Love Love Love - Pretty Pink Posh January Release Instagram Hop

Good morning! I'm excited today to be hopping along for Day 4 of a Four day Instagram Release Hop to celebrate the BRAND NEW January Release from Pretty Pink Posh! This release is full of hearts, love, and Valentines Day of course! You can head over to Instagram to join that hop, and enter to win today's giveaways! I thought I would share more details here on my blog on my card - since it is always tough to put enough info in an Instagram post! 

I love the colors on these cards! For both cards, I featured pattern paper from the Carta Bella 6x6 Fruit Stand paper pad. On the top card, I used it to die cut the Fringe Heart Die layers, and on the second card, I used them to die cut the Love Script word die 4 times. For the background on the first card, I used the XOXO Pierced Plate die - I love the texture that gives! The second die uses the Diamond Grid stencil with a mix of Bubblegum, Seafoam, Zest, and Melon inks blended on it. I then used the new Doily Borders die to cut both sides of a panel of white cardstock to adhere over the top. Added some white hemp twine to the top, and then added the love words overlapping on the bottom. For all of the "love" word, I die cut a couple extra times from plain white cardstock to layer up for more dimension. On the first card, I added some Tonic Glitter Drops in Blizzard over the entire word for extra sparkle! Finished off with some Ivory Pearls on both cards for an elegant finishing touch! Here are more photos of these cards:

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!!!

Hugs Cuz I Love You - Simon Says Stamp To Be Loved Blog Hop Day 2

Good morning! Excited today to be joining in on Day 2 of an incredible blog hop to celebrate the BRAND NEW To Be Loved Release from Simon Says Stamp! Make sure and check out all the inspiration with this new release AND link up your creations as you receive your orders HERE in the Gallery created just for this release! And check out the graphic below to receive a FREE Circle Hoops embossing folder with any $50 purchase from the To Love OR To Be Loved Release products (embossing folder will be automatically added to card!)  through January 12, 2024 - while supplies last (offer ends at 11:59 PM EDT)!!!

I created a couple of watercolor cards today using the lovely new Hugs to You stamp set! I loved all the pretty florals, and thought they would be fun to watercolor. 

I left the words themselves plain, and colored the flowers, using two slightly different color schemes and my Zig Kuretake watercolors. I then used the same colors as for the flowers and leaves, and a super light watered down bit of those colors to create a light background color wash. I love the soft magical halo it gives! I added secondary sentiments from the stamp set, stamped in black and trimmed into thin strips, and popped up with foam strips. I matted the watercolor piece on coordinating cardstock in Lemon Chiffon and Cotton Candy, then mounted on white cardbases. Finished off with a few Opal Gems, and some Tonic Glitter Drops in Blizzard to accent the plain part of the letters! Here are more photos of these cards:

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Simon Says will be giving a $25 gift certificate to their online store at each stop along the hop - so make sure and leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win! Winners will be announced next Wednesday on the Simon Says Stamp Blog.

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Nina-Marie Trapani
Laura Bassen
Nichol Spohr
Suzy Plantamura
Mindy Eggen
Heather Hoffman
Lisa Addesa
Lea Lawson
Lorraine Aquilina
Karin Åkesdotter
Nicki Baxley
Anne Fiene
Barb Engler
Maggie Haas

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!!!

Shimmer Powders and Die Cutting - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! Dropping by today with a couple more cards with another attempt at using shimmer powders from Tonic! I paired them up with some Simon Says Stamp dies - and combined them with a few other items from the Tonic Studios spring release that I was sent as part of my work with Simon Says Stamp with no obligation to use or share - I did an Instagram Live recently as I opened and looked through all the fun items in the box. But it was very easy to use and love these fun products, so I'm excited to share these two additional cards here today!

For these cards, I used two different colors of shimmer powders - Atlantis Burst and Violet Brocade, and simply created bold backgrounds on watercolor paper as I was playing. I didn't really like the way they turned out at first - just felt like I had added too much of the shimmer power. But then...I decided to try and die cut them - and boy am I glad! They were perfect for this! I die cut them with Simon Says Stamp's Lotus Frame Wafer Die, punched the pieces out of each one, and then reversed the pieces so that I paired the negative with the positive and the other way around. I added some plain cardstock and adhesive to the back to fit them all into place.

Next, I wanted to coordinate the sentiments, so I die cut both layers of the Big Friend word die from white cardstock, and had some fun with embossing powders! I basically smooshed the narrower version of the word in embossing ink, then sprinkled on Tonic Crushed Mulberry Embossing Powder, held it with my tweezers, and heat set. This produced a super pretty and metallic effect!

Instead of adding the dot to the "i" in friend (which would have been tough to heat emboss I imagine!) - I added a dot of Pink Orchid Crystal Nuvo Drops - perfect and easy!

For this second version, I did the same thing, but this time used Tonic Ocean Sparkle Embossing Powder, which gave a lovely and glittery effect! I added the dot on the "i" with Calming Aqua Crystal Nuvo Drops.

For both cards I added on a simple sentiment from Messages for Everyday, heat embossed in white on a thin strip of black cardstock. 

It may be a bit difficult to see in the photos - but I also added some Tonic Crystal Glaze to each of the centers of the floral images on the Lotus Frame Die - it was the perfect touch to help them just POP a bit more! LOVE the shine that you get from that! I finished off by mounting everything on cardbases created with Simon Says Stamp White Woodgrain Cardstock for a bit more texture.

Have you tried shimmer powders yet? Would love to hear if you've already tried them or would love to eventually!

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!!!