Friday, 28 February 2025

Simon Says Stamp Favourite Things Blog Hop Day 1

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 1 of the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be joining this hop and you might have arrived here from Caryn Davies' blog, but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, HERE.

For my card, I chose to use the Basic Shapes Circles Die Set and the Eggstra Special Stamp Set from this release, to create a card celebrating Easter. You can check out all the fabulous new products in the Favorite Things release, HERE.

So let's begin and here's how I created my Easter card...

To begin with I made a white card blank measuring 18cm square and with the fold along the top.

BACKGROUND

To create the stamped background, I cut a panel of kraft card, 15cm square and used the small Easter Egg stamp from the Eggstra Special stamp set, inked with Black Soot Archival Ink, to stamp a repeat pattern over the entire panel.

Once my stamping was complete, I then coloured each of the eggs using Polychromos Pencils. 

TOP TIP: There is no need to take up precious crafting time colouring any area that will be eventually covered and if you find you missed anything once you do add the artwork, just go back in and colour the areas that need it.

When all my colouring and shading was finished, I took the Tim Holtz Splatter Brush, which I dipped into some Picket Fence Distress Paint, and lightly splattered the surface of the card. I allowed for this to dry, before I added machine stitched border around the outside edge and matted the background panel onto ivory card, followed by another layer of kraft card. I then mounted my layers onto the front of the card blank.

STAMPED IMAGE

We're now ready to create the artwork and for this I began by stamping the Easter Egg image from the Eggstra Special stamp set, inking this with Black Soot Archival Ink and stamping it onto a piece of kraft card. Once again I coloured this image with Polychromos Pencils.

I then fussy cut around the edge of the eggs and the grassy verge, cutting away the three flowers at the top of the image.

Set this to one side to move onto the next layer.

For this layer, I used one of the circular Basic Shapes Dies, to cut a circle of Mixed Media Heavystock Card, (approx 11.5cm in diameter), and inking up the same Easter Egg stamp as before, I stamped this image along the bottom section of the circle

To create the blue sky, I inked the background using a blending tool and Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Inks being very careful to avoid the three flowers at the top of the image. Once my colour was in place, I then spritzed with water, allowed the inks to blend and then heat dried the surface. If you need more colour, then just repeat this process until you're happy with the blend.

I inked the edges of the circular die cut with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink before taking the fussy cut image of the Easter Eggs, placing foam pads on the back of them and attaching them over the top of the stamped image on the circle. I then added colour with Polychromos Pencils to the remaining three flowers and some white pen detail to the stamped image.

MESSAGE BANNER

Cut a strip of kraft card, 14.5 x 3cm and ink up the Happy Easter message from the stamp set in clear ink. Stamp the message on the centre of the strip, and sprinkle white embossing powder over the surface before heat embossing until molten and glossy.

I mounted the strip onto a further piece of ivory cardstock leaving a border top and bottom, splattered Picket Fence Distress Paint over the top of the strip for a speckled effect and then machine stitched down the two sides of the strip.

On either side I used the Crop A Dile to punch a small hole, and then set an eyelet into each, again using this tool. I then threaded some twine through the eyelets, tying them in a knot to secure them. As the finishing touch to the banner, I placed 3 gold metallic droplets on either side.

Attach the banner across the bottom section of the card, placing it onto foam pads for added dimension.

CIRCLES

Now to build up those circles and for this I began by taking the smaller circle die (approx 11cm) that I used for the artwork, together with the next size down. I then placed the two dies, one inside the other, onto a piece of gold metallic kraft stock card and created a frame by running these two dies through my machine.

I repeated this two more times to create three separate die cuts which I layered together to form a thicker circle that I attached around the edge of my artwork to create the gold frame.

After die cutting a circle of white card, I attached my artwork to the centre of the is piece.

I then continued die cutting the third and fourth circles, from kraft card, and the final layer from gold metallic card using the ascending order of dies in the set, so that each die will create a border for the next one.

With all my circular die cuts complete, I started layering them over one another, and adhered the kraft circle tover the top of the large gold circle and then, using foam pads, I attached the artwork panel to the centre of the layered circles.

Attach the completed layers to the front of the card, so that the circles slightly overlap the top fold. To complete the frame around the edge, I added some small gold metallic droplets.

We're nearly there and all that's left is some details...

DETAILS

As you can see, I added some clouds to my scene and for this I used a die that I have in my stash, called Sizzix Christmas Cutouts Die Set by Tim Holtz. If you haven't got this die set, then don't worry ~ there are plenty of cloud dies to be found and you might already have some in your stash, including some from this collection from our very own Simon Says Stamp.

I cut four clouds from watercolour card, inked the edges with a little Lost Shadow ink and then placed them onto my circles, using foam pads. I added some black pen highlights to each cloud.

So, that's my card finished and I really hope you love this fun make and all the techniques I've used.

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the blog hop from the blog comment section! So, this means you can leave a comment here and on every stop along the way to increase your chances. Winners will be notified and they will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, 5th March and all winners will need to contact/email Simon Says Stamp to claim their prize. 

Also, don't forget that you have until the 2 March at 11:59 EDT to grab yourselves the exclusive Happy Bee Day stamp set which will be automatically added to your card it if contains $50 or more of Favorite Things release products. This gift with purchase will expire on 2nd March at 11:59EST or while supplies last.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and don't forget to go and check out Day 2 of the hop tomorrow!!!

See you soon, love Emma x


HOP ORDER:
Emma Williams <<YOU ARE HERE


RECIPE FOR CARD:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Christmas Cutouts from my stash
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Frayed Burlap
Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Picket Fence
Tim Holtz idea-ology: Metallic Droplets
Twine from my own stash

Now, it's time to hop to the next stop...Allison Frazier

71 comments:

  1. This card is absolutely gorgeous! I love all of the texture and the kraft cardstock! Wonderful!

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  2. Oooh I love how you used the basic shapes to create something unusual, it turned out so cool! Love the card!

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  3. Your layers and coloring are so inspiring!

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  4. Stunning work!!

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  5. Your card is fabulous!!! The design and your work is impressive. Thank you for explaining everything. I do love to use my polychromos pencils.

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  6. Like the use of kraft cardstock. Will have to try the splatter technique.

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  7. Such a creative card; love your choice of Kraft stock.

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  8. Thanks for the detailed directions! It’s very helpful and really appreciated :)

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  9. Love you’re Easter card

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  10. The details to this card are awesome! I enjoyed it all and particularly liked the eyelet sentiment and the circle layering with gold embellishments. It looks like real metal framing. So much structure and details I appreciated it all. Thanks for the explanation on how you did this.

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  11. Adorable card. Love your color choices!!

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  12. Emma, your card is absolutely spectacular! Love all the details! Thanks so much for the great explanation of how you made it, appreciate it.

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  13. Your care is absolutely adorable. I love the muted colors for your eggs.

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  14. I love that you used kraft. I also LOVE how you colored things. Great job.

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  15. I ADORE the eggs on craft! Great colors!!!

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  16. Such a great card! I love that you used colored pencils!

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  17. I can see how much time, effort, and creativity went into these cards, beautiful!

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  18. Wonderful card!!! Love the kraft paper and colored pencils. Your colors are fantastic and the dimension and layout fabulous!! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!

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  19. What a cute set, I love what you did with it. Great card!

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  20. What a special creation! I just love all the layers and details that make this one a stunner!

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  21. Lovely shade of blue!

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  22. Such a cute little scene, love your beautiful sky!

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  23. Wow! Your card is amazing! So much detail! What a gift it would be to receive this!

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  24. Different colors for Easter card. I really like that. I would not have thought of those colors but I love it. tyfs :)

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  25. Wow! What a unique palette. Gorgeous

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  26. This is a specular card and so creative with all the great detail.

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  27. Such a cute card! I love the frames you did for the eggs!

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  28. Marisela Delgado said: So beautiful 💜 mariandmonsterd@yahoo.com

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  29. Oh this is so pretty!

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  30. Love the card format and pretty eggs! Wonderful project!

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  31. Love the stitched detail. Great card!

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  32. Love the layers and the banner. Did you mention the stitching on the background and banner?

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  33. Love your use of rich colors and special techniques!

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  34. Your blog is ALWAYS one of the first places I go for inspiration! Your makes always speak to me. Love this card and love your talent!

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  35. Thanks for the step by step instructions.
    Great card!

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  36. Such a gorgeous 😍 card. Love to see the special techniques.

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  37. Such a beautiful card! I love the design with the kraft!

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  38. Terrific card! I love the unique design and great coloring details.

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  39. This is so beautifully detailed!

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  40. I love the porthole design. Are you planning on mailing it, and if so, what envelope will you use?

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  41. Such a cute card. I was born on Easter and I really love the eggs. The spatter looks great. My spatter ends up being splatter and it goes all over the place. [Bunny]

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  43. Hi Emma,

    I was trying to get to read your blog yesterday but had to run off to some tutorials, so I now continue the blog hop with your blog and I must say I love your colouring on the kraft cardstock with the Polychromos pencils. I will have to make an investment in them in the future. I love the overall shape of your card and the use of the gold accents on the circle frames. That was a nice touch, also loved the stitching. Thank you soo much for creating such a lovely card and for sharing it with us.
    Also, wanted to say that it's nice to know that you're English and I'm sorry about your parents but hope you're keeping strong. Just followed you on Instagram. Sincerely.

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  44. Shannon Bettis2 March 2025 at 00:44

    Beautiful card! So cute! Love this Simon says stamp release❤️

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  45. What a great kraft card. I love how you pulled out some long forgotten supplies (eyelets) for your sentiment banner.

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  46. Wow, I love these different layers and components. And kraft stock for the win!

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  47. Love the placement of your circle!

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  48. So many gorgeous layers and textures and sweet touches on this Emma. Another stunning creation xoxo

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  49. Love the texture and dimension of your card - and your color choices are so cozy! Kraft cardstock really sets the tone

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  50. LOVE your beautiful Easter card! What a fabulous design, so creative!

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  51. You know I'm your biggest fan!!! Love your art Emma you never disappoint. your Eastern card is adorable

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  52. Emma, I love all the details you included in your card! And using Kraft cardstock just makes it stand out from all the others! Love it!

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  53. It's nice to see non-traditional colors being used. Thanks for sharing.

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  54. Beautiful card. Love all the sweet details you added to your design!

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  55. Cute Easter card design with the eggs and clouds.

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  56. Great original idea for using these stamps! Nicely done.

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  57. What a unique card! I love the layered circles.
    snowdraak at msn dot com

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  58. Love all the layers, dimension and stitching on this card!

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  59. Amazing card! Wonderful layout and colors. Very impressive.

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  60. Unique choice of color pallette for an Easter card, which I very much appreciate! It's a stunner.

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  61. Wonderful scene created!

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  62. really pretty card, i love your colors

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  63. Love details! Blog hops are so much fun.

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Thank you for all your comments and messages, they are all appreciated and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon...
Emma ~xx

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