Living My Dream

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS Special Edition Easter Kit

Hello friends - are you sick of all my Easter inspiration yet? haha Today I have some more for you! Actually Spring and Easter are my favorite holidays to make cards for as they are SO my colors. So I might do Easter cards ALL year long. Just to bug you all! I have a "one stamp, five ways" for you today using the BRAND NEW Simon Says Stamp Special Edition card kit called Eggstra Sweet Easter. My focus is the stamp set called which is also sold alone HERE (and goes by the same name as the kit does). You can buy theI used it on all of my cards, but also used the rest of the kit contents... Read more →

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS April Card Kit Hello Darling

Today is the release day for the Simon Says Stamp April card kit. It is called Hello Darling. Here is an image of the kit: The kit is available for purchase HERE, but you can also purchase just the Hello Darling Stamp Set or just the Rainboot Planter Wafer Die. Here are my five cards (I'm at Create and it's almost 1:00 am, so this is going to be a short and sweet post - ok, maybe not so sweet!). Card 1: I usually like to start with my favorite, so this one earned that award from me! I die-cut a rectangle from a paper in the kit for the background. There are lots of checks and simple patterns on... Read more →

MFT Easter Bunnies Stamp Set by Stacey Yacula

Today I get to showoff the brand new stamp set by Stacey Yacula (my favorite illustrator) for MFT called Easter Bunnies. With all these Easter cards I've been making, I'm really in the mood for some jelly beans! I wasn't able to complete a full five cards for a "one stamp, five ways" post this month like I usually do as I'm off to SSS Create event tomorrow (((hope to see some of you there!))). Here is an image of the cute little stamp set: And here are my 3 cards with directions for each and supplies I used listed at the end with links to both the MFT store and the SSS store. CARD 1: For the backgrounds on... Read more →

Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop - Day 1 - Fresh Bloom Release

Today is the first of a two day Simon Says Stamp blog hop for their newest product release called Fresh Bloom. I have a new set of watercolor cards in this release called You're Tweet. Here is an image: I think I mentioned last month that I got a new iPad for Christmas, so this is my first official set of watercolor cards that are drawn digitally. This means they are cleaner and more graphic with solid lines instead of thin messy doodled lines. What I am trying to say is they look better. So if you haven't liked them in the past, try them again and I think you will like them better. I'm a pro now - or... Read more →

Pretty Pink Posh Blog Hop Day 1

Today is day 2 of a two day Pretty Pink Posh blog hop. You can see yesterdays blog hop by going to the Pretty Pink Posh Blog if you missed it. You can see/purchase the entire release with 10% off HERE. I have 3 cards to share with you today using the new release. I also have 3 more cards that I blogged the day the product was released, so you get to see those again too! Let's get started! CARD 1: I made the background for this card with watercolor - directions are on THIS BLOG POST about making backgrounds ahead of time (3rd installment). I stamped the wreath from the Spring Wreath stamp set on white cardstock with... Read more →

Pretty Pink Posh Cards Using New Release

Pretty Pink Posh has a new Spring release that is now available for purchase (as of the 4th). You can purchase the entire bundle at a discount HERE. There are 5 new stamp and die sets, 3 new stand alone dies, and 3 sets of confetti sequin mixes. I've used three of the new stamp and dies sets on my cards below. There will be a blog hop on March 7th and 8th - I'm part of the one on the 8th and will have a few more cards using some of the other new sets. Here are my 3 cards: Card 1: This Peacock Friends stamp set is just beautiful and I don't think I've seen another peacock stamp... Read more →

Simon Says Stamp Easter Cards - Doodle Egg Cling Stamp

Today I have two Easter cards to share with you using the Simon Says Stamp Doodle Egg Cling Stamp. This stamp was released last year and I wanted to use it again as I just love coloring these detailed eggs! Here is an image: I made two cards using it to share with you today. I colored one of the backgrounds and my daughter colored the second - so I had help! Card 1: I started by stamping the Doodle Egg cling stamp with black ink on white cardstock (I used a 6x6 piece). I then colored it in with colored pencils. I liked using pencils since the details were so small. I made a 6x6 card by cutting one... Read more →

Making Backgrounds Ahead of Time - Installment 3

I've posted twice before about how I like to make my card backgrounds ahead of time. You can see my first post HERE and my second post HERE. Today is my 3rd Installment of making card backgrounds ahead of time using watercolors, texture paste, stencils, Distress Ink and Distress Oxide Inks. I have a lot of Easter and Spring stamps to use lately (being on SSS, PPP, and Hello Bluebird design teams), so I'm making primarily backgrounds that will work with Spring colors. So let's get started! WATERCOLORS: I love painting watercolored stripes on A2 card sizes of Ranger watercolor paper. I use the smooth side of this paper because it is the only true white watercolor paper I've ever... Read more →

Pretty Pink Posh Floral Cards with Inked Backgrounds

Today I have two Pretty Pink Posh floral cards to share with you. I tried a new technique I had never tried before and I (((think))) it was a success! I will be posting a new "Making Backgrounds Ahead of Time" blog post this week. As I was making some with Distress Oxide Ink, I wondered if colored pencils would color over the ink. I love the look of colored pencils over colored cardstock. I thought maybe an inked background would give me a similar look. These two cards are made with backgrounds made entirely with Distress Oxide Ink. I then stamped the flowers on the ink with MFT Natural Ink and colored over the ink with colored pencils. The... Read more →

Hello Bluebird Easter Cards AND A GIVE-A-WAY!!!

Hi friends! Today I have an exciting announcement to make for both ME and for YOU! I was asked to join the Hello Bluebird design team. I'm super excited as I was going broke buying ALL of their stamps from each release. And now I get them for free to design with to inspire YOU to buy them - heeeehehehehe. Now what is the good news for YOU you ask? I have a give-a-way of one of my favorite HB stamp sets at the end of this post. To be eligible, leave a comment on this post and/or on my Instagram post. I'll draw a winner and announce next Wednesday, February 20th. BUT first (I'm really in the mood to... Read more →