*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Super quick card to sure today. I pulled out my previously released Snowflake Stripes stencil set. There are three stencils in the set one with just the snowflake, and two that create stripes in the negative space. 

I inked up the stripe stencils using Simon's Rainbow Splash inks: Grass, Lime, Scarlet, and Princess.

Then I die cut/inlaid the Holiday Wishes sentiment die and popped it up with foam adhesive.

I also added a few sequins from the Cottontail mix for some sparkle, but this was really so quick and easy to do!

October 2026 in Books

It was a sloooow reading month for me, but some solid books. Just too much going on. Here are the recaps:

The Birthing Tree - Amanda Peters - fiction - four stars - Aliet, a half Mi’kmaw woman returns home when she learns that her grandmother, Kiju, who raised her has died. She had not been home in years, and she processes the loss, as well as her past, as she fixes up her childhood home and decides what to do with her future. The story jumps back and forth between past and present, and focuses on the two cultures that pull at Aliet. Solid read.

Big Little Truths (Big Little Lies, #2) - Liane Moriarty - fiction - four stars - I really loved Big Little Lies, and was excited to read this follow up. It was a little hard to get into because I read the first book so long ago, I needed a refresher on what exactly happened and the characters. Once I had Google recap the first book for me, the reading was a lot smoother. The women, and their children who are now in high school, are drawn into another crazy scenario when a severed finger is sent to the kids' high school. The story jumps between the action and the kids narrating what happened to a counselor after the fact. I enjoyed the characters a lot, and they definitely had me laughing at multiple points, but the plot itself and the scenario were pretty heavy. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite.

Resistance Women - Jennifer Chiaverini - historical fiction - four stars - This one has been on my to read list for years, and I finally decided it was time to take it off. Based on the true story of Mildred Harnack, and American married to a German. They moved back to Germany in the 1930s, and remained when war broke out. Mildred and Arvid are active resistance members, and they book discusses their compatriots and activities. I went back and forth on this one a little. It started out pretty slow, and at no point was it a fast read, but about halfway through I really was drawn in. Worth the time.

Man Overboard! - Kathleen Rooney - fiction - three stars - This one was a little disappointing for me. I really enjoyed Rooney's Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk in which a woman walks around NYC reminiscing about the past and reliving her life, so I was excited to read this one. This one honestly used the same formula, except the protagonist is a man who goes overboard on a cruise ship and then spends the ensuing hours thinking through and rehashing his life. And honestly, it was somewhat repetitive and annoying. I think it could have been much, much shorter, and I woudl have enjoyed it more. Essentially a man having an existential crisis in the water. Meh.

Favorite this month was The Birthing Tree, least favorite was Man Overboard!. I said this last month, but I'm really hoping to get back to a more regular schedule when it comes to reading and cross more books off my list this year. Would love to know what you guys have been reading!

SSS Joy for You Blog Hop, Wonderful Counselor

*This post conatins affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday! Today I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the Joy for You release. You should be arriving here from Lisa Addesas blog. I'll have the full list at the end of this post if you need it. As. usual, there are lots of prizes up for grabs. Simon is giving away a $25 store credit at each stop along the hop. All you need to do to be entered to win is leave a comment. In addition, any Joy for You purchase this weekend will include the above stamp for free.

OK, let's get down to the cards. Today I'm showing off my latest background stamp, Wonderful Counselor. The concentric rings of text repeat the names for the Messiah listed in Isaiah 9:6. 

For this first card, I really made the background the star, clear embossing it on a panel of watercolor cardstock. I then randomly sprayed Villainous Potion, Festive Berries, and Kitsch Flamingo Distress Spray Stains on the panel. I then sprayed the panel with water to help mix/soften the ink colors. Once I was happy with the coverage, I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process.

I was really happy with how this turned out, I love how the enclosed alphabet spaces have little bits of very saturated color. 

I didn't want to cover up the background, so I went with a more delicate sentiment die. The Large Joy was cut three times from white cardstock, adhered together, and then directly to the background. 

This would be a great card to mass produce, and you could vary the colors of Spray Stain used.

Next up I created some very simple graphic cards.

For these cards, I again clear embossed the background, this time on colored cardstock.

The panels were then inked around the edges using a darker color. Night for the blue, and Paprika for the red.

I then added simple, graphic white die cuts, my Peacebird die for the blue, and the star shape from my Christmas Block Art set for the red. I also included the green sprig from the Peacebird die set on the blue card. The die cut shapes were adhered with foam adhesive, although the green sprig was adhered directly to the stamped panel.

I used a Reverse Sentiment Strip for the blue card, and a sentiment from my Holiday Messages set for the red card.

Last up, a cute card.

This time the background was embossed in white on a panel of Starlight cardstock.

I created that cute little Curious Deer using cardstock scraps, and adhered him directly to my panel.

The sentiments are again from my Holiday Messages set, and were adhered with foam adhesive.

OK, your next stop on the hop is Lea Lawson, and the full list is below. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the store credit here, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Blog 
Nina-Marie Trapani
Barbara Tarayao
Emily Midgett
Nicky Meek
Sandi MacIver
Nichol Spohr
Tina Smith
Heather Ruwe
Lisa Addesa
Miriam Prantner
Lea Lawson
Barb Engler
Maura Hibbitts
Caryn Davies
Kim Taylor

SSS Joy for You Release, Stacked Holiday Sentiments 2

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

It's a release day at Simon Says Stamp! The Joy for You release is live, and is all things holiday. I've got a couple of items in the release, including Stacked Holiday Sentiments 2. If you like this set, be sure to check out the first iteration, which was released last year.

I always enjoy showing off sentiments because it gives me a chance to pull out older, much loved products. For this first card, I inked up a background panel using Cadette, Royal, and Galaxy ink. I then placed the Scattered Stars stencil over top, and spread Gold Rush Lunar Paste through it.

While my panel dried, I gold embossed the sentiment on another piece of cardstock, die cut it using the coordinating dies, and then inked it up with Cadette and Galaxy. 

Once the background panel was dry, I adhered it to my card base, and added the sentiment using foam adhesive. 

Next, I pulled out my Poinsettia Cover, and die cut a piece of white cardstock.

Pulling out all the pieces, I softly inked them, using Peony for the flower petals, Lucky for the greenery, and Butter for the flower centers and small accents.

The pieces were then inlaid back into the cover plate, and I stamped the sentiment with Versa Clair Black ink. 

Finally, I pulled out the Snowflake Edges stamp set. I arranged the large edge piece and several of the standalone snowflakes over my panel, and white embossed. The sentiment was then placed and white embossed.

The panel was inked with Kale and Paprika. Once this was done, I added a bit of water splatter and Picket Fence Distress Spritz.

This is one you could very easily mass produce, changing up the color as well.

That's all for me today. Be sure to stop by Simon to check out the full Joy for You release, and stop by tomorrow for a fun hop using my latest background stamp.

Tim Holtz Distress Release

I'm excited to be sharing a couple of projects featuring the newest Tim Holtz Distress products. If you like shimmer and shine and sparkle, you are in luck!

For this first card, I started by creating a shimmery, textured background by mixing the Translucent Texture Paste with a little of the Brushed Pewter Distress Spritz. This was spread over a panel of cardstock. I repeated this step using Tarnished Brass Distress Spritz for a bit of variation, and then sprinkled a few Mica Flakes over top of the panel while it was still wet.

For the snowflake, I'm using my Fractal Snowflakes coordinating die which doubles as a standalone die. I applied Collage Glue to my snowflake, and then sprinkled/pressed the Mica Flakes onto it. I tend not to use a ton of glitter just because it gets everywhere but these big flakes are my jam when it comes to glitter. 

The Noel sentiment, from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Classic die set, was die cut three times and stacked together to create a chipboard like sentiment. It was then spritzed with Antiqued Bronze Distress Spritz.

Assembly was simple, the paste panel was adhered to my card base using Sookwang tape, the snowflake was added using foam adhesive, and the Noel sentiment was adhered with Collage glue. 

These photos do not do justice to how shimmery and sparkly this card is!

The second card is a very similar design, with some slight tweaks. I also went with a more masculine/moody color scheme.

I started by spraying two pieces of cardstock with Distress Spritz. I used Tarnished Brass, Antiqued Bronze, and Picket Fence on the black panel, and just Tarnished Brass and Antiqued Bronze for the white.

The snowflake was die cut, painted with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, and then I added Rock Candy Glitter using Collage Glue.

For the sentiment, the Peace, also from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Classic die set, was again die cut three times and adhered together. I then sprayed it with Picket Fence Distress Spritz.

These were so much fun to make, thanks for visiting, and enjoy Halloweekend!

SSS Scandi Sweater

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I really love the Scandi Sweater stencil set from Simon's recent Sending Cheer release, and thought it would look great with a monochromatic look on kraft.

I started by inking the more solid stencil with white pigment ink.

For the second more detailed stencil, I used embossing paste. 

I really love how the panel turned out, and did not want to cover it up, so I added a smaller sentiment from my Christmas Ornaments set which was embossed in white, die cut, and popped up with foam adhesive.

This one was super quick and easy!

SSS Christmas Ornaments, Take 2

*This post contains affilaite links to Simon Says Stamp.

White on kraft is one of my very favorite combinations. For today's card, I pulled out my Christmas Ornaments set to create some rustic, vintage ornaments. 

I started by die cutting each of the ornaments from kraft cardstock. The main ornament detail stamp was stamped with white pigment ink onto each of the ornaments (I did not use the solid ornament image for these). I stamped each of them twice to make sure I got a good layer of the pigment ink.

Next, the ornament topper and secondary detail images were stamped with Cherry ink.

The ornaments were arranged on my card panel. Two were adhered directly to the panel and two were popped up for some dimension.

The sentiment, also from the set, was stamped directly onto the card panel with white pigment ink. 

Thanks for visiting!

SSS Sending Cheer, Interlacing Trees

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards created using my new Interlacing Trees die. This is a full A2 sized cover plate, and is perfect for inlay, shakers, all kinds of techniques.

For my cards today, I kept things simple, blending a couple of backgrounds to back the cover with. For the first card, I used Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, and Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide. For some texture, I splattered the card with Ominous Twilight Mica Stain, water, and Medium Gold Perfect Splatter.

I wanted a bit of dimension, so the cover was cut three times from black cardstock, layered together, and then adhered to the blended panel.

The Magical sentiment was cut from Matte Gold and placed over the black shadow piece and popped up with foam tape. A secondary Reverse Sentiment Strip sentiment was added as well. 

For the second card, I used Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, and Tumbled Glass for the background.

The cover was then cut from white cardstock, and I added some very rudimentary coloring to give the impression of birch trees using C0, C1, and C2 Copics. 

The cover was adhered directly to the blended panel. The sentiment is from my Stacked Holiday Sentiments set, was die cut and popped up with foam tape.

That's all for me today. You should definitely head over to Simon and check out the product page becuase there are some really amazing samples created by designers, including some colored versions of the coverplate that look AMAZING. 

September 2026 in Books

This was a slower reading month for me, a lot going on! Recaps below:

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra (Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation, #1) - Vaseem Khan - detective - three stars - This was an audiobook that was just OK. Inspector Chopra has just retired from the police force, but begins investigating the drowning death of a boy that he suspects was murdered. He's also received a baby elephant. If you think these two things don't really go together well, you're right. Maybe reading vs listening to the book I would have enjoyed it more, but this whole thing just didn't really tie together well for me. Character development only so so. This is one series I won't continue.

When You Loved Me - Beatriz Williams - fiction - five stars - I really like all of Williams' Winthrop Island books. This one focuses on Lucy Cooper, who was coming back to the island to spend some time with her father, only he passes away just weeks before they were to arrive. She discovers that her old romance Ben Ressler, an ex-NFL player, is on the island as well. Characters from Williams' other Winthrop Island books come in and out. It's always a fun little reunion reading these. Williams does such a good job creating characters and weaving the story threads together. Loved it.

Road Trip - Mark Kay Andrews - fiction - three stars - Maeve and Therese Dunigan have not seen eye to eye for years. When their mother dies, they're brought back together. The home they thought would be their inheritance has apparently been remortgaged -- their mother in her final years fell victim to a scam, and the small allotment of funds they do receive are specifically earmarked for them to go to Ireland together. When they realize that a family painting might actually be worth millions, they head off with a plan to find out more about their family, and determine if the painting is real. This one was not my favorite Mary Kay Andrews book. I feel like this was a bit out of her wheelhouse in terms of subject/location. It was OK, but not what I expect from her.

Meet Me in Paris - Kristin Harmel - fiction - four stars - In this book, a whole bunch of people end up in Paris for a week. In particular, Piper and her mother who is dying, this is their bucket list trip; Jackson Quick, a famous musician who is having a bit of a resurgence; etc. etc. People meet, fall in love, make life decisions, etc. This one is a fine book, it was just a little too surface and predictable for me. Kind of a used formula. I did like the characters, but I wanted it to be something more. Three and a half stars rounded up.

Little Wonder - Sophie Chen Keller - fiction - five stars - I absolutely loved this one. The story of the love and the bond between mother and child. Song and River are relocating to Beijing. River is a musical prodigy, and they are coming to Beijing to work with a new teacher. Upon arriving in Beijing, they are separated, and the spend the book, and theier lives trying to find their way back to one another. River survives with the help of a number of good Samaritans that take care of him and help him on his journey, while Song find work as a food delivery worker, using her job to search all throughout the city. I loved the characters, and their love for one another. Must read.

Food Person - Adam D. Roberts - fiction - four stars - This was another audiobook this month (there was a LOT of driving happening this month). It was a cute book about Isabella, a food writer who is assigned the task of writing a cookbook with Molly Babcock, a has been TV star who is attempting a comeback. Molly spends most of her time partying, and not eating much of anything, so it's a pretty difficult assignment. This was a good one t listen to. I enjoyed the characters, the plot moved along, and I thought it was pretty inventive and entertaining. Definitely some plot twists I could not have predicted. Solid read.

Favorite this month was Little Wonder, and least favorite was Inspector Chopra. As always, I love to hear your recommendations!

SSS Sending Cheer Blog Hop, Christmas Ornaments

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday! I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp today, celebrating the Sending Cheer release. You should be arriving from Mindy Eggen's blog. 

As always, Simon is giving away a $25 store credit at each stop along the hop. All you need to do to be entered to win is leave a comment. Also, all Sending Cheer orders this weekend will receive the above Hedge Hugs set free, isn't it cute? 

OK, let's get down to the cards. Today I'm showing off my Christmas Ornaments stamps and dies. Each ornament in this set has a solid shape, and two layers of detail as well as an ornament topper. 

For my first set of cards, I really wanted to try and recreate the look of mercury glass ornaments. 

I created two sets of ornaments: One where I used Liquid Platinum embossing powder for the solid layer and then Silver embossing powder for the second layer, and one where I reversed that using Silver for the solid layer and Liquid Platinum for the second layer.

The third detail layer was embossed with Embossing Glaze. I used Lumberjack Plaid on the ornaments that had Liquid Platinum for the solid layer, and Mowed Lawn for the ones with the Silver base layer. For both sets, I used Gold embossing powder or the ornament topper.

The finished ornament were die cut, and adhered to my card panels, some directly, and some with foam adhesive. The sentiments, also from the set, were Gold embossed on black cardstock and popped up as well. A few sequins and colored cardstock mats finished things off.

I was having so much fun with the layered embossing, that I decided to create ornaments using Embossing Glaze as the base.

I stamped two ornaments in each of the color combinations: Kitsch Flamingo for the base, and Picked Raspberry for the main detail; Broken China for the base, and Mermaid Lagoon for the main detail; and 

Twisted Citron for the base and Mowed Lawn for the main detail.

For the secondary details and the ornament toppers I used Silver for the blue and pink, and Gold for the green.

I kept the panels very simple, just adding a little bit of inking using Distress Inks in Kitsch Flamingo, Broken China, and Twisted Citron, and added sentiments from the stamp set.

Just one last quick card. White on kraft is one of my happy places, and I thought the ornaments would look great white embossed on kraft. This time, I used only the detail layers.

I started by die cutting the ornaments. These were then placed back into the panel they were die cut from, in my stamping platform. This way, if they lifted out during the stamping process, I could easily re-align them.

The two detail layers and ornament toppers were stamped in succession with Versamark (I left off the second detail layer for the second ornament from the left), and the white embossed.

The sentiment was white embossed as well, and the ornaments were then added using a combination of liquid and foam adhesive.

I've got lots more ideas for how to use these ornaments, so expect to see them again!

Your next stop on the hop is Anne Fiene, and the full list is below. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the store credit, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Heather Hoffman
Suzy Plantamura
Cathy Zielske
Nicky Meek
Laura Bassen
Amy Rysavy
Bibi Cameron
Cheiron Brandon
Mindy Eggen
Miriam Prantner
Anne Fiene
Barb Engler
Kristin Sluhan
Betsy Green
Amanda Wilcox

SSS Sending Cheer Release, Acorn Silhouette

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

It's a release day at Simon Says Stamp today! The Sending Cheer release is filled with all sorts of holiday goodness, but there's a bit of autumnal happy in there too, including my new Acorn Silhouette die. This little die is a great price point and is so striking.

For my first card, I went very clean and simple, blending a background using Distress Oxides. I used Candied Apple, Crackling Campfire, Wild Honey, and Fossilized Amber, and added just a bit of water splatter for some texture.

The die was cut from black cardstock and adhered directly to my blended panel, and I added a sentiment from my previously released Sketched Leaves set along with a black mat to finish it off.

This next card steps things up a bit. I again created a blended background, this time using Rustic Wilderness, Mowed Lawn, and Crushed Olive Distress Oxides.

The texture, and shimmer, comes from Antique Linen Distress Spritz.

The Acorn Silhouette was cut from both black, and  Gold Matte cardstock. These were adhered together slightly offset, and then to the blended panel.

I again used a sentiment from the Sketched Leaves set which was embossed in gold.

To frame the die, I die cut an arch from the center of a piece of Rustic White cardstock. I added some shine to the outer edges by swiping my Versamark pad lightly against the edges and then gold embossing. The frame was then adhered with foam adhesive.

I've got a couple of other items in this release:

Interlacing Trees

Christmas Ornaments

Be sure to head over to Simon and check out the full release. I'll be back tomorrow for a fun blog hop.

STAMPtember, Candle Cover

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Can you believe that it's the last day of STAMPtember? I've got just a couple more cards to share with you today featuring my Candle Cover from the STAMPtember release.

I love inlay, but was feeling a little lazy, so I'm sharing a quick 'cheat' to get a really gorgeous inlay look with minimal die cutting. I started by die cutting a piece of black cardstock, this was used for my 'webbing'.

Next, I die cut a panel of white cardstock. This is one of those cover plates where the pieces pretty much stay together when removed from the die, so as soon as I pulled it off the plate, I smoothed a piece of Press N' Seal across the back of the panel to hold it all in place. 

With everything stuck down, I then inked up the design using a variety of colors: Butter, Citrine, Mandarin, Cherry, Taffy, and Iris.

The ink blended pieces were then inlaid into my black webbing, and adhered to my card base. A Reverse Sentiment Strip was popped up for my sentiment.

I used the same basic technique for this next card, but instead of a white cardstock panel, die cut a watercolor panel.

After sticking the die cut panel to a piece of Press N' Seal, I then watercolored the image. Once it was dry, the pieces were inlaid into the black webbing.

I again used a Reverse Sentinent Strip to finish the card.

That's all for me today. Happy last day of STAMPtember!

STAMPtember, Christmas Tree Halves

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi folks, today I'm sharing cards created using my Christmas Tree Halves stencils. This is a set of four stencils. Two work together to create one set of trees in the row, one right side up, and the other upside down. These create every other row of the design. You then shift the stencils down to fill in the blank rows.

For my first card, I inked up the stencils using Sprout and Pearfection for the right side up trees, and Kale and Artichoke for the upside down trees. Fun fact, I originally planned to use this with the darker trees right side up, but decided I liked the brighter ones better. 

Anyway, to add a bit of definition to the trees, I very loosley outlined them with a journaling pen. I also added a bit of gold splatter using Pawsitively Perfect Splatter.

The Merry & Bright sentient was die cut from Gold Matte, adhered to a black shadow piece, and then popped up with foam adhesive.

For this next card, I stenciled the trees in Pine and Sage, and then Marine and Sweets. This time, instead of just shifting the stencils down, I also shifted them to the side, so rather than having the trees line up directly below one another, they are offset. I also only used Marine on every other row.

For the sentiment, I swiped my Sweets inkpad over some white cardstock, and then die cut my Joyful sentiment. This was then adhered to a white shadow piece and popped up with foam adhesive. I also added a secondary sentiment using a Sentiment Strip.

Next, I thought it would be fun to show off how you can use just a portion of the design to create some really simple one layer cards.

First up, the simplest version. I inked up one set of the trees using Pine and Sage at the bottom of my panel, and then added a sentiment from an older retired set called Holiday Greetings.

Next, I did the same thing, and added just one of the top sections with Morning ink. This might be my favorite of the three cards, I really love the modern vibe. The sentiment is another from the Holiday Greetings set.

For this last card, I used the full design, adding Sky for the final color, and this time used a sentiment from the Peaceful Trees set.

Hope this has given you some ideas for how to use these stencils, thanks for visiting!