Simon Says (Monday) Guest Designer Week 4 - A Matching Set

Hi everyone,

It’s my 4th and final week as Guest Designer for the  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I can’t believe that’s come around already - time really does fly when you are enjoying yourself!

This week the theme is

*** A Matching Set ***

So think card + matching envelope or tag, a set of cards or notelets, or maybe a set of ATC’s - the possibilities are endless!

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz  on the challenge blog post!  You can enter 5 times so that's 5 possible chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance - good luck everyone!

For my final guest spot, I really wanted to showcase Lavinia Stamps products, as they are my favourite brand based here in the UK and Simon Says Stamp is their major US stockist. In fact the lovely folks at Lavinia were delighted that I have this opportunity and want to showcase their products for SSS shoppers; so with that in mind I had a complete ‘pile on’ of their latest release of magical Christmas stamps along with a selection of their older stamps, inks and a couple of mask stencils!

Here's my project for this week (links to my supplies are below the description).

I decided to make a Christmas card with matching envelope. First, the card …

Firstly I cut a 7 1/4” square of white stamping card, so I would have plenty of space to develop my scene. I started by stamping Lavinia Wishing Post in the centre with the word ‘Christmas’ added from Mailbox Names, then stamped the Meadow Cottage and Woodland Cottages in the top left corner, applying paper masks as I went along. 

Next I placed an acetate hill mask to form the horizon and a circle mask for the moon, and created the sky by blending Lavinia Elements inks. With the masks still in place, I stamped a variety of Small Pine Trees behind the cottages using Rainforest Versafine Clair, and a Christmas Tree Group to the right, using Morning Mist VFC to give an impression of depth. I stamped The adorable mouse Pipspell, the little mouse from Tilly and Tango hanging from the post box, and Olivia the fairy looking on whilst holding the orb branch Everlight 2 - I masked off the dandelion clock that Olivia usually holds in her outstretched hand. I then stamped Starpine and Sugar Pine Cones in the top right corner using Shady Lane and Pinecone VFC and a mixture of 1st and 2nd generation stamping. 

I removed the masks and started to colour the scene - I used various shades of watered down Lavinia Elements and Vintage Photo Distress inks to colour the cottages, post box and pinecones, and Sakura Stardust pens to colour the orbs and fairy wings with a touch of gold Posca pen for the orb hangers. I blended some more Elements inks in Della Blue using a hill mask to form snowdrifts, and stamped/masked a couple of fallen Glimmer Orbs (baubles) which I also coloured with Sakura Stardust pens. 

To fill out the scene I stamped some Starpine and Winter Foliage around Olivia’s feet using Shady Lane and Rain Forest VFC, and a gate and fence using Acorn VFC with a little robin perched on top. I added white Posca snowfall to all the roofs, trees and foliage, and painted on Stickles glitter glue with a fine brush to add sparkle. When dry I matted the piece onto navy blue and pink card stock and an 8” square card blank.

To finish I stamped the sentiment onto separate card using Medieval Blue VFC, coloured with a clear Sakura Stardust pen, then cut out and attached. I cut out a teeny rectangle of white card to be an envelope, hand addressed it to Santa Claus at the North Pole, and attached it in the mouse’s paw. Finally I added some faux snow spatter with a white Posca pen.

Here’s the matching envelope.

I stamped several of the focal images from the card, moving the hanging pine cones and foliage over to the left so as not to cover where a stamp would go (though I don’t anticipate posting this card!). The main difference from the card is that I did not use any water-reactive media for colouring on the envelope - just Sakura pens and some permanent ink pencils.

Lastly, a couple of angled pictures to show the sparkle.

Here are links to what I used.

Stamps: all by Lavinia, including Wishing Post, Mailbox Names, Pipspell, Everlight 2, Glimmer Orbs, Starpine, Sugar Pine Cone, Winter Foliage, Olivia Small, Tilly and Tango, Meadow Cottage, Woodland Cottages, Gate and Fence, Small Pine Trees, Christmas Tree Group;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Della Blue, Dark Denim, Blue Lagoon, Pink Elephant, Green Parrot, Russet Orange, Violet Chalk, Truffle); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Rain Forest, Shady Lane, Avocado, Morning Mist, Pinecone, Acorn, Medieval Blue); Sakura Stardust Galaxy gel pens and Meteor gel pens (pink, turquoise, orange, yellow, purple);  Sakura Stardust Clear glitter pen; Posca pens (white, gold); Ranger Stickles glitter glue (Stardust);

Tools: Lavinia Acetate Hill Masks and Acetate Circle Masks.

Don’t forget to visit the challenge blog to see the amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time (EST), 1pm UK time (GMT), 2 pm CET to join in.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #128 - Anything Goes Christmas (2nd entry)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Stamps

ABC Christmas - W is for Wings  (2nd entry)

Addicted to Stamps & More #506 - Make Your Mark  (2nd entry)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 24 

Christmas (or not) BINGO Challenge #16 - Use 3 items from BINGO card column

(Column N: Christmas / Free / Masking & Stencilling)

Country View FB Challenge (November) - Use Glitter

C.RA.F.T. #768 - Christmas

Craft Rocket #131 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Crafty Animals #100 - Include an Animal (2nd entry)

Daisy Chain #102 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (November) - Feminine (3rd entry)

Everybody Art #589 - Bling/Glitter

Fab ‘n’ Funky #626 - All That Glitters

Girlz Creative Christmas #152 - Use an Image

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #11 2025 - Christmas

Heart’s Quest Fantasy #11 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #196 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Snow Flurry (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #183 - Winter Wonderland (3rd entry)

Outlawz Festive Friday (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)

Outlawz Monthly Challenges (November) - Projects entered into Outlawz Challenges

Peace On Earth #100 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Get Ready for Christmas (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

 

I think this project must have taken me about 9 hours in total as I was being so careful not to mess it up, but I must admit I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

So that’s all from me in the Simon Says (Monday) designer spotlight this time. I’d just like to say a huge thanks to Lols and all at  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for the opportunity.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,