SSS, Bold Scandinavian Dies

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I thought it would be fun to pull out my Bold Scandinavian dies the other day.  The dies make some really nice big flowers, but you can create smaller flowers too.

For this card, I used the four smallest circles as well as the smallest leaf.  I also used a Stamp Market die that cuts 1/8" strips for the stems.

I started by cutting the four circles from six different colors of cardstock.  The smaller circles were cut twice to provide some more options for mixing and matching.

I then married the different layers up to create a set of five flowers.

I wanted to add some texture to my card, so I pulled out my sewing machine.  I started by adding some stitching to the panel itself to create a bit of interest at the bottom of my panel.

Once that was done, I arranged the flowers and leaves on my card.  I then added stitching, first stiching down the stems, then the leaves, and last the flowers.

The stitching is pretty random and not particularly neat which I think adds to the folksy feel of the card.

Once the stitching was complete, I stamped the sentiment, from the Be Bold sentiment in the corner.  The panel was adhered to my card base with adhesive foam tape which also served to lock the ends of my stitching in place too.

This one was pretty easy to put togther.  The hardest part was just getting all the stitching ends tucked away.

Thanks for visiting!

SSS DieCember, Blog Hop

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi friends!  Today I'm participating in Day 1 of a two day blog hop celebrating the Simon Says Stamp DieCember release.  You should have arrived here from Mindy Eggen's blog.  I will have the full blog hop list at the end of the post in case you need it.

All good blog hops involve prizes right?  Well this one is no exception.  Simon is giving away a $25 store credit to one commenter at every stop along the hop.  AND you can get the die pictured above free with any purchase for the next week using code FLURRY.

My projects today feature my latest die set, Bold Scandinavian wafer dies.  I love the Scandinavian aesthetic and have designed numerous Scandinavian products over the years.  These dies are so much fun to play with and today I'm sharing several different ways to use them.

First up, some basic cards.

For these first cards, I challenged myself to create flowers only using scraps.  For the card on the right, I created a couple of flowers by layering the various die piece over each other.  The flower on the right is adhered directly to the card base, while the flower on the right was popped up for some dimension.

The sentiment, from my previously released Plant Sentiments set was popped up with foam tape.

For the card on the left, I wanted to create an inlaid card.  Once I decided which layers/colors to use, the individual pieces were die cut.  Then, starting with the largest/outside layer, I die cut the next smallest piece from within that die cut until each of my pieces nested within the outside layer  I then die cut the largest piece from a piece of printer paper, covered it with adhesive, and assembled my fully inlaid flower.

Similarly, for the leaves, I die cut the smaller leaf from within the larger one.

Next I cut a basic panel of white cardstock and die cut the flower stem from it.  A small piece of printer paper covered with adhesive was placed behind this area, and then I inlaid a die cut stem.

Next, I die cut both the outside layer of the flower as well as the large leaves from my panel.

Then I cut a large panel of printer paper to cover almost the entire panel, covered it with adhesive, and adhered it to the back of the card.  The flower piece as well as the leaves were then inlaid into the panel.

The sentiment, also from the Plant Sentiments set was added and the entire piece was adhered to my card base.

My next card steps things up a bit.  Years ago my sister visited Japan and brought me back some really lovely papers which I have been hoarding, but I thought this would be the perfect project to use them on.

I cut a bunch of different pieces from the papers and then mixed and matched the layers until I got a combination that I liked.

I wanted some texture for the background.  Looking through my scrap papers, I found this piece of kraft cardstock that I had stamped with white pigment ink ages ago.  I thought it was perfect for my background.

The background was stitched to my card base, and then I arranged my flowers and leaves over top.  The largest flower was adhered with one layer of foam tape, while the smallest was adhered with two layers.  

The sentiment was popped up with foam tape as well.

I really loved how this turned out.  The patterns remind me of fabric, which got my brain turning in another direction.

Years ago the girls had some really fun barrettes created with patterns kind of like the ones above.  I've got limited amounts of fabric, but I have lots of felt, so I pulled that out to create some barrettes.

The layers were cut from felt and tacked together in the center.  To finish my flower, I used a large sequin at the top which I stitched around/through several times.

The completed flower was then stitched to one of those snap type barrettes.

I talked my daughter Ellie into modeling the barrettes for me.  

These were really quick and easy to put together, they would be a great gift for kids to make for siblings/cousins/aunts or a project/craft for Girl Scouts or a Sunday School class.

That's all for me today.  Your next stop on the hop is my good friend Cheiron Brandon.  The full list is below if you need it.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the $25 credit to the Simon store and good luck!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Laura Bassen
Nichol Spohr
Cathy Zielske
Barbara Tarayao
Emily Midgett
Keisha Charles
Mindy Eggen
Miriam Prantner
Cheiron Brandon
Heather Ruwe
Bobbi Lemanski
Barb Engler
Jean Doeringsfeld