SSS Friend Link You Blog Hop, Ocean Horizon Cover

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday!  Today I'm hoping along with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the Friend Like You release.  You should be arriving here from Sandi MacIver's blog.  

As with all good blog hops, there are prizes to be had.  Simon is giving away a $25 store credit to a commenter at each stop along the hop, and, all orders of Friend Like You products this weekend will receive the You 2 set pictured above free.

OK, on to the cards.  Today I'm showing off my Ocean Horizon cover place.  This cuts a frame and all the individual pieces for the design with no webbing between.

My first two cards feature the full design using watercolors.  For this first card, I die cut a panel of watercolor cardstock, and then painted each of the pieces using my Kuretake Gansai watercolors, finishing the card off with a sentiment strip from the Foundations set.

Next, I embossed the cover plate onto another panel of watercolor paper.

Using the embossed lines as guidelines, I then watercolored the panel.  While the lines were used as guides, I did not try to stay within those lines, allowing the colors to mix from section to section.

The white embossed sentiment, from the Beachy Keen set, was die cut and popped it up over my panel.

For these next two cards, I used just a portion of the design.

For the card on the left, I used just the 'sun' portion of the design, cutting the layers from different pieces of colored cardstock, and adhering them to a panel of turquoise cardstock.  The Hello Sunshine sentiment was cut three times, adhered together, and then to the card panel.  

I added a reverse sentiment strip from the Reverse Chill Summer set to round out the sentiment, as well as a black mat to set the panel off  a bit.

For the card on the right, I used three shades of yellow for the sun portions, and three shades of blue for the water portions. As with the first card, I used a sentiment from the Reverse Chill Summer sentiment strips and black mat completed the look.

For this last card, I decided to think outside the box a bit.  I used several of the sun layers to create a rainbow.  The layers were popped up with foam tape, and weren't nested perfectly together, but slightly offset for a more whimsical look.  

I used a sentiment from the Reverse Sunshine and Rainbows sentiment strips for this one.

That's all for me today. Your next stop on the hop is Lorraine Aquilina, and I have the full hop list below.

Don't forget to leave a commenet to be interested to the $25 store credit, and enjoy the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Caly Person
Nichol Spohr
Amy Rysavy
Debby Hughes
Emily Midgett
Lisa Addesa
Sandi MacIver
Miriam Prantner
Lorraine Aquilina
Kath Stewart
Barb Engler
Carly Minner
Hanh Nguyen
Mary Reiner
Enza Gudor

SSS Friend Like You Release, Rose Branch and Basil Leaves Dies

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi friends!  It's release day at Simon Says Stamp!  I have three new dies in the Friend Like You release including the Rose Branch and Basil Leaves dis on today's cards.

I kept things very simple today, pulling out a couple of completed panels from my pile.  I tend to do my 'messy work' in batches.  It's generally a haze of inky fun, so I'm not entirely sure what specific products were used in creating these, but the panel on the left was inked with a variety of Distress Inks, and then spritzed with several Distress Spritzes.  The panel on the right was created by using several Distress Sprays, pretty sure that these included Lucky Clover, Twisted Citron, and a blue.

The dies were cut from Ranger Distress Black Heavystock.  This is the blackest black cardstock I have found, so it works really well for silhouette shapes.  Both of the die cuts were adhered with Bearly Art adhesive.  The sentient for the above card, from the Mod Plants set was stamped with Versa Clair black ink and then clear embossed.

The sentiment for the second card is from the All About You set.  Both of the panels were adhered to the card bases with Red Line Tape.

That's all for ne today, I'll be back tomorrow with some more Friend Like You inspiration.  Be sure to head over to Simon to check out the full release!

SSS Happy Cover and Stamps

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I'm sharing a few cards today featuring my Happy Cover and coordinating stamps.  

This die is perfect for use with Simon's Color Blend cardstock.  For this first set of cards, I die cut the cover plate using a panel of Color Blend as well as black and white cardstock.  For the card on the left, I inlaid the Color Blend pieces into the black cardstock webbing.

Two of the sentiments from the coordinating stamp set were gold embossed on strips of black cardstock and popped up with foam tape.

Next, the Color Blend webbing was inlaid with the black background pieces as well as the white letter pieces.  The secondary sentiment was stamped on white and popped up.

This next card was done in the same way as the first one, the die cut peices from a Color Blend panel into white webbing.

The nice thing about this cover is that the pieces are pretty big (with the exception of one small piece), so assembling the cards is very quick and easy.

For the secondary sentiment, I combined one of the sentiments from the secondary set along with a reverse sentiment strip.

This last card features another of Simon's specialty cardstock panels, this time Holographic.

I was able to use the leftover pieces from the first set of cards that I made to complete this one, inlaying the black letters and the white background pieces.

For the sentiment, I used just the 'birthday' portion of the Birthday Wishes die which was cut from Matte Silver cardstock.

This was cut twice from white cardstock, layered together for dimension, and then adhered directly to the die cut panel.

That's all for me today.  I'll see you back here tomorrow....there's a new release coming!

SSS Bold Flower

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I'm sharing a couple of Marimekko inspired cards today.  I love their prints/bold florals, so thought i would try and recreate them with my Bold Flower dies.

There are five layers to the flowers in this die set, although you can mix and match and use then in different ways.  

For the card on the left, I used the smallest petal layer along with the larger flower center die to create a bunch of flowers, and then adhered them to a white panel to create a print.  I tried to mix up where the flower centers were placed within the petal piece as well as the orientation of the flowers on my panel.

I added a black mat, and a sentiment strip which was popped up with foam adhesive.

For the next card, I pulled out my old square punch, and cut a bunch of 1" squares using white, dark gray, and black cardstock.  These were randomly arranged on piece of scrap paper that I ran through my Xyron machine, and trimmed down to size.

I created three flowers using the largest flower piece and flower center and adhered these over my background piece, trimming off excess areas.

I again finished things off with a reverse sentiment strip.

These were lots of fun to make and din't involve any stamping!

SSS Poppy Pods

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today's cards feature my Poppy Pods die.  For my first card, I adhered several die cuts onto a panel of bright yellow cardstock to create a patterned paper background.  I added a bit of black inking around he edges to really make the center of the panel pop.  A black mat also helps to really set off the panel against the white card base.

For the sentiment, I used the Hello die that comes with the Stromanthe coordinating die.  The shadow piece was cut in black as a base, and the sentiment piece was cut from Gold Matte and black.  The black letters were then inlaid into the gold outline over the shadow piece.  The completed sentiment was then popped up with foam tape.

Next, a monochromatic card.  

To start, I stamped one of the large images from the Vintage Blossoms stamp set onto a dark gray cardstock panel several times with Versamark ink to create a patterned background.

I then die cut the Poppy Pods using Shimmer Vellum.  I can't tell you how excited I am about this vellum.  The die cut was adhered with Bearly Art glue, and t's opaque enough that you don't see the adhesive!  

The Basic Box Card Love You So Much was also die cut from teh Shimmer Vellum and adhered to a shadow piece cut from black cardstock.  These were popped up with foam adhesive.  I added a few clear sequins to finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by!

SSS Snake Plant

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today I'm sharing a few cards featuring my new Snake Plant stencil set.  I've created several large leaf stencils, and have been wanting to do a snake plant leaf, but decided for this plant I needed more than just one leaf.  This is a set of five stencils, and there is also a coordinating die available.

For my first card, I used all of the detailed stencils, not the overall stencil.  I used Fawn, Aspen, Sage, and Artichoke inks.  The sentiments are from the Thank You Basics set.  

The completed panel was trimmed down, and I added a soft pink mat.  Very easy.

For my next card, I again used just the detailed stencils inking them with Petunia, Pansy, Artichoke, and Cabbage.  The completed image was then die cut with the coordinating die.

I used the A2 Rectangles Wafer Dies to create a kraft frame which was adhered over a patterned paper background with foam tape.  The die cut snake plant was then trimmed down and adhered with foam tape as well, with the left and right leaves peeking out over the frame.

The relax sentiment is included with the coordinating die.  I inked a piece of white cardstock with Petunia ink, and die cut the sentiment.  The shadow piece was cut from white cardstock and I added just the slightest bit of Artichoke ink on the edges.  I also added a secondary sentiment strip sentiment.

Finally, I needed to pull out some paste.

This time, I inked up the solid stencil with Fawn ink.  I used Butter and Cabbage to created the stripes, and Gold Rush Lunar Paste for those long sections.

I mixed things up a bit by changing up the orientation of the card, and used the Thank You Basics set again for the sentiment.

The fun thing about this stencil set is that because of the size of the completed image, you can vary the portions of the stencil you use to get a variety of looks.

Hope this gives you some good ideas for how to use these stencils!

May 2025 in Books

Pretty even reading month, with some very good books and some OK, some not as much, but it was nice to get a bunch of books under my belt!

Maya & Natasha - Elyse Durham - historical fiction - four stars - The story of two sisters who are ballerinas in Russia at the height of the Cold War.  After an act of betrayal, their lives are drastically changed.  One goes on to tour in the US, the other must rebuild her life in Russia.  It was interesting to see all the social and political changes that occurred during this time through the lens of this story.  I enjoyed the storyline, but the girls' personalities, particularly Natasha's were annoying to me.  

Famous Last Words - Gillian McAllister - mystery - three stars - It's Camilla's first day back to work after maternity leave.  It's also the day her husband take a bunch of hostages and disappears from her life.  She's still trying to make sense of it years later.  This was another book where the resolution did not live up to the promise of the story.  The hostage scenario and immediate aftermath were really interesting, and I was excited to see where it was going, but what actually happened and the reason why fell very flat for me.  It all just seemed a little ridiculous and far fetched.  Meh.

Our Infinite Fates - Laura Steven - science fiction - four stars - Arden and Evelyn are two beings who have existed through time together.  They love each orther, and are tethered together, if one dies, so does the other, and they must do so by their 18th birthday.  This means that every time they reincarnate, Arden must find his way to Evelyn and kill her before that birthday, or something bad will happen.  Evelyn doesn't know why they have this relationship, and Arden won't tell her why.  This was an interesting premise, and I was intrigued by it.  The ending/resolution/reason behind the whole scenario ended up being kind of a disappointment, just didn't measure up to the rest of the book, but still a good read.

You'll Never Believe Me: Before Anna Delvey, before the Tinder Swindler, there was 'Hipster Grifter' Kari Ferrell... - Kari Ferrell - memoir - two stars - Basically Ferrell is kind of a terrible person and I just did not like her.  Ferrell was adopted by a Mormon family in Utah and eventually falls in with a bad crowd.  She starts stealing from stores, then friends, and ends up on Utah's most wanted list.  She goes to New York for a fresh start where she does the same and worse.  Eventually she ends up in jail and becomes an advocate for judicial reform.  I guess, it's hard for me to take that second part of her life all that seriously based on her past, it just didn't seem like she had actually changed that much based on her tone in the book.  Really don't recommend this one.

There Are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak - historical fiction - five stars - Really loved this one.  It follows there individuals in varying times: Arthur a dirt poor kid in Britain in the 1840s who makes something of himself due to his amazing intellect and goes on to study the lost city of Ninevah; Narin, a Yazidi girl in from this century caught up in the rise of ISIS; and Zaleekah, also from a present-day timeline, hydrologist who was orphaned and raised by her uncle. I loved how the story evolved and came together, as well as each of these main characters.  Excellent book.

Eights - Joanna Miller - historical fiction - five stars - This book follows four fictional women who are among the first to be enrolled at Oxford in 1920.  They have to deal with strict rules, lots of mysogyny/sexism, as well as the aftermath of WWI.  The women come from very different backgrounds and walks of life, but become best friends.  I really enjoyed teach of the characters as well as their strong friendships.  Great book.

Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling - Jason De Leon - nonfiction - four stars - De Leon is an anthropologist studying human smuggling.  He gets to know a group of Hondurans who are involved in the trade.  You see that they themselves have escaped from untenable situations in Honduras and either can't get into, or have been deported from the U.S.  They are now surviving by living in Mexico and guiding others through Mexico to the U.S. border. De Leon tells the backstories of this group of smugglers, and you also see how the trade has evolved over the years, not run primarily by gangs/cartel. A really interesting read.

The Lost Passenger - Frances Quinn - historical fiction - four stars - The story of Elinor Coombs, who is unhappily married to an English aristocrat.  When her father treats their family to a trip on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, she takes the opportunity to change her life. Elinor's life in England was frustrating to me, viewing it from a modern perspective, but I loved how Elinor created a new life/home in the U.S. An interesting take on the Titanic tragedy.

I Am the Storm: Inspiring Stories of People Who Fight Against Overwhelming Odds - Janice Dean - nonfiction - three stars - Dean is a weather person at Fox.  After the deaths of her parents in-law in nursing homes in New York during COVID, she went up against Andrew Cuomo due to his role in the deaths of many in those homes.  This book talks about that, as well as many other 'David and Goliath' stories.  This is one that I listened to and I'm not sure if I would have liked it more if I had actually read it.  Dean reads the book herself, and I wasn't crazy about her voice/narrative style.  In addition, while I sympathize with her situation and applaud her efforts, she seemed to bring up the Cuomo situation in her discussion about almost all the other stories.  At some point that got kind of old.  I really enjoyed learning about many of the individuals she showcased, but the presentation/format left something to be desired.

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #25) - Alexander McCall Smith - detective - four stars - It's hard to beliee that this is the 25th Mma Ramotswe book!  This one is centered around acts of sabotage occurring at The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Mma Makutsi actually does the lion's share of this investigation, so that was interesting.  There were also a couple of twists that I didn't expect.  I will say that the Violet Sephotho angle was a little annoying, I wouldn't mind having a book without her at some point, but it was a very minor storyline, so not a huge deal.  Always fun to check in with the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency!

My favorite this month was There Are Rivers in the Sky, and least favorite was obviously the Hipster Grifter one.  I'm currently reading The Original Daughter which is quite good so far.  What are you guys reading?