Simon Says Stamps Tim Holtz Challenge

Simon Says Stamps is hosting a Tim Holtz challenge,not only will the winner get a $25 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamps, they will also win this Tim Holtz signed original. How cool is that.

So you can use ANY Tim Holtz product or if you don't have any, you can make something inspired by Tim Holtz. It doesn't have to be grungy, it can be as cute as anything if you so wish ! If you need inspiration, check out our Design Team creations or visit Tim's blog. Once you have created you project, just add your name and web link to Mr. Linky at the bottom of the challenge post.

I was inspired by all the great tags that Tim makes and I happened to have this wonderful Halloween stamp from Tim's Components collection.

I applied Adirondack dye inks with a stipple brush to a pre-cut glossy tag. Then I stamped my image in black, adding some rub-on words, bats and a spider from Stampin-Up. The branches at the top are from Stampscapes. I used a gold Krylon pen to add the gold border and once it was dry, I mounted the tag to a piece of black cardstock, trimming the edge to match.

So won't you play along with us?

Cats and Dogs from Simon Says Stamps

I have the honor of being chosen for the design team for Simon Says Stamp. You can visit their blog for lots of inspiration as well as great giveaways.

My first assignment was to create using the Cat and Dog are Best of Friends clear stamp set. I was amazed at the quality of these clear stamps. I have purchased many sets that don't seem to take ink very well. These are wonderful right out of the package. They stamp very cleanly and are deeply etched so you get no over stamp. They are a pleasure to use.


I have to say how easy it was to come up with all these delightful cards. I particularly love the cat with the yarn. Isn't she cute? I used Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to antique the first card. The double lace at the bottom was created using a Martha Stewart punch (thank you Jenny for that idea) I love the combination of the plaid and the dotted paper from Cosmo Cricket.


This next card uses paper from Heidi Grace, you can't see the lovely shimmer to the flower patterned paper. Again, I used a Martha Stewart punch for the lace on the bottom, really duplicates the floral design, doesn't it? The flowers are from a Prima Bucket of Blooms. This is the coolest pail of blooms, a huge assortment of shapes and sizes. I colored them with my Copic airbrush to match the DP.



For my third card, I decided to create a scene using a bunch of stamps from the set. I stamped the cat and dog first, masked them and added the dog house behind them. As always, I colored the scene with my Copics. I added some color around the scene with my airbrush. I like the addition of the corner adornment in the lower right. I just cut two squares of paper, cut them on the diagonal and then cut out the centers. Not as easy as owning a photo corner punch, but cheaper, lol.




Ok, I think this is the favorite of my creations. I love this little dog, his is so happy. Part of my goodies from Simon Says included a package of tags. I repeatedly stamped the dog bone then distressed it with Brushed Corduroy. Then I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder for some texture. I cut the corners to mimic the top of the tag. Lots of bling and extra embellishments on this card.



And this is the last card I came up with. I love this saying "Friends come in all shapes & sizes". How true! I popped up the yarn and the ball and added lots of bling.

I hope you enjoyed my Cat & Dog cards and will check out the wonderful stamps at Simon Says.

Red and Black Valentine's cards

Here are a couple of simple, yet elegant Valentine's cards.

The Love heart stamp is from the Love Always set by Stampin Up. I stamped it with Red Riding Hook ink, cut it out and layered it onto black cardstock which I also trimmed. I added some glossy accents to the dots on 3 of the swirls just for some bling.

The red background is embossed with my Hearts Cuttlebug folder, I lightly sanded the paper to give a little more contrast to the hearts. The flowers are from a Bucket of Blooms I purchased from SimonSaysStamps. They are made by Prima and I can not believe the variety and the amount of flowers you get in the cute paint can. I purchased the white ones and just airbrushed the smaller flower red to match the paper. The branches are a Martha Stewart punch. Pretty easy.



This next card also relies heavily on embossing. I started with Cryogen white paper which I embossed with my Textile Texture Cuttlebug folder. I think it has such an elegant look to it and the shimmer from the Cryogen paper really plays that up.

Next I used my With Love embossing folder, also from Cuttlebug, to create the band across the card. On retrospect, I think it would look better if this were lowered. But I changed my mind several times and have a small tear in the background I needed to cover up (oops!)

The heart is from Magenta Rubber Stamps, a very baroque image. All the paper matches on this card, I hate how scanners pick up reds.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have found some inspiration.