Christmas Greetings and Joy - Pretty Pink Posh October Release Blog Hop

Good morning! So excited this morning to be hopping for Day 2 of the blog hop to celebrate the FABULOUS BRAND NEW holiday release from Pretty Pink Posh - full of adorable winter, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year stamps, dies, Confetti mixes, and stencils!!! Keep reading for more info, details on my card I'm sharing today, AND of course, some giveaway info at the bottom as well!

I have a total of 3 cards to share with you today using this beautiful new release - shall we get started?!?!?

I'm so thrilled with how this card came out! I love the beautiful new Stitched Poinsettia Die, and thought it would be super fun to use with Shimmer Powders - and it worked just like I was hoping!

I die cut all the layers of the die from watercolor cardstock, then sprinkled on some shimmer powders in the proper colors, then misted with water and set aside to dry nice and thoroughly. Once all the layers dried, I layered them up with a bit of liquid glue to hold all the layers together.

I finished off with a bit of soft stenciling on a white cardbase using the new Christmas Background Stencil with Antique Linen Distress Oxide Ink, then adhered the flower in place. Finished off with a simple sentiment from the new Winter Wreath stamp set. Don't you just love all the dimension and texture on this gorgeous bloom?

Next up, sticking with a fairly similar color scheme, but shaking things up this time!

The new Winter Frame Die is so intricate and gorgeous - I love it so much! Perfect to create a shaker card filled with the lovely new Merry Confetti Mix!

I added the large "JOY" word using the Joy Coordinating Dies. I die cut them from white cardstock, did some ink blending on the bottom of them with Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink, then went over it with a sparkly Nuvo Aqua Glitter Pen - it reacts with the ink to give a sparkly watercolor effect!

Finished off with some more ink blending just around the outer edges of the frame using Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide ink, then heat embossing a sentiment from Joy stamp set on a strip of white cardstock and blending the same ink over it to make a perfectly coordinated custom sentiment.

And finally, I couldn't throw away that negative from the previous card, so I changed up the color scheme and put it to good use on another card!

For this card, I started off by creating a background to go behind the window created from the Joy Coordinating Die. I used blue cardstock with the new Snowflakes Stencil - first adding a bit of Hero Arts Unicorn white ink, then leaving the stencil in place and blending over some sparkle with my Nuvo Glimmer Paste - love the sparkly but opaque look I ended up with!

While that dried, I colored up one of the little cuties from Holiday Signs. I added a sentiment to his sign from Joy stamp set, heat embossed on a bit of the same blue cardstock as my snowflake background, then trimmed into a thin strip and cut the words apart to fit on the sign.

Finished off with a thin mat of deep gray cardstock, a light blue cardbase, and popped the little penguin up on foam adhesive to finish!

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Now the fun part - there are a total of 4 $25 Gift Certificates up for grabs - 2 for each day of the hop!!! Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop. Make sure and leave comments by 11:59 PM PDT on October 22, 2019 to qualify! Winners will be announced after that on the Pretty Pink Posh Blog!

Here is the entire Blog Hop line-up:

Pretty Pink Posh Blog
Kay Miller
Channin Pelletier
Caly Person
Thi Lam
Sharna Waksmulski
Ardyth Percy-Robb
Vera Rhuhay
Melody Rupple
Alix Davis
Nicky Meek
Dana Kirby

Heather Hoffman (you are here)

Yana Smakula

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means that if you use one of the links below, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my blog, and stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

2019 Layton's Legacy Fundraiser & Card Drive

Good morning! I'm so honored today to be joining in with a special release from Pinkfresh Studio called Forever in Our Hearts. You can find more details on this special even on the Pinkfresh Studio Blog and Lea Lawson's Blog.

This stamp set (and available coordinating die) is to honor the memory of the son of our Marketing Director, Lea Lawson. Here is some more info from her in her own words:

In honor of remembrance of my son, Layton Caleb, we are raising money to purchase a $50 Starbucks gift card for all 50 beds in the level 4 NICU at the U of M Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.

Fundraising will run from October 15th - November 10th. Shortly after we will purchase the gift cards, and bring them to a social worker at the hospital the week of November 17th. This is the anniversary of the date we lost Layton, and I can think of no better way to honor his memory than to give a small comfort to parents who find themselves thrust into NICU life.

If we raise in excess of the amount needed to purchase the gift cards, the remaining balance will be donated to the Upper Midwest Ronald McDonald house in Layton's name.

I was in the NICU with Layton for 5 months and 7 days, and I remember the day a social worker handed me a card with a $20 Starbucks card in it. I broke. It's really hard being a parent to a very sick baby in the NICU, and it's really nice when you are reminded that so many people out there understand that. 

I also really want to be able to help keep the memory of Layton alive, and be able to share his story. I am so grateful for any donation, no matter the size, as it allows me to tell people about that amazing little boy who fought for every single moment of his life. Thank you SO much for your donation - I appreciate it more than words can explain.

WAYS PEOPLE CAN HELP

-DONATE - directly to Layton’s Legacy GoFundMe Fundraising Link.

-SHARE - not everyone is able to financially donate, but sharing on your social media outlets is welcomed & helpful

-CREATE - this year’s card drive theme is “Sensitive Sympathy” geared towards parents who have lost a pregnancy due to miscarriage or stillbirth, infant or child. They can get all the card drive info HERE. (It will also be linked in her main post.)

**October is Pregancy & Infant Loss Awareness month, and October 15th is what many in the loss world call Wave of Light. It is a public way to share the memory of your lost pregnancies and/or babies. This is my version of Wave of Light 2019.**

I have created this simple set of cards using this beautiful set to share with you today:

The image and sentiments in this set are so beautiful - I really wanted to let them shine on my cards. So stamped the butterfly on watercolor cardstock, then did some loose watercoloring around the outside using some of Pinkfresh Studio's beautiful liquid watercolors. Once those dried thoroughly, I stamped a different sentiment to each card.

For each card I mixed together two different shades of liquid watercolors to create my own custom colors. The pink one uses a mix of Bubblegum and Clementine. This next green one uses a mix of Lime Green and Aquamarine.

The final one with the blue uses a mix of Sky Blue and Sapphire.

I finished off with some sparkly jewels in coordinating colors from Essentials: Jewels Mix. While these sentiments on this card set are geared toward the loss of a baby or child, I so love that there are so many beautiful ones perfect for any kind of sympathy card. While we all love happy cards, I can speak from experience that some of the sympathy cards I've received over the years have been some of the most meaningful and important ones I've ever received. Because they are also some of the hardest to make and give, it is so helpful to have such a beautiful set to work with - I know I will be using it a lot in the future!

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means that if you use one of the links below, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my blog, and stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

You're One of a Kind - Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit

Good morning! I'm stopping by to share my first cards created with the BRAND NEW November Simon Says Stamp Card Kit - Woodland Whimsy! This is an ADORABLE kit - the included large stamp set by the same name is absolutely DARLING, the pattern paper is BEAUTIFUL, the adorable deer die is the CUTEST - not to mention the beautiful pre-printed Suzy's Doodles Watercolor cards, the full set of watercolor paints, and several other adorable additions!

My kit came right before I headed out for the weekend, so I had time to squeeze in this quick set of cards before I left! I thought they would be perfect masculine birthday cards to have in my stash, and they came together so quickly with this kit!

I started off by die cutting that darling Ho Ho Deer Circle from panels of white cardstock. I also die cut the nose and ears from black cardstock, and layered those over the top of the white layers - adding a bit of tape to the back of the deer's head to hold everything in place.

I also die cut those panels with Wonky Rectangles for a fun outline around the edges!

Next, I stamped the sentiments from the Woodland Whimsy stamp set in the kit - mostly in black ink, but the birthday wishes part I did with some Willow Dye ink.

I layered together different pattern papers from the papers in the kit to tuck behind the panels, and mounted them with foam adhesive. Final finishing touch was some Glossy Accents on the nose and eyes!

And there you go! Super simple and easy set of birthday cards! I love the rustic papers and elements in this kit, and can't wait to play more! I'll be sharing more soon!

Here is a closer look at the entire kit contents - you can find all the details HERE:

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Thanks for Your Kindness - Winnie and Walter Color Combo Challenge

Good morning! Stopping by with a little look at the card for the newest Color Combo Challenge I have posted on the Winnie and Walter Blog this morning! I had tons of fun creating this background with gouache paints - I hope you'll go check it out and play along with the new challenge - you can find all the info HERE!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Bright and Very Merry - on the Unity Stamp Company Blog

Good morning! I'm back with another card for my series on the Unity Stamp Company Blog this morning! I'm so excited to be featuring the amazing Kit of the Month on Monday's on the Unity Stamp Company Blog! Since the Kit of the Month was the first thing I purchased from Unity, and what got me hooked to begin with, they hold a special place in my heart, so I'm super excited about this opportunity to give these kits some love! You can check out all the details HERE for today's card!

Thanks for stopping by today - have a WONDERFUL day!!!

Pinkfresh Studio Ink Pad Release Blog Hop

Good morning! So excited today to be hopping along with Pinkfresh Studios as we celebrate the BRAND NEW Dye Ink Release! There are 48 COLORS of ink releasing today in a beautiful rainbow of colors - so bright and pretty and fun to play with! They are available in full size ink pads and cubes, and in color families with 4 colors perfect for layering in each family. You aren't going to want to miss a stop along the way - TONS of inspiration and prizes up for grabs! YAY! You also might want to pop over to the Pinkfresh Studio Facebook Page at 10 AM Pacific Time this morning - I will be going LIVE featuring the new inks, and there will be a gift certificate up for grabs as well!

I have a few simple cards to share with you today using the new inks - I have also used them on several past Facebook Live cards in the past few weeks, so you can check those out on previous blog posts here, or on the Pinkfresh Facebook Page!

First up, I have this simple little card using one of my favorite images from the Pretty Paisley stamp set. This entire set is beautiful - but there is something lovely about this little image that I love!

I used it with the Coordinating Dies, and paired it up with a pastel rainbow color scheme - Ballet Slipper, Peach Fuzz, Lemon Whip, Fresh Pear, and Ocean Breeze.

Can you just see how lovely those colors are?!?!?

Next up, I pulled out the lovely Lush Greenery stamp set, and used a bright and fresh color palette to put this one together!

I first took a strip of post it tape, tore the outer edges a bit, and then placed it down the center of a panel of white cardstock. I stamped the greenery from Lush Greenery over the edges of that using Mint, then Aquamarine Dye Ink.

I peeled off that mask, then stamped a sentiment from Through the Trees stamped with Persimmon Ink - a lovely warm fall orange color. I then did some partial die cutting with the Lush Greenery Coordinating Dies to create a single panel with a die cut edge on the top and bottom.

Finally, I did some ink blending on my cardbase using Lemon Whip to create a bit of a backdrop for my panel. Wrapped some jute string around and tied a bow, then mounted with foam adhesive on my ink blended background!

Finally - I couldn't resist going all out rainbow with these beautiful colors!

For this one I came back to that same lovely floral image from Pretty Paisley that I used on my first card, and stamped it on a horizontal white cardbase in alternating colors. I used Ballet Slipper, Passion Fruit, Clementine, Lemon Whip, Grassy Knoll, Summer Shower, and Lavender.

I finished off by stamped a sentiment over the top using Scripted Bold Sentiments 1 - in black so it would pop over those lovely colors.

Here is a peek at some ink swatches I created with the new inks, and some lovely Waffle Flower Swatching supplies - make sure and pop by Facebook Live to see a bit of how I put these together!

These next swatches are actually ink blending to show how the colors looked for that - so much fun! I'll be sharing a look at these as well on the Facebook Live!

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Make sure and leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Pinkfresh Studio! All winners will be chosen and posted on the Pinkfresh Blog on Monday, October 21, 2019 - so make sure and check back to see if you were a winner! Winners must check that page and claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here is the entire blog hop line-up so you don't miss a single stop - and product links are below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Critter Window Card - on the Evelin T Designs Blog

Good morning! Dropping by with a little sneak of of a fun and sparkly window card I have posted on the Evelin T Blog this morning! You can check out all the details HERE!

Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful day!