HBD!

 Happy Friday, crafty friends!  I am still working on building my stash of birthday cards, and it is so fun and easy to do using brads, as there are endless possibilities!  

I have so many dog lovers in my life, so I made a card for one of them.  I started by wrapping a strip of white card stock with Dog Washi Tape.  I trimmed the front of my card base down and adhered the washi panel to the inside of the card base.  This allows the dogs to show on the front of the card when it is closed, and on the inside panel.

I wrapped another panel of white card stock with the washi tape and I die-cut the letters "h, b, d, and !" from that panel.  I adhered the HBD diagonally to a wood-grain kraft panel.   I embellished the panel with several of the Puppy Brads and Kennel Mix Brads before adhering to the card front.

I hope you are inspired to create something today!  This card was really a lot of fun to make! 

Shopping List: 

Dog Washi Tape

Puppy Brads

Kennel Mix Brads

Thank you so much for hanging out with me! 

Xoxo, Kim

Happy Birthday for Turner Syndrome Foundation Card Auction

Hi friends!  Today, I am sharing a fun birthday card that I created to donate to an Auction for the Turner Syndrome Foundation. Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder where a female is born without the second X-chromosome, leaving her with lifelong medical issues.  You can read more about Turner Syndrome here. 

I colored up the adorable gnome image from Polkadoodles with Copic markers and cut it out.  I chose some coordinating digital papers from the shop and inked up the edges before layering them on my card base.  I created a cute little tag and added it to the card front.  I heat embossed the sentiment and created a little banner, which I adhered to the back of the gnome before adding him to the card front.  Lastly, I added some clear glass bubbles. 

I hope that you will join us for the auction over on Instagram!  The auction photos will go live on February 1 and it will close on February 28.  

If you love my card, please head over and bid on it! (I have also donated a second card, but you will have to find it!  I promise it is worth the hunt!)  This is such a worthy cause and all of the proceeds will go to The Turner Syndrome Foundation.  I am so honored to be able to participate!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

 

Have a Roarsome Birthday!

Hello friends!  I am  here to share a super fun birthday card that I created using the darling Dinosaur Pals stamps and dies from Prickley Pear Stamps & Dies.  I never seem to have enough birthday cards, and so I have been working to build up my stash.  I love that this stamp set is perfect for anyone! 

I started by coloring this little cutie and the greenery with Copic markers and using the coordinating dies to die-cut them. 

I kept my color palette very simple with greens and whites, and I love how the color really pops off of the front of the card.  I paired the dinosaur with some dies in my stash from Whimsy Stamps and an embossing folder from Altenew.  I wanted to add a lot of texture and dimension, and I think it came together perfectly!

I seriously love this card!  The Dinosaur Pals stamp set is full of cute dinosaurs and some great elements to build a scene.  Stay tuned, as I will be sharing another card that I made soon. 

Make sure to head over to the shop and check it out!  

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me!  I hope you have a great day! 

Xoxo, Kim

**Affiliate links provided at no additional expense to you.  Thank you so much for supporting my hobby!** 

A Unicorn Birthday Wish!

  Hello, crafty friends!  I never seem to have enough birthday cards in my stash, so I thought today would be a great day to build up some of my stash!  

I am really trying to work on some clean and simple cards, because they really allow the embellishments to shine. 

I started by wrapping the edges of a card stock panel with Glitter Blue Green Washi Tape and adhered it to a pink card base.  I dry embossed the main card panel with a balloon embossing folder from my stash.  I die-cut the sentiment in teal card stock and adhered it to the embossed panel before setting some of the darling Unicorn Brads in place. I adhered the panel to the card front and added the Rainbow Brad to my bow with my hot glue gun. 

This was such a fun card to create!  I hope you are inspired to pull out your favorite embellishments and get to work!

Shopping List: 

Unicorn & Rainbow Brads

Glitter Blue Green Washi Tape

Thank you so much for hanging out with me! 

Xoxo, Kim

Happy Birthday to Moo!

 Hi crafty friends!  I hope that you have recovered from the holidays and life is settling down for you.  

I had the best time creating this barnyard birthday card for Eyelet Outlet!   I started by creating the adorable barn using the Lawn Fawn Build-A-Barn Dies.  I added a chicken to the window, and a goat and cow to either side of the doors.  

I wanted to add a little bit of sparkle, so I used the Glitter Black Washi tape to add a border to my sentiment strips.  Lastly, I added a bow from baker's twine.

Shopping List: 

Chicken Brads

Cow & Goat Brads

Glitter Black Washi Tape

Thank you so much for hanging out with me! 

Xoxo, Kim

Happy Birthday, Southwestern Style!

 Hello, friends!  Over at Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, we are so excited to be sharing the newest release with you - The Southwest Collection!

I had so much fun creating with this collection, that I made two cards to share with you today!  I love anything animals, so I really love the Southwestern Fun Stamp Set!   It is perfect for masculine cards, though it really works for any occasion!  

  Masculine cards are a huge struggle for me, and I never have birthday cards on hand for the guys, so this was a perfect opportunity to add to my stash.  I paired this stamp set with some fabulous digital paper that I found on Etsy.

Once I figured out what I was doing, these cards came together so quickly!  I heat embossed the animals on die-cut circles and set them aside.  I also heat embossed sentiments from the Kokopelli - Happy Birthday Stamp Set and cut the strip into a banner.  I wrapped my card panels with some champagne colored metallic embroidery thread and added a loopy bow. 

Please make sure to head over to the shop and check out the entire release!  You won't be disappointed!  Also make sure to head to the Prickley Pear Pals Facebook Group and keep an eye out!  The amazing Design Team will be sharing their inspiration with you all week.

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me!  

Xoxo, Kim

**Affiliate links provided at no additional cost to you.  Thanks so much for supporting my hobby!**

Happy Birthday, Heifer!

 Hi friends!  It is release day at Artful Angel and we are celebrating with an Instagram Hop.  I am beyond excited to share the card I made with you, because if you know me at all, you will know that the Cownt Your Blessings stamp set makes my heart sing! 

I am obsessed with Highland Cattle, and my dream is to own one, as a pet, of course!  So, when I saw this stamp set, I was instantly in love!   

I colored this beauty with Copics, cut it out and set it aside.  I paired it with some papers that I had in my stash, and I embossed the panel behind the cow using the retired Pinewood Planks embossing folder from Stampin' Up.  I love this folder so much that I bought a second one when I heard it was retiring.  Just in case, you know....  I ink blended the embossed panel with Distress Oxide Ink and set it aside to dry.

I backed all of the panels with Merry Merlot cardstock and I punched two banners before adhering them to the center panel.  I stamped the sentiment in Merry Merlot ink.  I added some Distress Oxide ink to the edges of the sentiment panel and popped it up on foam dots.   I created a loopy bow from champagne metallic embroidery floss and adhered it to the back of the horn and then popped the cow up on foam dots.

Make sure to join us over on Instagram for the hop and be entered to win the entire release!   The Design Team has some INCREDIBLE projects to share!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

*Sketch inspired by Sheri Gilson*

**Affiliate links have been provided at no extra cost to you.  Thank you for supporting my habit, I mean hobby! **

Happy Birthday, Gnomie!

Happy Saturday, friends!  You know what that means!  We have a new Anything Goes Challenge live on the Polkadoodles Crafting Blog!  This week the Design Team challenge was to create an easel birthday card using fall colors of browns and greens.  

I colored the adorable Autumn Wheelbarrow Halloween Gnome digital stamp with Copics (listed below), cut it out and set it aside.  

I started with a brown card base and layered several different cardstocks, including a digital paper (and I am sorry, but for the life of me, I can't remember which collection I pulled it from).  I inked the edges of all of the layers with Distress Ink. 

I wrapped a piece of burlap ribbon around the layers and before adhering it to the card base, I added a row of Stitched Flower Brads along the bottom.  I had to get a little bit creative with my main image, as the gnome is holding a jack-o-lantern on a stick.  Since Halloween is over, I covered it with a Sunflower Brad.  I also added some Stitched Flower Brads along the bottom of the panel. 

I stamped my sentiment on the inside of the card, and popped the "to you" panel up with foam tape so that the card front could rest behind it when popped open.  To complete my card, I created a loopy bow using some thin grosgrain ribbon paired with linen thread.  I cut the prongs off of a pumpkin brad and used my hot glue gun to make a "button" for the bow.  I also added some Chocolate Jewels from Kat Scrappiness to add some sparkle.

Colors Used:

Skin - E04, E11, E21, E00, E000

Beard - C9, C7, C5, C3, C1, C0

Green - G99, YG67, YG63, YG61

Brown - E29, E27, E25, E23, E21

Yellow - YR27, YR14, YR15

Blue - B29, B26, B24

Orange - E09, E99, E97

100

Misc. Shopping List:

Sunflower Brads

Stitched Flower Brads - Fall

Pumpkin Brads

Chocolate Jewels

I hope you are inspired to get out your craft supplies and try something new!  Make sure to share it with us on the Challenge Blog and be entered to win some amazing prizes!  

Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me! 

Xoxo, Kim

Bless Your Heart!

Howdy partner!  I am here to share another fun card from the Little Cowgirl Birthday Collection from Keep It Simple Paper Crafts.  This might seriously be my new favorite collection!  

I made a fun fold card that was inspired by @stampin_heidi.  She calls it the Vertical Double Fold card.  When I saw it, I knew it was perfect to show off these amazing, patterned papers! 

This card came together pretty quickly because I used one of the die-cut embellishments as my focal image.  Folded flat, the card is a standard A2 size (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"), but when opened, it is 4 1/4" x 11".

The card opens up into 3 sections, and the last section is suitable for writing a message on. 

I used the Stitched Indented Squares dies from Elizabeth Craft and inked those panels up with So Saffron ink.  I popped the die-cut embellishment up on foam squares, added a loopy bow and some enamel dots. 

Shopping List: 

Little Cowgirl Birthday Sentiments Stamp Set

Little Cowgirl Birthday Die-Cut Pieces

Little Cowgirl Birthday 6x6 Paper Pack

You really need this adorable collection!  It is just so versatile!  Please come join us in the Keep It Simple Paper Crafts Group on Facebook!  Check out all of the amazing inspiration that the Design Team has created!  Let me tell you, it is something else!  

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Xoxo, Kim

Yee-Haw! Let's Eat Cake!

 Hello, friends!  I am so excited to share my first project as part of the AMAZING Design Team for Keep It Simple Paper Crafts!  

The adorable Little Cowgirl Birthday collection is the latest release, and I cannot tell you just how fabulous it is!  It has EVERYTHING you could possibly need to make any little (or big) cowgirl's dreams come true! 

I created a fun easel card using several of the products in the collection.  I stamped several of the images and colored them with Copic markers (colors listed below).  I die-cut them using the coordinating dies and set them aside. 

I created my card base from heavyweight kraft card stock.  I die-cut the lacy, scalloped square using my Cricut, and paired it with a few of the adorable, printed papers that are part of the collection.  I distressed the edges of all of the layers using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. 

I stamped two of the sentiments from the coordinating sentiment stamp set - one for the front, and one for the inside - and trimmed them to size, and then layered them on pink card stock.  For the inside of the card, I adhered the flowers and then popped the sentiment up using foam dots, which creates a stopper to hold the easel up when the card is opened.

To complete the card, I colored some white seam binding using my So Saffron Stampin' Blend Marker to coordinate with the card stock.  I adhered all of my panels to the base.  I popped the main image up on foam squares, added a loopy bow and the coordinating enamel dots.  

Colors Used: 

Pink - R32, R30, R000

Orange - YR18, YR27, YR24

Green - G07, YG25, YG11, YG00

Yellow - YR24, YR23, YR21

Purple - BV17, BV11, BV00

Brown - E29, E27, E25, E23

Skin - E04, E11, E21, E00, E000, R20

Hair - E99, YR24, YR23

Shopping List: 

Little Cowgirl Birthday Stamp Set

Little Cowgirl Birthday Outline Dies

Litle Cowgirl Birthday Sentiments Stamp Set

Little Cowgirl Birthday 6x6 Double Sided Cardstock

Back to Basics Rose Enamel Dots

I hope that you love this card as much as I do!  Please head over to Keep It Simple Paper Crafts and check out all of the beautiful products that they carry, especially the fabulous Little Cowgirl Birthday collection!  We would love it if you would join us in the Keep It Simple Facebook Group!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

Coming Soon - Artful Angel - High There

 Hello, lovely crafty friends!  I am so excited to share the reveal of my project for the upcoming Artful Angel release!  For this card, I used the adorable High There stamp set. 

This stamp set is full of amazing sentiments to coordinate with another upcoming release - Stand Tall, which I also used in this card. To create my card, I started by coloring the darling giraffe using Copic markers (colors listed below), cut it out and set it aside. 

I had this fabulous cobblestone stencil from the Kindred Stamps Prehistoric Family Box in my stash and when I looked at it, I saw a giraffe pattern, so I used it to create my background.  I used Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Distress Inks with the stencil, and I was so happy with how it turned out.  

I die-cut a circle and added some Antique Linen Distress Ink to the edges to soften them.  I heat embossed the Tall Rumor sentiment on the front of the panel and I adhered it to the card base and I heat embossed the rest of the sentiment on the inside of the card base.  I added my die-cut circle and trimmed off the overlapping edge.  To finish up, I added a jute bow and popped the giraffe up on foam dots. 

Colors Used:

Body - E44, E43, E42, E41, R20

Spots - E37, E33

Mouth - R83, R81

Eyes - C1, C0

I hope you are as excited as I am to see the rest of this amazing release!  Please make sure to head over to the Artful Angel Takes Flight Facebook Group to see all of the amazing inspiration from the Design Team and then head over to the Artful Angel Shop on the 25th and shop, shop, shop!   Make sure to use discount code "KIMSIMPSON" at checkout to save 10% off of your order!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

**Affiliate Links provided at no additional cost to you.**

PPC&F - Your Next Stamp - La La Llama

 Good morning, crafty friends!  I am so excited because one of my favorite shops - Your Next Stamp - is sponsoring us this week at Passionate Paper Creations & Friends.  I absolutely love the stamps and dies that they carry, and I get excited when their sponsorship comes around!  I might have gone a little crazy when I went shopping!  😁

When I saw the La La Llama stamp set, I knew that I wanted to make a card reminiscent of a pinata.  I colored up the adorable llama and packages with Copic markers (colors below), cut them out and set them aside. 

To create the pinata strips, I cut 1" x 4 1/4" strips of colored card stock (65#).  On the back of the strips, using a ruler and pencil, I drew a horizontal line at the 1/2" mark and then I marked along the bottom every 1/8".  I am terrible at trying to eyeball things, and I wanted them to be somewhat even, so this was the method that worked for me.  Once I had them all marked, I cut along each of the tick marks. 

To create my card, I layered a panel of white over a panel of purple.  I used my darkest purple Copic marker to run ink around the edges of the white card stock and then adhered the panel to my card base. 

I adhered the pinata strips using liquid adhesive, starting with the bottom strip and working my way up.  When I ruffled the strips, I didn't care for the white that showed at the very bottom, so I added a thin strip of purple under the bottom strip, and one over the top edge of the top strip, followed by a piece of pink grosgrain ribbon. 

I stamped the first sentiment on the right side of the white panel and the second sentiment on a strip of white, which I then created a banner from.  I added a green banner and then arranged both of them behind the llama.  I adhered the packages to the llama and then popped them up on foam squares.  Lastly, I added some pink and green embellishments from Kindred Stamps. 

Colors Used:

Purple - V09, V06, V04, V01

Pink - RV09, RV06, RV04, RV02

Green - G07, YG25, YG11, YG00

Yellow - Y08, Y13

Brown - E29, E27, E25, E21

To say that I love this card would be a gross understatement!  It was so incredibly fun to create.  

Please make sure to come over to Passionate Paper Creations & Friends to take advantage of the generous discount that Your Next Stamp has provided for our members and then get to shopping!  You will not be sorry.  If you are not a member, just click the "Join" button, answer the questions, and you will be in like Flynn!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope that you found something that inspired you to get crafty!

Xoxo, Kim

PPC&F - Catherine Pooler - Pinecone Greetings

  Hello friends!  I am so excited that Catherine Pooler is our sponsor this week over at Passionate Paper Creations and Friends!  This is the second card that I created using her amazing products! 

For today's project, I made a masculine birthday card using the Pinecone Greetings stamps and dies, paired with the Plaid Background stamp.  My dad's birthday is in December, and I thought this would be perfect for a winter birthday.  I love this stamp set, as it is so versatile! 

This was my first-time using Catherine Pooler inks, and I can now understand why people rave about them.  The coverage is amazing, and my images stamped neatly and cleanly without much fuss! 

I hope that you will join us over in the PPC&F Facebook Group!  Catherine Pooler has graciously offered up a generous surprise for our members to use in their shop!  If you aren't a member, all you have to do is click the "Join" button, answer a few questions and you will also be able to take advantage of the surprise! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

PPC&F - Your Next Stamp - Balloon Bouquet

 Can you believe it?  Two posts in one day!  I had so much fun shopping at Your Next Stamp, that I had to create some more cards to celebrate our fabulous sponsor at Passionate Paper Creations & Friends!  I created a pair of birthday cards using the Balloon Bouquet stamps and dies. 

I colored up the balloon bouquet image in two different color schemes - they both could really be unisex; however, I felt that one is more masculine, and one is more feminine.  

It took me a while to get banner images that I was happy with.  I used some REALLY OLD Stampin' Up markers to color the banner and stamp it.  I have never been more thankful for my Misti, as I did this one color at a time.  (I tried it all at once, but I just couldn't' get a clean image that I was satisfied with.)  I then stamped the Happy in black ink and die-cut all of the images with the coordinating dies.

I dry embossed the balloons on a white card panel.  I have had the embossing folder for quite a while and had never used it, but can I say that I just love it?!  I then arranged my stamped images (I had to ask my hubby for his opinion on the placement) and adhered them to the panel, and then attached it to a white card base. 

I am so, so happy with how these cards turned out!  I can tell you that I never have enough birthday cards, so I am glad to add these to my stash! 

Products Used: 

Your Next Stamp Balloon Bouquet Stamp Set

Your Next Stamp Balloon Bouquet Dies

Altenew Bunch of Balloons 3D Embossing Folder

Copics:

Red - R59, R39, R35

Orange - YR07, YR04, YR02, YR00

Yellow - Y17, Y15, Y13

Green - YG07, YG25, YG11, YG00

Blue - B18, B16, B14, B12

Pink - RV09, RV06, RV04, RV02

Teal - BG49, BG57, BG53

Violet - V17, V15, V12

If you missed it earlier, be sure to head over to Passionate Paper Creations and Friends to check out the surprise that Your Next Stamp has offered for our members!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Crafting! 

Xoxo, Kim