Thursday, June 25, 2026

Firefighter Hero - Simon Says Stamp Shine On Release

Good morning! I'm back with another card today using the BRAND NEW Shine On Release from Simon Says Stamp. Today's card is a bit near and dear to my own heart and family! My dad was a volunteer firefighter when I was growing up, and both my brother and sister have been on local volunteer fire departments for years. My sister-in-law is fire commissioner for their rural fire department, and my nephew recently joined his local fire department as well. When I saw the new firefighting items in this release, I just knew I had to create something with them!


Need to link: Firefighter, Brave Firefighter, Inks - Citrine, Sherbet, and Cranberry, PF Very Merry Christmas enamel, Sea Glass cardstock, Nuvo Blizzard, Starry Colors palette, Tim Holtz Tiny Text dies

I decided to make a watercolor/ink smooshed background for my card. I used a mix of Citrine, Sherbet, and Cranberry inks, layering them up for a bright fire effect. While that dried, I die cut the new Firefighter die from black cardstock for the main image, and Sea Glass for the water coming from the hose. I also stamped my sentiments from the new Brave Firefighter stamp set, using that same Sherbet ink for the main sentiment. I used the Tim Holtz Tiny Text coordinating dies to cut the banner for the secondary sentiment - it was a perfect fit! I added some Nuvo glitter drops on top of the water, a few Pinkfresh enamel dots, and a good splatter of gold from my Starry Colors palette to finish off! Here is a closer look:






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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Incandescent Fish - Simon Says Stamp Shine On Release

Hello! Super excited to be sharing my first card with the BRAND NEW Shine On Release from Simon Says Stamp that just dropped! I have so many cards to share with you - so be ready for a ton in the next few days! But this bright happy one seemed like the perfect place to begin!


I started off by die cutting and assembling some of the ADORABLE Fun Fish die set using Lipstick and Orange Peel cardstocks - then adding on the hilarious wiggly eyes. I then die cut one of the new Embossed Squovals from white cardstock, then used a previously released Squoval die to cut a window and create a frame, and a slightly larger one to cut another panel of Ivory glitter cardstock. I layered the white frame over the glitterly one with foam adhesive. I added some strips of Audrey cardstock to my white cardbase, then added my frame and all the cute fishies on top. Sentiment is from Balloon Critters, white heat embossed on black cardstock, and then a secondary sentiment from EZ Strips Glow On Reverse Sentiment Strips. Finishing touch was one rounded corner on my cardbase, and a sprinkle of Surf Dazzling gems! Here are lots more photos of this bright and happy card:







Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!


Bright Vintage Notecards - Tim Holtz June coordinating die release

Good morning! I've got one last thing to share with the June 2026 installment of Tim Holtz coordinating dies that released recently from Simon Says Stamp! This time instead of one card, I'm sharing a sweet little set of notecards! They are the small 4 Bar notecards from SSS, and the perfect size to let these sweet little images shine. And I found a fun way to do the banner dies to add extra dimension!


I started off by die cutting and creating the backgrounds. I used Lime, Lake, Heather, and Princess Color Splash cardstocks, cut with the Crimped A2 Rectangles, then cut watercolor paper using a smaller sized A2 Rectangles die. On the watercolor paper, I blended the coordinating ink colors of Lime, Lake, Heather, and Princess onto two corners of the panels, then misted with some water for a watercolor effect. While those dried, I stamped and heat embossed my images from Tiny Things and Tiny Things 2 sets, stamping in Nocturne ink, then clear heat embossing for extra shine. I die cut them each with their coordinating dies. I also stamped the "Hello Friend" from Tiny Text a few times, and die cut with the smallest banner die from the coordinating die set. I also cut the next largest banner die for each one to layer underneath. That way, when I adhered them together with foam adhesive, it gave them a more dimensional banner look - and it was so easy! I added some Black Splatter to my little cardbases, then assembled all my layers, using Big Momma foam adhesive so I could have lots of layers, but they wouldn't get too thick. Finished off with a few Clear Dazzling gems for the final touch of sparkle! Here is a closer look at each of these sweet cards:













Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!


Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Thank You Floral Stem - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! So, yesterday I shared a bright and happy floral card using a new stencil that released recently from Simon Says Stamp to coordinate with an older stamp set. Today I'm sharing another of the images from that set, and even using the same ink colors, but gold heat embossing instead of black, and some softer toned background elements to pull it together for an entirely different look!


For today's card, I chose to heat emboss in gold instead of black for a softer more romantic effect. I used a different stem from Wild and Free, and then stenciled and ink blended with the same Grapefruit, Pucker, Cherry, Artichoke, Kale, Butter, and Honey inks before die cutting with the coordinating die. I used softer background colors as well, so started with some Cream cardstock that I embossed with Leaf Spin embossing folder, then layered over a couple of Elongated Hexagons cut from Honey Gold and white cardstocks. I stamped and die cut a sentiment from the same set as well, and added a few Dazzling Clear gems tucked under that sentiment. Finished off with a loose wrap of twine tied in a loopy bow of May Arts natural jute string! Here are some more photos of that finished card:







Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!


Monday, June 22, 2026

Birthday Wishes Arched Florals - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! Today I've got a bright and happy floral card using a new stencil that released recently from Simon Says Stamp to coordinate with an older stamp set - and I ADORE how it breathed new life into this set for me! I have always loved it, but layering stencils to color it in? I mean - what's not to love?!?


I started off by stamping and heat embossing the lovely floral cluster from Wild and Free, stamping in Nocturne ink, and embossing with clear embossing powder. This way when I moved on to ink blending, it didn't smear that crisp black ink! I ink blended with Grapefruit, Pucker, Cherry, Artichoke, Kale, Butter, and Honey inks, then die cut with the coordinating die. The background was created with a blend of Sage, Honey, and white cardstock, and Scalloped Arches Frames and Nested Stitched Rectangles. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set, and cut the smaller one out with the newer Tim Holtz Tiny Text dies - and WONDERFUL collection of all different sizes of banner dies that I think I will be using lots in the future! Finished off with a few Dazzling Clear Gems for sparkle. Here are more photos of this happy card:







Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Shine like the Stars - Tim Holtz June coordinating die release

Good morning! I'm back to share another card using the June 2026 installment of Tim Holtz coordinating dies that released recently from Simon Says Stamp! This one is a bit silly, and kind of makes me laugh - nothing like wiggly eyes and a hat to change the whole vibe of an octopus, right? 


That octopus on the Sea Life set is kind of the show stopper, and adding a coordinating die just makes it even more fun! I heat embossed with clear embossing ink on some Lipstick cardstock, then added some ink blending with Brick ink as an emboss resist, that made the negative spaces darker. Kind of a fun technique to make the image pop! I stamped and heat embossed the hat from Tiny Things, and die cut that one with the new coordinating dies as well, and popped that on his head, also adding some tiny wiggly eyes. For the background, I used the Star Champion embossing folder, and added a Baseboard Frame to set him off from the background. Finished off with a sentiment from Tiny Text, heat embossed in white on black carstock, then cut with one of the coordinating dies! Here is a closer look at this fun card:






Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!