Living My Dream

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS Just Believe Special Edition Card Kit

I have another "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you (that's 2 in one week - a record!) using the brand new special edition card kit by Simon Says Stamp called We Believe. I'm not sure what YOU believe, but I believe this one is a beauty! It is right up my alley style wise! Here is an image: As usual, I try to focus on the stamp set in these posts, which is a darling 6" x 8" stamp also called We Believe with a matching set of We Believe Dies. I have 4 cards to share with you completely focusing on the stamp, but one of my 5 cards doesn't use it at all - eeekkkkk.... Read more →

"One Stamp, Three Coloring Methods" with SSS Modern Poinsettia Cling Stamp

My favorite blog posts are my new "one stamp, three coloring methods" series. I love using one stamp and coloring it with my three favorite coloring tools - colored pencils, Copics, and Karin Brushmarkers. Today I choose the Modern Poinsettia cling stamp by SSS from their Make Merry release. Here is an image of the stamp: This image shows my 3 different colored images: And here are the individual colored images with the card I made with each. 1. COLORED PENCILS I stamped the cling stamp with MFT Natural Ink and stamped it on white cardstock. I colored it in with colored pencils. I then die-cut the piece with the largest A2 Frame Die and attached it to a red... Read more →

"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS December 2020 Card Kit Joyful Season

The Simon Says Stamp December Card Kit was released today and it is called Joyful Season. It's so fun to get a kit full of Christmas goodness. It has actually gotten me in the mood for Christmas already! My husband actually put on Christmas music while I was creating today! Next I'll be putting up the tree! Below is an image of the kit. My "one stamp, five ways" blog series focuses on using a stamp 5 ways, so I try to focus on the stamp for these posts. The stamp set is a 6" x 8", is sold alone and is also called Joyful Season. There are a set of dies as well (although all of my images are... Read more →

Poinsettia Background Stamp by Simon Says Stamp

Today I have a card to share with you using a SSS stamp set from I believe last year. You know I love using my "previously purchased" (((older))) stamp sets. This is one I hadn't had a chance to use yet, so I couldn't wait to color it. It is called Poinsettia Background and here is an image: I actually LOVE the way this card turned out and I don't always love my cards, so when I do I say so haha. Here it is with directions: I'm really getting into black backgrounds lately and I like how it added to this card. I started by stamping the Poinsettia Background stamp on white cardstock with black ink. I die-cut the... Read more →

MFT November 2020 Release Cards

Today is the My Favorite Things November 2020 release. I have two slim-line cards to share with you. It seems like I am making more and more slim-line designs, but it is because I can fit so many more images on cards. I hope you like them too! It's nice to know they fit in standard size envelopes, so they are easily mailable! MFT had two sets that really spoke to me that I worked with. The first is called "Ice Princess and Friends" because I wanted to make a card for my grand-daughter with it as she loves everything princess. The second is the Stacey Yacula stamp set called "Frost-Loving Friends" because I love every stamp set she makes!... Read more →

Happy Fall Y'all NOW HAS DIES! (SSS Holly Jolly Release)

If you purchased the Simon Says Stamp October 2020 Card Kit of the Month, then you probably have a 6" x 8" stamp set called Happy Fall Y'all. The stamp set Happy Fall Y'all is also sold alone if you didn't get the kit. In the recent Holly Jolly release, they came out with a set of dies to go with this stamp. Or, better yet, you can purchase them together as shown here: When the kit was released, I made 2 cards with this stamp (without the dies) and now that the dies have been released, I made another one. Here is the new card: I stamped the images from the Happy Fall Y'all stamp set on white cardstock... Read more →

Christmas Kitties From the SSS Holly Jolly Release

As if you haven't seen enough inspiration from the new Simon Says Stamp Holly Jolly release after today's blog hop, I have one MORE card to share with you! This time I had to use the new Christmas Kitties stamp set because it is so adorable (I'm such an animal person, dogs preferred, but kitties are good too!). Here is an image of the stamp set which also has a matching die set: I made a "random stamping" card with this set since the kitties are fairly small. I started with a card size piece of white cardstock and I die-cut it with the largest SSS Thin Frame Die so I could mount it on a colored card front. I... Read more →

The Simon Says Stamp Holly Jolly Blog Hop!!!!!

Today starts the celebration of the Simon Says Stamp new release that came out yesterday called Holly Jolly. This blog hop has 16 stops with all kinds of inspiration using this release. I have a new set of watercolor cards in this release called Suzy's Winter Flowers that I have colored to show you. Here is an image of the set as it is sold: Each design is printed on Ranger Watercolor paper which is pure white and is perfect for ALL coloring mediums. They print on the smooth side, so there is very little texture. I'll show you the six colored and then I'll give you some of the tips/techniques I use to color them. I'll also tell you... Read more →

SIMON SAYS STAMP HOLLY JOLLY RELEASE!!!! (one stamp, five ways)

I get so excited when Simon Says Stamp has a new release (((especially holiday releases because I love holiday products!!!))). Today they have the Holly Jolly release which is full of holly jolly products! I have a new set of watercolor cards in this release called Suzy's Winter Florals. I left greetings off them as there are so many cute stamps and dies in this release to use, I prefer to have them plain and add my own. I will have them all colored to show you on the blog hop tomorrow (Saturday November 7th). Here is an image of the cards: Today I have a "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you using another one of the... Read more →

Christmas Card With SSS Feline Like Christmas

Today I have a slim-line Christmas card using a new stamp set from the Make Merry release called Feline Like Christmas. If you are a cat person, you will for sure love this stamp set (I'm personally a dog person and we need more dog stamps from Simon!). BUT, these are some pretty cute cats, so I was excited to design with them. This is a 6"x8" stamp set and also has a set of dies that go with it. Here is an image: And here is my slim-line card: I painted a piece of watercolor paper with Blue Blitz Shimmer Powder. I die-cut that piece with the largest SSS Slim-line Nested Rectangle die. I die-cut a piece of white... Read more →