gratitude blog hop

Hello! I am so excited to be part of the Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop.  What a great way to share what we are grateful for and share some creative ideas for expressing gratitude :)

What are you thankful for?  This time of year we count our blessings and the things we are grateful for. I tend not to share personal items on my blog but I'm going to be honest today and say when I first thought about this I hesitated, not feeling particularly thankful because a dear family member is very unwell. However, I realise that I am very thankful for numerous things but none more so than for our family and the strength we have together to support each other and fight this disease. Maybe it is possible to be more grateful in the tough times when our blessings really shine :)

 With family and home prominent in my mind, I reached for a new set designed by Kristina for Simon Says Stamp; Where Your Heart Is. I love everything Kristina does and I've been delighted to see her wonderful array of new stamps and  dies as a result of their collaboration. I mean seriously - to have stamps with Kristina's wonderful hand writing is fabulous!

To start with I stamped the cute house from the set using Memento tuxedo black onto Neenah solar white card and coloured with my markers before fussy cutting out. Then I cut two swooshes of patterned paper from the Bo Bunny 6x6 love letters collection pad. The foreground piece I mounted with foam adhesive. I stamped the sentiment just over the brow of one hill and then added a small die cut heart from the holiday shapes die, coloured with my markers and dressed up with Ranger rock candy distress stickles. Finally I stamped and added the cloud before adding the house with more foam adhesive.

Here's a closer look - the door and windows were stamped and cut out separately. Although you can't see it very well the little heart on the house has stickles too and the door was given a coat of gloss.

I couldn't resist another card! This one uses simply the doors from the Where Your Heart Is set. My children will testify to the fact that I love doors and will happily take numerous photos of old doors and door knockers on holiday - they have such character and oh the stories they could tell! I stamped a collection of doors across a Neenah solar white panel and coloured with my markers before stamping the sentiment above. 

Then I cut around three sides of one of the doors and folded along the fourth side.

I mounted the panel over some kraft card and below the open door I added a tiny piece of patterned paper and another tiny die cut heart.

Well that's me for today, however, the fun doesn't stop there! I will be giving away a $50 donation to the charity of a commenter's choice.  Just leave a comment with what you are most grateful for and you will be entered in the drawing.  After the winner is chosen Simon Says Stamp will be in touch with you to find out the charity you have chosen.  We will draw winners on Wednesday 11/28.

This Friday Simon Says Stamp will offer a Black Friday discount code to its customers for 35% off selected items in the store.   But blog hoppers get the code early for stopping by my blog!  Click here to see the items that are included in the sale. Enter SIMONBF35 in the Promotion Code box (be sure to use all CAPS) and you will get 35% off of those items.  Happy Shopping! 

Thanks for visiting! The next stop in the Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop is the amazing Nichol Magouirk! If while hopping, you encounter a broken link, you can go back to the beginning  for links to everyone who is participating in the hop.

Supplies: Stamps - Simon Says Stamp where your heart is; Inks - Memento tuxedo black, Versafine onyx black; Card - Neenah solar white; Papertrey Ink kraft; Paper - Bo Bunny love letters; Dies - Simon Says Stamp holiday shapes; Ranger Distress Stickles rock candy; Ranger glossy accents

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