Cathy Zielske's Blog, page 6

Celebrating the new Moments in Time release

Welcome to Day 1 of a Blog Hop to celebrate the Moments in Time release from Simon Says Stamp! Today I’m using my new Graduation Basics stamps and dies to create a fun grad card.

I created the background for this card during a recent livestream you can watch here. I thought it would be the perfect base for a graduation design.

Now onto the blog hop special:

BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS + GIVEAWAY:

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon at every stop on the hop! Winners...

New releases livestream (plus some cute card samples!)

The Moments in Time release from Simon Says Stamp is out now and I have several new products added to my CZ Design collection. Today I’m sharing a look at the products, some cards I created, and I’ll be making one card live.

And here’s a closer look at the cards I shared:

This card below features the actual panel I made on a livestream last week! It’s very similar to the card I created for that live, which you can see that video here.

You can find all of my new re...

Cathy Makes a Card Live—the giveaway post

If you’d like to be entered for a chance to win the card from today’s livestream (May 28, 2025), just leave a comment below! I’ll choose a winner at random by next week’s live.

All supplies for this week’s livestream will be listed at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, check out the live (or replay) here: 

And yes, I added the bricks once it was over. I felt it DID need something, and it just took me a while to get there!

And I love the little extra detail the CZ De...

A small craft haul with very cool results!

Although I get sent MANY items for free from the various companies I make cards for, I always squeeze in a bit of personal shopping, as well. I recently picked up two cool products from Spellbinders and made this super fun birthday card. The retro viewfinder feel is so fun! Here is my tutorial:

Seriously though. The Reel Color dies and BetterPress Sentiments are just so fun! And it gave me a chance to bust out my Glimmer Hot Foil System.

The fact that you can use the sentiments ...

Cathy Makes a Card—the blog post

For today’s livestream (May 21, 2025) I will not be giving this card away to a viewer, but rather, to my daughter! I wanted to make a card just for her using my new Modern Scrapbook stamps and dies. The first sample cards I did were sent into the Simon Says Stamp HQ! So, today’s card will go to Daughter HQ, or something like that.

I absolutely love how this turned out. I know this video is long but sometimes that’s what it takes!

I am so looking forward to giving this to my dau...

Don’t reinvent the wheel—just remake it!

Recently in my private facebook cardmaker group, one of the members shared the video for this card I made back in 2017, right I was getting my sea legs as a card maker.

It’s so fun to look at this old clip I created for the Simon Says Stamp YouTube channel!

It was inspired by a card I’d seen by Kristina Werner, and today I was inspired to remake the card with a few twists, based on my supplies today!

I love how the new card turned out! Plus, it was fun to play with s...

A celebration of Pawsitively Saturated Inks! (and a cool smooshing technique!)

Today there is a blog hop to spotlight the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Ink collection! And to celebrate, I’m sharing a cool technique I learned by watching this video from NB Cards where you can create your own ink smooshing tool! One of my YouTube viewers told me to check it out and I’m so glad I did because anyone can make a smoosher and… it gives you more control!

I present, my Ink Smoosher:

I have a short Instagram Reel where I show you how easy it is to...

Unboxing the latest card kit from Simon Says Stamp (this one is special!)

It’s Kit Unboxing Day for the June 2025 Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. Let’s jump right to the video, shall we?

I am so happy to have a stamp (and die!) set I designed as part of this kit. Of course, you can purchase this stamp and die set separately, but it’s such a great value as part of the kit, because you get ALL the dies to cut out the stamps. The price alone on that is MORE than the kit subscription itself!

Let’s take a closer look at the cards.

Card One is straight up scr...

Even cards with mistakes can turn out to be lovely!

Today I’m sharing a card where everything was going swimmingly until I went to emboss the panel I’d blended and it slipped just a bit.

I was bummed, because I loved how the blending turned out but… then I realized it still looked pretty cool, almost as if I had offset it on purpose. Here is my tutorial showing the process.

I realize I could have embossed first, then stenciled. But for some reason, I didn’t think to do that!

Either way, messing up can still lead to a pretty...

A roller skating card and a blast from my past

Oh, Concord & 9th. As soon as I saw the skate, I knew… here is my tutorial showing you how this fun card came together:

Yes, figure roller skating has my heart. And because I love ya, here is the clip I shared in that video for a few snippets:

I filmed this narration YEARS ago. Oh those were the days. I miss that haircut. And possibly the waistline.

Also? My skates were nowhere NEAR as cute as the one on a my card. And hella more expensive. Lol!

This set just ...