Simon Says Stamp ~ Happy New Year Card Set

Hey crafty friends, life has been very full and towards the end of this year heartbreaking and stressful too. So it's nice to have some time to catch my breath and regroup a little bit. I've done some creating with a beautiful stamp kit from Simon Says Stamp which I absolutely love. It's my favourite if the card kits I got this year. Hubby renewed my subscription as a birthday gift this year. I didn't get every kit offered, but I did get several of them this year as they were honestly all so good!

I wanted to create a set of cards with a lovely serene feel and I'm so delighted with how these turned out. I had no hope with my crazy busy year to create enough Christmas cards, so I switched to one which could be used as a New Year card too and love how these turned out.

I enjoyed using the beautiful Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops from the kit to create a majority of these cards. They just fit the scenes and made lovely anchors for the designs. This version, I used a candy stripe paper and paired it with the solid blue inked scene. I've used a VersaFine Clair ink for this in the colour Blue Belle. I used a little hand held heart punch to create the tiny cut outs in the sentiment strip. It's the only one I did this for, and I love it on this card, but it only really worked with the backdrop on this card, so it was a one off. All the crinkly edging was done with my Tim Holtz Deckled Edge Trimmer.

This is one of my favourite of the ombré versions. I used three different inks on this card to credit the ombré effect. I used Simon Says Stamp ink cubes from a set of 6. The three I used were Latte, Cappuccino and Mocha. I used the lightest Latte for the sky and then added the Cappuccino through the centre of the village scene deepening the edges with Mocha. I used the VersaFine Clair Sand Dune ink for the sentiment stamping. I really love the Backdrop I used for this card too. Such a cool distressed wood finish, but rather reminded me of the patina of old terracotta stone.

I used Distress Texture Paste Sparkle on two cards I created, which were these two, the black gingham version was the most monochromatic I made. I love the lift that little pop of blue added to this card, and the star on the tree picks up on that so sweetly. This paste didn't give the same dimension that the Texture Paste Opaque gives, it sat flatter and with less opacity, so although I loved the sparkle, I shifted to using the Texture Paste Opaque. I did try a Picket Fence Paper Glaze paste in Snowdrop White just for comparison and experimentation, but I didn't enjoy the texture as much, so switched back to the Distress Texture Paste Opaque for the rest.

I had fun experimenting with pink for this scene. I used the newer pink set of hues from Simon Says Stamp that have a lovely hue. They are Plum, Fairy and Ballerina Pinks. The sentiment I stamped in Plum ink to tone with the village scene. I had an offcut frame from a recent make with the Whimsy Woodland Santa Quick Card Fronts and I noted how well this background toned with the pinks, so used this as the background panel. The Santa was diecut out and added to another card, so no waste! I popped up several of the panels on foam before adding them to the backgrounds. 

The stencil from this kit is sized for the scene, so I used a little bit of mint tape to add it to the panels before adding the paste to protect the rest of the panel. Quick and easy and worked a treat. I used an Altenew palette knife to add the paste.

These two panels were the ones I used the Distress Texture Paste Sparkle on. I loved the sparkle on these, so much so, that before the ones I did with the Texture Paste Opaque set, I sprinkled them with Distress Rock Candy Glitter to add a little sparkle to the rest of the houses and wee snowmen. You can see these two panels made up into their cards below and the sparkle from the dry Texture Paste Sparkle.

I saw another crafter do this two colour stamping of this Merry Christmas greeting, I think it was Cathy Zielske in her demo' of the kit. I really love how it looked, so did three cards with this approach, using the two colours in the sentiment to tie in the dominant colours in the designs. I particularly like the red version above and the green and blue below. They both were a striking combo.

This green and blue version was a mix of approaches, the ombré inking and the two tone sentiment paired with a snazzy green stripe Backdrop. I think this was the card I used the Picket Fence paste on too, it wasn't as good at holding shape as the Ranger Distress Texture Paste Opaque and was a little more cream in colour. But a fun way to try a few different pastes and compare them to know what I prefer and where they might work best. 

Five of the designs I did were for more of a New Year feel, the other three were Christmas cards. I didn't snap a pic of the one I did with the green plaid, before my son gave it to a friend for Christmas. But that was a striking and cool combo too. I am so happy with this set of cards and the lovely Peace and Joy theme. I need more of that in this New Year. 

Last year swallowed me whole. One of our dear friends from our London days has just passed away from a brain tumour. It was a long and difficult year for my darling friend - his wife, and heartbreaking that he is gone, less than a year from his diagnosis. I was hoping he'd make it to Christmas for his family's sake. They have three children, and our youngest sons are the same age. This cut me deeply as my youngest brother was this age when my father passed, and my littlest sister was only 12! So this has hit home for me and I am so heartbroken for my darling pal and her kids. It has been especially hard not to be there for her. New Zealand is so far away at times like this. So I hope for strength and resilience for my lovely friend and her kids, who have actually been all pretty incredible through all this. But the reality of his passing may hit home soon and I so wish I lived closer to be more comfort and help at this time. I'm feeling quite broken by this and rather helpless. Earlier in the year, my oldest friend lost her brother and she's too far away to be any comfort to either, so feeling heartbroken and useless. I'm wishing for a better year for us all. Hugs and wishes for a happy and creative year to you! Wends xoxo

(I share thumbnails to the elements I design with in order to make your search for them easier, in case you like something I've used. I do use affiliate links where possible, and so appreciate if you use these when shopping. They cost you no extra whatsoever. I am proud to design for the companies I do and always feel happy to share where my inspiration and where my crafty stash comes from. I am occasionally gifted products to use, but I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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