I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Monday 5 August 2019

Birthday Bubbles with Simon Says Stamp

Hello all!  I'm absolutely thrilled to be back in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  (I got a bit carried away with the length of the post in my excitement - you might want a cup of coffee to see you through!)


It's an honour to be creating alongside the phenomenal team there for the whole of August, and it's especially nice to be involved this week as they are celebrating their ninth birthday.


The theme for the week is "Happy Birthday".  Regulars here will know how rare the sighting of a card is here at Words and Pictures, but in celebration of nine years of inspirational creativity at Simon Says Stamp challenge I've managed to make two!








For this birthday celebration, I thought I'd crack open the bubbly... not actual champagne but lots of bubbles on the page.

Along with the birthday theme, we're also playing with products from the Simon Says Stamp's own line.

I've got their Polka Dot Stencil in action, as well as one of their sequin variety packs, Lucky Shamrock.














This all started out as a pair of tags, because there's no a chance that I would actually plan to make cards... it only ever happens by accident.













I did some wrinkle-free distressing with Distress Inks and Oxides in Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage (both colours in both formulations).

I never tire of the effects you can get.












Over that I stencilled through the Polka Dots with the Stormy Sky in both ink and Oxide formulation, before adding little splatters of water to break up the bubbles.















I did a bit of text stamping in Bundled Sage Oxide, just to add detail...

















... and then some stamping in Olive Archival with one of my favourite weeds by Rubber Dance.















I'm very happy with these backgrounds.  I hadn't planned to go down the floral route, but I couldn't resist it.











I fiddled around for some time trying to work out what my next step would be, trying out different bits and bobs.

But in the end I decided I didn't want too many extras detracting from Tim Holtz's Wildflower Thinlits dies.













One of these is from Wildflower Stems 1 and one from Wildflower Stems 2



















Some gesso-d strips of torn book page allow them to pop from the panels behind...

















... and the intricate Crochet Thinlits die, cut from plain ivory card, adds delicious detail.
















I coloured the flowers first by dipping the stems into some Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint Distress Stains pooled on the craft mat.















Then I used a water brush to pick up Stormy Sky, Pumice Stone and some of the leftover greens to pick out the petals and the centre of the flower head.












There may also be a touch of white pen work by the look of it, I think... I forget now!














This was about the point when I held my breath and chopped off the tag toppings in order to attach the panels to some of the 6x6 kraft cards I usually have hanging around.














And that's when I had the idea to have the bubbles floating off the panels and onto the kraft.















The snipped-off tops of the tags were pressed into action.  I used a 5/8ths inch punch and a regular hole punch to get myself some bubble confetti.

















And then I had a lovely time picking out the sequins to go on the panels...















... as well as to float in amongst the escaping bubbles.















I've become slightly addicted to sequins lately, something I wouldn't have predicted - though I should have known really... I've always loved to find ways of catching the light in my crafting.















Some more gesso-d book page fragments provide backing for the Small Talk stickers.













These are from the Occasions set, which I'm not sure exists any longer, but you can still get the original ones, and they are so useful to have around.















Obviously, there's lots of white splatter bringing all those bubbles to life... 















... and I used my dipping pen with some white ink to draw the scribbly border frames.















One of these cards has already been pressed into action to wish my 102-year-old neighbour a very happy birthday, and the other is being saved for my niece in a couple of months' time.

















That's why I need lots of pictures in this long blogpost, as I won't have the actual cards any longer.

Just occasionally it's useful to make cards, and these do make me happy.  I hope you like them too.










As it's a celebration there's not just one generous $50 voucher from the Simon Says Stamp store on offer but two!



... and fantastic inspiration from the team over at the main Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.  I hope you'll all come and celebrate their ninth birthday with a project too!  Happy Birthday!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you all again soon.

Life is mostly froth and bubble;
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.
Adam Lindsay Gordon

38 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful art Alison, have fun with your DT job at Simon. Hugs, Valerie

ellyscard creatief said...

Beautiful piece of art Alison.Congrats on your DT at SSS.

Maura said...

Love the bubbly cards, Alison! I had to laugh when I read you would never plan to make cards, but they do happen. :) The tags are gorgeous and they look awesome as cards! Welcome aboard the Monday Challenge again! hugs, Maura

Rea' said...

Cards are gorgeous ! I love your stamp and stencil work; so very pretty and the color combo makes you feel ' bubbly ' ... I'm smiling real big seeing ALL these details... crochet is beautiful!!!

Redanne said...

This is such a wonderful way to make cards Alison, your colour combos are always beautiful and they really do suit the bubbles running off the side. I think I am sharing your love of sequins at the moment, they really do catch the light in such a beautiful way. Lovely to see you featured again over at Simon Says too! Anne xx

Helen said...

absolutely beautiful cards, Alison. love the bubbles on the side of the cards.

Amanda said...

Congratulations on you Guest spot and a beautiful start with your bubbly cards
Love
Amanda x

Lorraine A said...

Gorgeous cards Alison, the colours and whole design is beautiful! I love how you used the snipped off top of the tag, brilliant idea!! Looks AWESOME!!

It's so lovely to have you with us for our special birthday month!! welcome back!! :-)

luv
Lols x x x

Julia said...

These are gorgeous, beautiful bubbles and wildflowers. I love those sequins pulling the bubble theme across onto the Kraft card. Your cards are beautiful!

Mac Mable said...

What a fun idea to make the tags into your cards and great to see these wonderful cards on your blog x. Love the bubbles floating off the 'tags' and what a pretty colour combination. Love how you did the die cut wildflowers and of course the white splats x. Fabulous inspiration and two very lucky recipients to your amazing cards x.

Fliss said...

Absolutely beautiful cards Alison. Love all the textures you've added with the inks and die cut elements and the colours are just so wonderfully serene and calming.
Fliss xx

Nikki Acton said...

It doesn't happen often, but love it when you do cards! Beautiful xxx

Meggymay said...

Congratulations Alison, it is a very beautiful inspiration project.
Yvonne xx

Kath Stewart said...

so happy to have you back on board Alison and you have kicked off with amazingly beautiful cards, love the soft colours and wow those bubbles are gorgeous, can't wait to see what you have in store for next week, hugs kath xxx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really enjoyed how you took us through your thought process as well as photos for each step. Your cards are beautiful. I really like the glitter and bubbles you created, which made them seem even more like birthday cards.

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Love how you dabbled with the composition before you came to the conclusion, I find I have to do this more and more these days. Beautiful colour and use of the dots and sequins for bubbles, everything looks magnificent on Kraft card.
Congrats on your GD spot this month Alison, enjoy the Party!
Creative Hugs Tracey xx

My name is Erika. said...

So many cool details Alison. and I think you made some perfect bubbles. I like the effect and the speckled effect on them. Happy new week. hugs-Erika

Craftyfield said...

Congrats on this guest appearance, Alison! You chose a lovely colour scheme and the design with the bubbles is fun. x

Cestina said...

Did you know that your final quote was one of my mother's favourites? Someone wrote it in my autograph book when I was about 11 and she adopted it. Lovely to see it here xx

Astrid Maclean said...

Fun and funky cards Alison, love the bubble effects and when you make cards I always smile...
BIG congrats on your SSS gig!!

Annie said...

Love your cards and tag details Alison x Gorgeous colours and I adore the embellishments.
Huge congratulations on your GD spot too xx Have fun xx

Hgs Annie xx

Fonda said...

Gorgeous cards! And, congratulations on being on the DT at SSS!

MariLynn said...

Beautiful cards. Two things in your post made me smile. When you talked about not planning on making cards. I totally understand. Projects really have a mind of their own and they go the way they want to. I seldom have them come out how "I planned". The other thing that made me smile was when you mentioned holding your breath when you cut the tops off. That would be me too. It is so hard for me to cut into a project but the end result is what was meant to be. Genius to use the cut off tops to make extra bubbles. Love the splatters. One thing you might want to do next time is to take your white ink and make a curved highlight on the bubbles. Thanks for the inspiration.

experiments in paper said...

Such sweet cards, however serendipitous! Your decision to keep the focus on those beautiful florals was brilliant, as was the idea to float the bubbles off to the kraft bit - 'cause that's certainly what bubbles would do! Lovely pair, and I know your recipients will love them (and bravo to your neighbor!!) . xxx Lynn

pearshapedcrafting said...

Congratulations on being back in the SSSM spotlight! These cards are stunning - cut down tags are a good way to get to Birthday cards! Love the colours and how clever of you to let those bubbles float away onto the Kraft! Hugs, Chrisx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Gorgeous Alison. I'm a bit obsessed with dots at the moment so can't help but love these cards. Happy creative week, Angela xXx

Lys said...

It's funny how you dared to cut your beloved tags, and how they come back anyway, by the bubbles: great idea! The scene is gorgeous.

Chrissy said...

First off, thank you so much for coming over to my blog and leaving such postive comments on my first art journal page, I did so enjoy it and it seems I cannot stop even when there are other things I should be doing..lol..I love your beautiful Birthday card and I love how it came out from a tag..lovely details and colours..
You mentioned floor samples in the back ground for photographing, mine are 10x10 wood grain papers..not always big enough and for my art journal, as it is big, I use my carpet..

Luv CHRISSYxx

froebelsternchen said...

I simply love all about this cards Alison, all so creative a n d clever and charming. GORGEOUS!
Congrats on the Guest Design spot! They can be more than happy to have you.
Big hugs, Susi xxx

Etsuko said...

Beautiful tags and cards Alison. It's amazing that you not only waste ideas and paper, but also develop it. Love them work as always. xx

Neet said...

These are spectacular cards. Who would guess what they set off as - nobody would know they were originally tags but by heck, you have made such good use of them. I love the spare pieces turned into confetti which matches perfectly with the sequins.
Just one grumble Alison - if I don't have those wildflower dies I might just have to buy them! You make the most beautiful things.
Hugs, Neet xx

Patty O'Malley said...

Beautiful cards, Alison! You should make them more often.

craftytrog said...

A beautiful pair of cards Alison! xx

sarascloset said...

Cards are such a rare sight at your blog, Alison, but you sure have marked the occasion well! Your cards are beautiful, starting with that gorgeous inky background; you always make the best backgrounds! And the daisies are so pretty! Funny that I never realized there was a daisy in each of the sets. So happy you salvaged that one inch from the tag topper as bubbles along with the sequins. It was your sequins that inspired me to add them to my card, but I just could get myself to scatter them! Ha! Ha! I guess I'm just not that free of a spirit!

Biggest congratulations on being Guest Designer once again! SSS knows a good thing when they see it! Enjoy your weekend!

Paper Profusion said...

Major congrats Alison on featuring again in the SSS designer spotlight. Well done you! The tag backgrounds looked brilliant sans 'bubbles' etc, so its great credit to your artistry to have added so much yet not made a complete mess as I would have. Loving how you've introduced modern fun vibes to your more usual gentle nature inspired theme. Hats off also for using up the chopped off tag ends. Recycling with style! Looking forward to the rest of your SSS month. Nicola x

Meihsia Liu said...

Love love love your gorgeous cards, Alison. The colors and flower embellishments are fabulous. It's so great to have you design with us this month. Looking forward to seeing your awesome projects. Hugs. Meihsia <3

Dorthe said...

So adorable, so lovely and fine, the elegance of the flowers, and die-cuts , - and the sweetness of the dots - fantastic use of the beautiful tags , dear .
Hugs, Dorthe

A Pink said...

Big Congratulations on your GD spotlight this month , Alison . So deserved .

Your cards are fabulous . The Dox tags are lush - the colours and WFD effects make me so happy,. The Polka dot stencilling and text stamping add just the right amount of toned detailed and the stems are a wonderful focal feature . Love how you have let the bubbles spill out on to the free space of the card .

You have started your month in the spotlight with style .

hugs x