SNSS July Mini Blog Hop Day 1

Hello and welcome to the first day of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
July Mini Blog Hops celebrating the July Releases!
Today we're highlighting a fabulous stamp set as well as an exciting die set.

Celebrate Today

Take a look at all those wonderful encouraging sentiments!  Here are the details:

Stamp set includes 2 images and 8 sentiments.

Set measures approximately 6" x 4".
Designed by Korin Sutherland.
It's priced at $15.

For my card I sponged the edges of a pre-cut tag with Stampin Up's Lavender
and stamped the flowers and sentiment with Versafine Black Onyx ink.
The striped ribbon is from Stampin Up.
I find it very helpful, especially for wide ribbon like this,
 to carefully use a lit match to "seal" the ends of the cut ribbon
so that it doesn't fray and has a neat edge.    That is unless you're going for
 shabby chic and aiming for a bit of fray!
I added a strip of lace over black so that it would really stand out and
finished off the whole card with pearl accents.

Doily Border Dies

Here's my card using these incredibly intricate and beautiful border dies.

I cut about 10 of these doily borders and because the dies are good quality
 and give a good crisp cut, it was very easy, the "little bits" pop out quickly and cleanly!
 I adhered them to the white card base for sort of a
 faux dry embossed look which hopefully resembles lace.
I used Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Decorative Plaque Dies for the sentiment panel,
 stamping above and below the sentiment with an accent from Decorative Frame Toppers.
The butterflies are created using the newly released Majestic Monarchs.
Check out the blog hop on Tuesday, June 16 for some inspiration using this beautiful butterfly set!
Inks used for this card include Stampin Up's Lucky Limeade,
Cool Caribbean, and Yoyo Yellow.



And here are the details:

Set of 2 dies.
Dies measure approximately 3/4 x 6.
Designed by Korin Sutherland.
Priced at $11.50.

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our DT in the thumbnails below.
Be sure to leave a comment on each of the blogs along your journey because
Korin's giving away this set to one lucky winner!
The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, July 19th.
The list of winners will be announced on  the SNSS website homepage by Monday, July 22nd.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!

You Float My Boat

Hello!  With all things nautical on trend at the moment, I thought I'd share a card I made back when I was on the Dirty Dozen design team at Splitcoaststampers in 2011.  

Our theme that month was Oh, So Shapely and the challenge was to use dies or punches.

At the time I had fewer dies and absolutely nothing nautical but I found a colouring book image of a sailboat on-line and printed it onto dp and card stock on the back side. 

 I then cut out the shapes and pieced together this little boat. 

If you're stuck for a certain shaped die-cut, it's a quick and not too difficult alternative!

 The waves were made with My Favorite Things Die-namics and I used a Papertrey Ink Cloud die for the clouds.  I used the spotlighting technique for part of the waves and sentiment (which was computer generated).  All circles were cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles Large and Small. 

 It was all pieced together with scraps from my dp stash so it's impossible to list them all here.  

Just thought I'd share something with a fun summer theme today as we're having a very unusual spell of sunny weather here in Northern Ireland.  It seems too good to be true to be having a "proper" summer!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Melon Memories

Happy 4th of July to all those celebrating in the U.S.A! 

I'm American born and bred, but have lived here in Northern Ireland the past 28 years.
I'm proud to be American and am so thankful for my heritage and all those who have contributed to it, from the founding fathers to those who serve in the military today.

I have many happy memories of 4th of July picnics and family celebrations and those memories include fabulous food such as sweet watermelon!   

Here's a card made with the recently released set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Sweet Kiwi Koala .
 I created it for the release last month and then my computer broke down,
so I couldn't participate in the blog hop.

The image is colored with copics and cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles Small. 
The dp is from My Minds Eye and Stampin Up.
I added a little tag using the fabulous
Mini Tags and Sentiments Die Set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps - love how versatile this set is!  

This is my favorite type of card to make - using a mix of dp's yet
leaving some nice, clean, crisp white space.

Have a wonderful, safe holiday celebration and thanks for stopping by today!

July Flourishes Beautiful World Tour

Hello and welcome to this month's Beautiful World Tour showcasing some fabulous creations by the BWT Design Team from around the world!
 I'm your last stop on the tour here in Belfast, Northern Ireland,
so if you've stumbled across the hop and want to join in from the beginning head back
to the Flourishes blog so you don't miss anything!
If you've arrived from Anne-Elise's wonderful blog, you're right on track!
Did you know you have a chance to win a fabulous Flourishes stamp set - all you have to do is leave a comment on each designers blog by the last day of the month!

This month our hostess is Sasha and our theme is
CITRUS!
I went with pink grapefruit and and lime shades, with touches of
zesty lemon yellow and sweet citrus orange!

I coloured the beautiful flower wreath from Flourishes Mother's Words of Wisdom with copics, cut it out and popped it up against a stitched designer paper background.
The dp is Cherry Blossoms - Gingham and Strawberry Social - Plaid from Nitwit Collections. 

The sentiment is stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink on vellum and I used My Favorite Things Fishtail Flags STAX Die-namics to cut the banner.
To make the banner with a double ended fishtail, I simply put the cut banner back in the die upside down, carefully measuring the ends so that it would be even, and ran it back through the Cuttlebug.
I curled the ends up using a rounded pencil and gave it some dimension,
 before adding some pink grapefruit coloured brads.
 Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for joining us today and for stopping by Belfast on your World Tour!
 I hope you've been inspired, have a wonderful day!

SNSS Summer Die-version Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Summer Die-version Blog Hop introducing three brand new die sets! 

 If you're anything like me, you're crazy about dies, so I hope you'll make time to check out what the design team have come up with using these fantastic new sets.

Here's the first set:

Small Leaves Dies

I created this CAS card with the new Small Leaves set seen below, which matches the leaves in Nature Silhouettes 2.
 I stamped the leaves in a wave across the card using Ranger Distress Scattered Straw ink and Stampin Up Cool Caribbean and Certainly Celery ink, then added some die-cut leaves in Stampin Up's Lucky Limeade card stock.
The sentiment is from the fabulous SNSS set Be Encouraged - it's easy to arrange the stamp on the acrylic block in a corresponding wave before stamping.
The set is priced $6.25 and the largest die measures 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches.

And here's a card using a new set with all kinds of shapes, there's just no limit to 

what you can do with these 

Shapes Dies:

I made a mask using post - it - notes and the hexagon die before sponging with Stampin Up's Night of Navy, Real Red, and Ballet Blue.  I added some die-cut stars using SNSS Stars Die Set and some tiny punched stars.  Again the sentiment is from the set Be Encouraged.

Just look at all the fabulous shapes included - I'm really excited about this one, and can't wait to get a little more time to experiment and create with this VERY useful set!
The set is priced $19.75 and the triangle side measures 1 1/2 inches.

Last of all, here's a card made using the new
Waves dies:

I stamped the lighthouse silhouette from SNSS's Landscape Silhouettes in Versafine Black Onyx ink and masked the top half of  the card at the horizon to sponge Stampin Up Ballet Blue ink for the sea area. 

The rolling sea waves were created from the negative die-cuts using the new Wave Dies - for a thin version use the die-cut, for a thicker version use the negative die-cut, which gives even more value for money!

 I used some die-cut clouds using SNSS Clouds and Raindrops dies to sponge a sky in the same ink.  

The sentiment is from SNSS The Sea and added some pearls for the finishing touch.

This card will be for our elderly neighbour, who grew up by the sea shore in Donaghadee here in Northern Ireland, and remembers an idyllic childhood!

The set is priced $8.50 and the dies measure approximately 5 1/2 inches in length.

 I hope you've been inspired and thanks for stopping by today - don't forget that you can win one of these fantastic new sets, as 3 random commenter will be chosen from today's hop!

Also, don't forget the sale on selected items now on at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps which lasts just a few more days!

Framed Wild Rose

Hello!
 Due to our computer crashing, it's been a while since I was able to make a
blog post and I was unable to participate in the
  SNSS Mini Blog Hops highlighting the
June Release Sets
Here's a card I made using the fabulous new set,
Flower Blocks 2.
This one has a lot of dimension with it's different layers and by using sponging it
works great for those
who don't enjoy coloring with copics so much!

I stamped the flower four times, cut out different layers, then sponged each layer.
I sponged the square base piece with Stampin Up's Lucky Limeade, and then used several Stampin Up ink colors for the flower petals, including Blushing Bride, Real Red, and Baroque Burgundy.
 I do this in several layers, starting with the lightest ink and then building up color,
so that it's darkest at the outside.
The flower center was colored with copics.

The black frame was created with Marianne Designs Frames and Swirls LR0116 die.
 It's a long oval, but it cuts apart easily into eight pieces, which I then arranged around the square.
 Making a die-cut frame into a different shape works with some dies, I can only suggesting giving it a try and experimenting to see how it looks!

The text background is made using Stampin Up dp sponged with Ranger Distress Antique Linen ink and then stitched onto a black card base.  I added a few scattered pearls to finish.
Thanks for stopping by today!

June Flourishes Beautiful World Tour

 

 

 Hello and welcome to the June Beautiful World Tour showcasing some

beautiful Flourishes sets from designers all around the globe! 

Thanks for stopping by Belfast today!

If you're doing the whole hop and have arrived straight from the Flourishes blog,

you're in the right place!

This month our hostess is Meredith in beautiful British Columbia, and she's given us the challenge

Neutrals and Texture!

 I immediately thought of the earthy neutrals and texture of linen,

which was in the height of it's production during the 18th and 19th century here in Ireland.  

Because of the easy production and care of modern fabrics, the making of pure linen has dwindled, but you can still find linen cloth from the rustic and rough weaves to the more luxurious tablecloths!

 

My card was made using the beautiful Flourishes Garden Picks set - I stamped the image with Stayzon Black ink on watercolour paper, then watercoloured in neutral shades. ( Ranger Distress Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, and watercolours)

I added some accents with a black fine line marker and a white gel pen and

spritzed on some Antique Linen ink.

Here's a closer look:

 

 

The kraft cardstock has been dry embossed with  Sizzix Plaid embossing folder

and the October Afternoon dp has been

sponged with Ranger Distress ink to add to the vintage look.

I added lace, pearls, twine and Stampin Up vintage pewter hardware to finish.

The doily is cut using Cheery Lynn Designs French Pastry Doily die.

The sentiment is from Flourishes Butterflies & Blossoms.

 

Don't forget that by leaving comments on the designers blogs as you hop the globe, you're in the running to win a free Flourishes Stamp set! 

Comments will be accepted till the end of the month and a random comment will be chosen, so the more comments, the better your chances of winning! 

 

Now it's time to head over to British Columbia to see what the talented Naomi
has created for the hop - thanks so much for stopping by today!