SSS Always There Blog Hop

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Saturday! Today I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the Always There release. As always, there are lots of prizes involved. 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. AND, any purchase this weekend will receive the above set for free. The hop starts at the Simon blog, and you should be arriving from Sandi MacIver's blog. I'll have the full list below if you need it. 

Today I'm sharing a bunch of cards using the Blessed sentiment set. I love these sentiments, and thought I would pull out some stencils to help show it off.

First up, I inked up my White Fusion stencil with Flannel and Earl ink, using Earl twice, once with a heavier hand.

The sentiment was stamped with Archival black ink (I have somehow misplaced my Versa Clair black inkpad....). I used my new favorite, Starlight cardstock, for the card base, and added a very thin strip of a darker gray at the bottom of my stenciled/stamped panel to grouund it.

Next up, I pulled out my Snake Plant stencil.

The image was stenciled using Cabbage, Petunia, and Latte ink. I used Cabbage twice, varying the pressure applied to get two colors out of it.

The sentiment was stamped over top, and I added an olive mat as well.

Stenciled patterns can be a great way to frame a sentiment. That's what I did with these next two cards.

This first card features my Radiating Squares stencils. I centered the stencils over the panel, masking off the center portion. I used Bubblegum, Peony, Butter, and Gold Rush Lunar Paste. 

Once the paste was dry, I trimmed the panel down, and stamped the sentiment, fits perfectly doesn't it?

For the last card, I pulled out my Interlocking Circles stencils. Same process, I determined where the sentiment would fit, masked the area off, and inked up my stencils using Aspen and Mist (Mist was used twice, very lightly the second time, essentially using ink that was left on the previous stencil and brush), and Ranger Embossing Paste for the last layer.

Once dry, I stamped the sentiment, added a mat, and that was it.

That's all for me, your next step on the hop is Alberto Gava, and the full hop 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 
Barbara Tarayao
Emily Midgett
Nichol Spohr
Nicky Meek
Tina Smith
Heather Ruwe
Keisha Charles
Lisa Addesa
Sandi MacIver
Miriam Prantner
Alberto Gava
Caryn Davies
Kath Stewart
Carly Minner
Natasha Polite

SSS Be Patient

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

This week I'm highlighting my Be Patient stamps and dies which are part of the STAMPtember release.

The fun thing about highlighting sentiment sets is that it allows me to pull out some of my older products, so I'll be using oldies but goodies along with the new this week.  In this case, I pulled out my Snake Plant stencils to create the background.

Because I wanted a nice, flat, one layer card, I inked this up very lightly using Melon, Cantaloupe, Cabbage and Artichoke inks.

The panel was trimmed down, and the sentiments were stamped with Versa Clair black ink.

Really simple.  Thematically, I think plants/florals work well with the theme of patience, so you'll be seeing those this week also.

That's all for today, see you tomorrow!

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!