Living My Dream

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS February 2021 Card Kit Love You Beary Much

Today is the release of the SSS February 2021 Card Kit called Love You Beary Much. It's all about LOVE and perfect for creating Valentine's Day cards. Here is an image of the kit: The 6" x 8" stamp set is sold alone and is also called Love You Beary Much. You can buy dies to go with it as well or buy it as a bundle. There is a small 3" x 4" stamp set in the kit called Sweet Truffles. I have a "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you today, but I might have altered the rules a little. It is more of a "one kit, five ways" post although I did focus on the... Read more →

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS Special Edition Valentine's Day Card Kit

Today is the release of the Simon Says Stamp Special Edition Valentine's Day Card Kit called For My Sweet Valentine. This kit is full of so many goodies that you can use to make cards AND gift bags for all your sweeties! Here is an image of the kit: They also sell the 6" x 8" stamp set alone which is also called For My Sweet Valentine. I always focus my "one stamp, five ways" posts on the stamp set, but I've also used many of the other components of the kit, especially those gorgeous papers! Here are my 5 cards together and directions for each card individually: CARD 1: This card starts with the A2 Thin Frame Dies which... Read more →

"One Stamp, Three Coloring Methods" - SSS Mix and Match Circles

Today I have a "one stamp, 3 coloring method" blog post to share with you. I started this series a few months ago where I take one Simon stamp and show it colored with 3 different mediums. I usually keep all of the other elements the same so you can just see how the coloring medium impacts the outcome. I am using a stamp set from the STAMPtember release called Mix and Match Circles. I was immediately attracted to this set as I love circles and it looked so fun to play with. And it was! Here is an image: I usually use stamp sets that you can color in for this series and then I use Copics, colored pencils,... Read more →

Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers Card

One of my favorite floral stamp sets by Simon Says Stamp came out in one of their card kits in April of 2019 called Delicate Flowers. Here is an image of it if you haven't seen it: Even though it was in a card kit, it was also sold alone and is still in stock. There are also dies to go with it and I wish I had had them when I made this card! I made 5 cards with this set when it came out and you can see that blog post HERE. The stamp set alone is sold here Delicate Flowers and the dies are sold here Delicate Flowers Dies or it is sold as a bundle here... Read more →

Simon Says Stamp Floral Heart Stamp

Today I pulled out a stamp set that was purchased I believe last year. It's a 6"x8" stamp set called Floral Hearts. I think it is SO pretty! Here is an image: I couldn't wait to use my colored pencils to color that gorgeous heart image! It is a bit bigger than a standard card size, so I increased my card size a little to fit the whole heart (5" x 5.75"). I also love the five sentiments with the really pretty fonts. I wasn't able to use any of them as I didn't want to cover very much of my hand colored flowers! Here is my card: I stamped the heart on white cardstock with MFT Natural Ink. I... Read more →

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - Simon Says Stamp Center Cut Hexagon Floral

Today I have a "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you using a cling stamp by Simon Says Stamp called Center Cut Hexagon Floral. It was part of the Crafty Hugs release earlier in 2020, but I hadn't had a chance to use it yet. I was saving it for a 5 card post because I loved it so much and couldn't wait to color it. Above you can see my 5 cards together and here is an image of the stamp set: The center piece comes out so it can be used with or without it. They also have a Hexagon Die that can be used around the center piece or to replace it with cardstock for... Read more →

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE CARD MAKING PRODUCTS OF 2020

Truth be told, 2020 was not really a year I have a lot of favorites from! It had lots of bad stuff with some good thrown in, but overall it was a stressful year for sure! I became an empty nester which changed my life a lot! After raising kids for 29 years, I finally had time just to myself. I decided to dive into this card making business a bit more giving me a chance to use my craft supplies more than ever before. I put together a list of MY personal favorite products for 2020 to share with you. Here they are: 1. Karin Brushmarkers These may not have been new to most of you in 2020, but... Read more →