Simon Says Stamp April Kit: A Colorful Life

Hi all! I'm back again today with a review on the Simon Says Stamp April card kit: A Colorful Life.

I'm gonna be honest - when I first saw this kit, I wasn't too thrilled. The colors were bright, and it did include lots of flowers (which I love), buuuuuuut...

• I really look forward to coordinating stamp and die sets in the kits, and this one doesn't have that.
• I don't use clips and stickers too much in my cards, and this kit has A LOT of those.
• Many of the small patterned sheets also have small squares or sections to cut apart for your card designs, and I prefer the papers that are all one pattern or design.
• Even when I searched for preview cards from the design team, I wasn't loving it. This has NOTHING to do with the impressive talent from the team. The cards were designed very well. It's just that nothing was jumping out at me.

So, my first impression was... meh.

For the first time in a long time, when the kit was delivered to my home, it just sat there. I decided to give it a try to prep for some cardmaking time with a friend. We each bring a card to share, and then we make the cards together. I found a sketch online that I wanted to try, so I start pulling out some elements of this kit.

As I played around, I really liked how the different elements came together. Here's the card I came up with...

The sentiment, floral patterned paper, black card stock, and red, yellow, and light blue paper that the flowers are cut from are all from the kit. I do love that script sentiment, and the coordinating papers make matching super simple. This isn't my normal style, but I wanted to try out a simple technique I saw about how to make your card look like a chalkboard. This works, right? :) I have grown to really like this card... I think it's becoming one of my personal faves.

So after some cardmaking time with my friend, I just wanted to keep creating! So I went home and make a couple more cards from the kit...

So, my new verdict is... I like it. This kit is not one of my favorites, and I'm still challenged by those stickers and clips. But as cards have come together using different parts of the kit, I have been surprised that I like the final results. Another good thing about this kit is that it's not specific to one season or holiday. You really could use this all year round (though those bright florals are just perfect as spring blooms arrive outside).

Are you a SSS card kit subscriber? What have you made with this kit? What kit has been your favorite?

Have a great rest of your weekend!