Hi friends! Welcome to the REVEAL of our latest exclusive collection, Dads and Grads!  Thanks for joining us today to celebrate our mini release!

It’s that time of year!  Many moms received special love last week in celebration of Mother’s Day.  Dad’s turn is coming up soon :)  Show dads some love with a special handmade card.  Don’t forget… puppies have dads too.  My dog Simon was my “first born” before kids. High School Graduations, College Graduations, even Kindergarten graduations are upon us and this “Grad” wafer die is the perfect staple for the occasion!

If you are looking for the perfect clear embossing ink, look no further!  Our new Simon Says Stamp embossing ink has a very useful slow drying time so you can achieve the perfect embossing without a rush.  Our new black pigment ink is the perfect staple for your stamping stash.

Check out the gorgeous card Shari Carroll created with this new release:

Nina-Marie Trapani used some tried and true watercoloring techniques to create this card with the new products:

A note from Nina-Marie on how she created the card:

I’ve created a fun Father’s Day card using the Father’s Day Finds stamp set; this set has so many awesome, masculine themed images in it. And one of my favorite aspects of the set are the sentiments that can be used for dad/grandfather themed cards year round; and not only for father cards, but even sentiments like “you rock” and “enjoy your day” I could see being used on birthday cards and more!

I decided to use the adorable fish on my card (he’s so cute, makes me giggle!) and create a simple, underwater scene for him to be swimming in. I contemplated using the fishing rod too, but thought that having the fishing line coming down from the top of the card made more sense for this design.

I stamped the fish onto watercolor paper using Simon’s Duckling dye ink (it is waterproof) and watercolored him in using Twisted Citron, Mustard Seed and Ripe Persimmon distress inks. The underwater background is created from distress inks as well; for that I used Broken China and Peacock Feathers and did ink smooshing using a sheet of acetate/window plastic.

After stamping and heat embossing my sentiments, I layered up the water background onto my card base along with some birch wood paper that I cut from a wood envelope and a strip of Burnt Orange cardstock (die cut using a scallop die from Simon’s Charmed Heart die set). The fish and bait line are attached using foam tape.

And of course no underwater scene is complete without some bubbles! So I grabbed some Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets (both the 4mm and 6mm sizes) and blued them to my scene using Glossy Accents. For a final touch, I tied a bit of natural hemp around the bottom of the water background.

So that’s going to do it for me today! Be sure to check out the entire mini release over at the Simon Says Stamp shop and pick up your favorites…  See you again soon!

It’s time for another edition of Spotted here on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Seeing all of the amazing cards and projects featuring the Simon Say Stamp brand that are created by you, our awesome customers, is super fun for us! We love seeing what you are creating. ‘Spotted!’ is a monthly feature on this blog that highlights the talents of all of you! Thank your for bringing our products to life with your creativity and energy! It’s really a treat to share your projects!

Today we are happy to introduce you to 5 designers who shared their work and caught our eye for the May 2016 edition of our ‘Spotted’ post!  We send each of them a little something special for being “spotted.” Be sure to use the hashtag #simonsayssstamp on your social media accounts so we can spot YOU! We find cards on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, in our Simon Galleries, and craft blogs.

These adorable chicken felties made by Brandy were spotted on Instagram and captured our hearts! We just love her color combinations with the aqua and brown. They have a really cute country feeling to them and make us smile! Brandy used our Exclusive Simon Says Stamp Springtime Chicken Plush Die and our yummy SSS felt to create these cuties. You know we are very into felt around here! Please be sure to visit Brandy on her Instagram page or on her lovely blog called Bee Studio!

Next up is a bright and bold birthday card that would make anyone’s special day even better. We found this pretty card, made by Alison, on Instagram. She used our Stepping Stones Stamp and Happy Birthday Die to make this card pop! We love how she used so many pretty colors on this card!  Be sure to visit Alison on her Instagram page to see more of her work!

Who can resist a cute Springtime sheep? This cheerful card was made by Tatiana and we love how she did her coloring and her use of sequins. She stamped this card using our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Melody’s Easter stamp set. You can visit Tatiana’s blog or Instagram page to see her lovely creations.

Next up is another bright and cheery birthday card. This card by Brinda is clean and simple perfection! We were drawn to her gorgeous card layout on this one. Plus, it just makes you smile, right? Brinda used the Simon Says Stamp Party Animals stamp set and matching dies to make this wonderful card. Check out more of Brinda’s work on her Instagram page or her blog – the Crafty Beetle!

And, since Mother’s Day was this past weekend, we loved this classy and pretty card by Kimberly. She used our Simon Says Stamp Exclusive stamp set called Spring Flowers and mixed it perfectly with our Fog cardstock. I’m sure her mom loved it as much as we did! You can find Kimberly’s blog here.

Wasn’t that spectacular!? Would you like to be SPOTTED using Simon Says Stamp product? Post your creations to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (with hashtag #simonsaysstamp), your blog and/or the Simon Says Stamp online galleries (in the sidebar) and we’ll choose cards or projects to feature each month! We also have a Simon Says Stamp Flickr group here and we would love for you to join us! So many ways for you to play along with us. We can’t wait to see what you are creating!!

SUPPLIES USED IN THESE SPOTTED PROJECTS:

This week on the  Monday Challenge we’re using Embossing Folders, Pastes and Powders to add some texture to our projects. There are so many embossing techniques and products that we can use, it really is fun to try something new so maybe this week you would like to broaden your horizons and use a technique that you have never tried before!

As always, we’re offering a chance to win a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp!  All YOU need to do is join in with the challenge!

Below are three projects created by the design team, that showcase this weeks theme! You can visit the challenge blog  to get all the details and see the amazing cards and projects that the design team has created this week. If you click on each designers name, you’ll be taken directly to their blog where you’ll get more details about their project! Be sure to give these talented ladies some comments!

Created by our Designer In The Spotlight Karen Hayselden aka Kassa:

Kassa used:

InLinkz.com

Created by Cathie Cowles:

Cathie used:

InLinkz.com

Created by Emma Williams:

Emma used:

InLinkz.com

So now it’s your turn to dig out your embossing supplies and join in the fun!