Tonight I am sharing two cards made using supplies from the Simon Says Stamp monthly card kit for August 2014, in addition to some supplies purchased separately.  (I know, it is January 2015, but I needed a couple birthday cards and both recipients have a fondness for sweet treats!)  I loved the Ice Cream Dream stamp set, included in the kit, and just had to purchase the ice cream dies--Ice Cream Cone Parade, Ice Cream Cones and Frozen Treats--to go along with the card kit!  

The first card features the Ice Cream Cone Parade die--I used some Simon Says Stamp white cardstock and black cardstock (picked up at Michael's) to cut the cones.  I colored the white pieces using Tim Holtz Distress Markers and a water brush and pieced them back into the black outline like a puzzle.  I coated the whole pice with Glossy Accents.  I die cut a frame using the SSS Frames die set--I cut this out of the black background piece as well as a piece of SSS fog cardstock, and inlaid the grey frame with the black cardstock pieces.  I stamped the sentiment from the card kit in VersaMark ink and embossed with white embossing powder.   The ice cream cones are mounted onto the black cardstock using Kooltac foam adhesive.

The second card was heavily inspired by Lorraine Aquillina's design that is included on the Card Kit Inspiration sheet.  I used the Ice Cream Cones dies and colored the cones with Distress Markers and a water brush again.  After they dried, I mounted them on the main panel with foam tape and covered them in Ranger Glossy Accents for shine and dimension.  I stamped the sentiment using  Momento inks in Rosebud, Dandelion, Bahama Blue and Tuxedo Black (the Dew Drops mini ink pads are so convenient and make it easy to collect many colors!).  I used the ink pads to make borders that matched the stamped sentiment using a direct to paper application.  The main panel is mounted on foam tape for a bit more dimension.

Here is a card I created using another digital image from Tiddly Inks.  I added the text and printed it out on some inexpensive card stock, then colored the elephant and balloons with Copic markers.  I used cool greys for the elephant and warm grey for the shadows underneath.  The balloons got a coat or shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear glitter pen (I wish it showed in the photo--the shimmer is so subtle but very pretty).  I mounted the main panel on a piece of pink Coredinations cardstock, then mounted that piece onto the grey Coredinations piece with the edge torn to expose the white core.    I intend to post this card to the online card challenge at virginiasviewchallenge.blogspot.com for January 2015--my first post to a card challenge.  I regret the torn edge a bit with this card--I may try it again at some point, but I think I would have liked a clean edge better for this one.  What do you think?

My project on New Year's Day was a thank you card for my husband's very wonderful grandmother.  This card was created using a digital image from http://tiddlyinks.com --I printed on Bazzil Marshmallow card stock. I used Copic markers to color the image and a matching strip to mount the sentiment on.  The  Sentiment was stamped using the Sophie alpha set by the Paper Studio in Versafine onyx black ink, then embossed using clear embossing powder.   The orchids were affixed to  the card using Kool Tak clear foam for a little dimension.  The card base is a craft card base that I picked up at Michael's.  It was a nice, low-key way to ring in the New Year.