Favorite Technique/Product

The fun challenge today at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to create something showing your favorite product or technique.

My favorite technique is whatever I just learned! This past year I've taken some wonderful OnlineCardClasses in stenciling and watercolor and die cutting and...and...and...I just can't get enough of those awesome classes. I am no longer afraid of watercolor and I'm getting better at it as I use it more. I love stenciling. And embossing, both heat and dry and also with paste. Die cutting, oh yes please! I think I use my Cuttlebug every day, both to dry emboss and to die cut. Masking. And of course stamping.

Probably at the moment, my favorite technique is die cutting.

As for favorite product, I love, love, love the Stitched Rectangles dies from Simon Says Stamp and I use them on nearly every project. If nothing else I cut out the largest rectangle for my background. Then, rather than waste the edges, I use the waste piece as a frame on a different card. Here's the first entry, using two sizes of that wonderful Stitched Rectangles set. The outer portion is dry embossed (another favorite technique), and the inner one is stamped and adorned with Simon's Leaf Column Outline and a sentiment.

And for the second one, here's a card I made using the frame remaining after using the largest Stitched Rectangle. The frame started out as a stamped gingham background I used on another card, and this one sports another dry embossed background. The sentiment is from Simon's Square Sayings -- I reach for them pretty often as their small blocky size is often just what I need.