don’t miss anything fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember + Framed Floral Follies!

August 31, 2026

Hi friends! The happiest month of the crafting year is here… STAMPtember from Simon Says Stamp has finally arrived! STAMPtember is a month filled to the brim with creativity and fabulous new products. Some of the products released throughout the month are special, limited edition pieces that are only available for a short time, but tonight’s release is part of the Simon Says Stamp lineup and will be restocked if/when things sell out! Throughout STAMPtember® we will be celebrating every day posting exclusive collaborations, contests, prizes, special promotions, announcements, and more surprises on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! The full Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE!) is one giant extravaganza of creativity, but I am extra excited to share that I have a new illustration included with this fabulous release. The Floral Follies stamp set is a 6×6 background stamp that I have illustrated featuring some of my favorite blooms: dahlias, ranunculus, tulips, and even a little apple blossom peeking out from behind the tulips! To show you the full stamped image, I decided to create this pretty framed art piece using my watercolors and some embossing. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

I started by stamping my new Floral Follies background on a panel of watercolor paper that was a bit larger than the stamp with embossing ink, then sprinkled gold embossing powder and heated it up. The gold adds such a luxurious touch to the image without overpowering it! Using colored embossing powder with watercoloring is a nice way to “cheat” (aka-simpler watercoloring) while still getting a softer look than if you were to use black ink and clear embossing powder. Both techniques have their place in the craft room, but I really love the metallic powders for projects like this!

After I had embossed the image, I taped the watercolor panel down to my watercolor board with painter’s tape to minimize warping, then used watercolor markers to add so much vibrant color to the panel. I chose to use my favorite “fiesta” color palette, with vibrant oranges and pinks, which I toned down a bit by adding a chocolatey-maroon background. When working with watercolor brush markers, I like to scribble the marker on a palette or glass mat, then pick up the color with my damp paintbrush, which gives me more control over the intensity of the color that is being added to my watercolored piece.

After I had finished my panel and allowed it to dry while still taped to my board, I trimmed down the panel so that the edges were nice and clean. I also cut some matte gold foil cardstock slightly larger than the stamped and watercolored image and mounted the watercolored piece in the center, creating a thin golden frame around the edge of the image. Once the piece was complete, I placed it in a square frame. I think something like this would make such a nice addition to an art room or office space or even as a gift!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you’re looking for more STAMPtember inspiration, be sure to bookmark or subscribe to my blog, because inspiration and fabulous crafty products will be showcased here almost every day throughout the month! (I’m tired just typing that {lol}, but man oh man is this month such a blast!) Be extra sure to come back on 9/2/26 for the spectacular and enormous blog party, filled with inspiration and free gifts! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!!!

Daisies are the Friendliest Flowers with Simon Says Stamp!

August 18, 2026

“Don’t you think that daisies are the friendliest flowers?” Name that movie!! It’s one of my favorites! I am so excited that I was able to design my newest stamp set for Simon Says Stamp called Daisy Frame (check it out HERE) featuring the friendliest of blooms. I created two different daisy floral arrangements for the stamp set, one with a wreath of daisies and foliage (check out THIS project and THIS project featuring the large wreath!) and for today’s project, I thought I’d turn my attention to the smaller swag included with the set. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

To begin, I stamped the swag from Daisy Frame using no-line coloring ink on plain white cardstock, then used OLO Markers to color the images in pretty shades of purple and soft green. I used the coordinating dies to cut the finished colored images out and set them aside. Daisies are such a fun floral to color, because the petals are fairly straightforward and don’t curl in on each other, making them great for practicing your shading!

After I had created my pretty daisy swags, I decided to ramp up the feminine factor with some pretry, lacy frames. I die cut the new Petal Point Frames twice: once alone for the medium-sized die cut and another paired with an A2 Rectangles die to create a lovely, lacy frame. I layered the two lacy die cuts on my white A2 card front, adhering the frame around the outside with liquid adhesive and using thin foam adhesive for the center die cut so that they were layered together. The straight edge of the exterior frame keeps the layered frames from being too visually busy.

After I had layered the frames on my card front, I used another layer of thin foam adhesive to add the daisy swags to the top and bottom of my middle lacy rectangle. The double layer of foam adhesive helps those daisies to pop from the layers of white cardstock! I also stamped a greeting from Daisy Frame using Whale Pawsitively Saturated Ink and die cut it with it’s coordinating die, then placed it in the absolute center of my middle lacy rectangle with some more thin foam adhesive. Finally, I added a few Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I just love the crisp white-on-white layers with that pop of vibrant purple, don’t you? It’s so feminine and delicate! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Colored Pencil Daisy Frame with New Simon Says Stamp!

August 10, 2026

Hi friends! I am back today with another project featuring my latest design for Simon Says Stamp: Daisy Frame! This pretty stamp set was released during the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release (click HERE to check out the entire release!), and it features two different daisy arrangements with lots of gorgeous sentiments, and of course you can also purchase fantastically detailed dies and even simple coloring stencils! After creating THIS card in which I enhanced the stenciled images with some light colored pencil shading, I chose to put my colored pencils to use again on their own with this inlaid project. Let’s get started with the details on how I created this dramatic thinking of you card!

To begin, I placed the large frame die from the Daisy Frame product suite in the (approximate) center of an A2 card front created using Midnight Green Simon Says Stamp cardstock. I reserved the positive die cut for another project, then placed a clean A2 card front in the same Midnight Green cardstock in my MISTI and placed the negative die cut leftover over the top, lining up both pieces of cardstock in the corner of my MISTI. I then placed the coordinating daisy frame stamp from Daisy Frame within the negative die cut and closed the lid of my MISTI. This technique allows me to place the stamped image exactly in the center of the die cut window!

After I had placed my stamp in the proper spot, I stamped the image onto that deep green cardstock using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink. I find that stamping the images on which I intend to color using colored pencils onto dark cardstock with the White Pigment Ink works a treat; the white pigment ink sits atop the cardstock rather than sinking down into it like a dye ink, so the lines get reabsorbed into the opaque colored pencil coloring! I used colored pencils in shades of coral and cool jungle green to color this detailed image with a no-line coloring style, and you can see in the photos how nicely that white pigment ink is absorbed into the colored pencil coloring, making it look like I drew this wreath by hand! (Sneaky, sneaky!)

After I had finished coloring the image, I placed the negative die cut frame over the top, centering it over the stamped image and adhering the panel with thin foam adhesive squares. This is a hard one to see in photos because of the dark cardstock, but the raised frame adds a bit more dimension and interest to the card front. I wanted to keep the color palette simple, so instead of adding any more colors or metallic accents, I decided to stamp the greeting from Daisy Frame onto more Midnight Green cardstock using White Pigment Ink and added white embossing powder over the top. I die cut the finished sentiment with it’s coordinating die, then placed it in the center of the floral wreath image with a double layer of foam adhesive to help it pop from the deeply saturated background. I thought that the card could use a bit more texture around the edges, so I die cut the More A2 Rectangles die from some more Midnight Green cardstock and adhered the largest one to the card front using liquid adhesive. Finally, I added some Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love using coordinating dies to create inlaid images, and creating these pretty coral daisies on this dramatically dark green cardstock was such a fun way to blend the two techniques. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!