Simon Hurley create. | Emboss Resist Ink Blending

I am returning to a go to technique and layout for today's card. I find this is the BEST way to jump start creativity when I'm in a rut and emboss resist ink blending with Simon Hurley create. NEVER disappoints! 

I created an easy heat embossed background with the gorgeous Water Marble Background Stamp and blended over it with Prom Queen, Crown Me, and Clear Skies Dye Inks. 

I stamped the flowers, leaves, and sentiment from the Sentimental Flowers Stamp Set and fussy cut them before adding them to the front of the card with foam tape. And that's all! 

Pink & Main | Berry Sweet Happy Mail

I have been sending a lot of "miss you" cards, but this one is by far the sweetest! I used new Pink & Main goodies to make this cute card! 

Recently I have rediscovered my love for embossing folders and Pink & Main has a bunch of new designs! I used a piece of heavy white cardstock and ran it through my die cutting machine with the Happy Mail Embossing Folder. I prefer to use heavy cardstock ( or even watercolor paper ) with embossing folders because it gives SO much dimension! I wanted my background to really pop, so I took a bright pink ink pad and lightly rubbed it across my raised design. Some of the ink got in between the envelopes, but that's okay! I love the look! 

I stamped my images from the Berry Sweet Stamp Set with a black pigment ink and heat set them with clear powder. I planned to color my images with Karin watercolor pens and the heat embossed images create raised edges so that it's easier for me to color. Once they were colored I cut them out with the coordinating Berry Sweet Dies. 

The sentiments in the Berry Sweet Stamp Set are perfectly spaced so you can create a berry punny sentiment. How fun, right! I stamped out "Miss you so .... much" with black ink and the "berry" with the same pink ink I used on the background. I used a die from the Large Sentiment Strip Die Set to cut out the longer sentiment and fussy cut the word "berry" so that I could pop it up on top of the sentiment strip. 

I added all of my images and sentiments onto my embossed background with foam tape and I'm ready to pop this card in the mail! Thanks for joining me! 

Pink & Main | Hey Bunny Spring Card

We are just two days away from the new Pink & Main release! I have a card packed with new goodies to show you today, so let's jump right in! 

Let's start with the pretty background! I used patterned papers from the new Happy 6x6 Paper Pack. I picked out two of the gorgeous patterns and cut them down to 3.25" wide. I used the full 6" in length for the striped piece and the remaining 2.25" from the blue patterned piece. I cut a strip of white cardstock to be 1/2" wide to cover the seam where the patterns meet. I decided to frame up my background with the pretty reverse scalloped shape in the Blessings Slimline Die Set ( previously released ). 

Don't you just love this adorable bunny?! He's from the new Love Ewe Stamp Set - and he's got some friends, too! I stamped the image with black ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. This is a trick I like to do when I color with watercolors - it helps to hold in the color. I colored the image with just two colors of Karin Markers and cut it with the coordinating Love Ewe Dies. 

The Love Ewe Stamp Set has some adorable sentiments, but I decided to use another new stamp set on my card. I stamped the "hey" from the Big Vertical Greetings Stamp Set and cut it out with the Large Sentiment Strip Dies. I love how it fits right along the legs of the bunny! I finished off the card with a few glittered enamel dots from the new Happy Mail Enamel Dots Set. Be sure to visit the shop on February 20th to see shop the whole release! See you then! 

Miss Ink Stamps | Dazzle Dust Glitter Paper

I love making my own glitter paper - that way I have just the color I need! The Dazzle Dust from Miss Ink Stamps shifts color and is super sparkly! What else could I need?!

If you know me then you know I fall head over heels for something sparkly! I love the way the Dazzle Dust shifts colors. It's stunning in real life! I covered a piece of cardstock with double sided adhesive and die cut a circle, removed the backer, and sprinkled on some Moody Blues Dazzle Dust. I burnished the Dazzle Dust into the double sided adhesive so that it wouldn't rub off and BOOM! Custom colored glitter paper that is even BETTER than regular glitter paper because of that gorgeous shift! 

I added some color to the background with a gradient of Distress Oxide Inks and the Vintage Keyhole Stencil. I love the monochromatic feel!

I stamped and colored the image from the Dodo Stamp Set and trimmed it out with my scissors. I added the dodo and the sentiment to the Dazzle Dust circle with foam tape and added the circle to the left edge of the card, trimming off the excess. That's all! Thanks for joining me!

LDRS Creative | Heat Embossing Through a Stencil

Helloooo! I am sharing a fun heat embossing through a stencil technique using one of my most favorite stencils from LDRS Creative! 

I'm always looking for different ways to stretch my supplies and get creative with stencils. Heat embossing is almost magical and I love to use heat embossing over a stencil! I used my anti static powder tool and then placed the School of Fish Stencil over my cardstock and taped it in place. Usually I am a big fan of temporary spray adhesive, but because I used my anti static powder tool the spray wouldn't have stuck, so I went with masking tape for this technique. I have a blending brush that is specifically designated for embossing ink - you definitely need a separate brush for this technique. I blended LDRS Creative Watermark Emboss Ink over the School of Fish Stencil and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder. 

You'll notice that I don't have "clean" lines - that's because the Watermark Embossing Ink is a thick ink and seeped under the stencil a bit. I recommend using a pouncing method of blending rather than a circular motion. Now let's add some color! I blended Plum Crazy, Tropical Sea, and Key Lime Pie Hybrid Inks onto the background and then used a towel to buff the excess ink off of the embossed stenciling. I love how the colors look just like the ocean! 

I finished off the card with a couple of sentiment strips from the Anytime Sentiment Stack and a scattering of silver gems. I hope you try heat embossing through your LDRS Creative stencils! 

ThermOWeb | Spring Card with Baskets of Fun Toner Sheets

Oh my goodness! I am having SO much fun with the new Basket of Fun Toner Sheets from ThermOWeb! Just check out those shiny bunnies! 

If you know me then you know how I love a great clean and simple card with a pop of flair! The Deco Foil Toner Sheets and any of the Therm O Web Foils are currently my BEST FRIENDS! This card came together easily and I can even make a bunch to give to my friends and family to welcome Spring! I like the look of portrait style cards, so I pieced together two of the bunny backgrounds from the Basket of Fun Toner Sheets, but you could absolutely make this card a landscape card and just use one. I heated up my laminator until it was good and hot, then I cut a piece of Teal Deco Foil Transfer Sheet to be slightly larger than my background. When you're foiling you want to be sure that the back of the foil touches your "medium". In this case I made sure the teal color was face up and the back of the foil ( the silver side ) made contact with the toner on the sheet. 

I trimmed down my pretty Teal Foiled backgrounds and adhered them to an A2 card base with ThermOWeb Memory Tape Runner XL. I needed something to cover the "seam" where I pieced the two Toner Card Fronts together, so I cut some pink cardstock that paired nicely with the Teal Deco Foiled background. Now it's time for something cute to go on top of the card! I stamped and colored the adorable bunny from the LDRS Creative 24 Carrot Stamp Set and popped it up with iCraft 3D Foam Squares. 

I hope you've enjoyed this very "hoppy" card! Thanks so much for joining me! 

LDRS Creative | Paper Pieced Cards

I am HOOKED on patterned papers lately! I just can't get enough! I used one of my favorite paper packs from LDRS Creative to make an easy paper pieced design! 

I made a quick video for you detailing exactly how I made my patterned paper cuts and pieced the squares together. I am terrible at describing things, but I am going to do my absolute best! Grab your favorite LDRS patterned papers and a sentiment die and let's get started! 

I picked the Country Lane 6x6 Patterned Paper Pack for these cards. I love the colors and the patterns and honesty I was just drawn to this particular pack! I picked out 8 different patterns making sure to vary the patterns and colors and trimmed out 2 x 2 inch squares. I turned the squares 45 degrees so that it looked like a diamond and cut from one corner to the other creating two large triangles. Then I lined up each of those triangles and cut them exactly in half so that I created 4 small triangles out of one square. Rinse and repeat 8 times until all of the squares are in triangle form! 

I cut eight 2 x 2 inch squares from scrap paper and arranged four triangles onto each one creating multi patterned squares! I made sure that I didn't have the same color twice on each square and then foam mounted the squares onto a 4.75 x 4.75 inch square card base. I made enough that I could get two cards out of this paper piecing technique! 

I cut out the Miss You Word Die from black cardstock and foam mounted the sentiment onto the center of the card. I used a liquid glitter to cover the letters for a bit of shine and to make them stand out a bit. I hope you've enjoyed this fast technique! You can recreate these cards with any patterned paper under the moon!