Anna Griffin 3D Hydrangeas - 2 ways to add gold detail

I think it's safe to say that Hydrangeas are quickly becoming my favorite flowers, both real and paper versions. I recently purchased the Hydrangea 3D dies from Anna Griffin. This die set will create lush, dimensional hydrangeas blooms. I have made three cards showcasing these pretty flowers to which I have added gold detail to accentuate the petals. 

There are two ways to apply the gold accents - hot foiling and inking up the dies with metallic gold ink before die cutting. The ink method is much like letter press. I have found that Delicata metallic gold pigment ink works very well for this technique.

For the pale pink hydrangeas on the card below, I have used the inking method. I lightly pounced the gold ink pad directly onto the dies before sending them through my Empress die cutting machine.  

The inking method is a bit more subtle but much quicker to do than hot foiling. It's a great way to make the details of the die cut hydrangea blooms stand out. When you're done, the pigment ink will wipe off the dies easily with a little rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. 

The next two cards have gold foil petal details. Since the Hydrangeas are 3D dies, you can run them through the Empress Gild with hot foil. This method creates a really stunning effect!

For this card, I have used the Luxury Hydrangea Blue Matte Foil card stock for the flower. I simply ran it through my Empress Gild to add the gold hot foil.

My last card shows how the gold foiling looks on plain pink card stock. It's equally as stunning.

I really can't decide if I like the pink or blue hydrangeas better. Both are so pretty! 

Either way, this Hydrangea die set will be getting lots of use this summer. 

Anna Griffin Summer House Cards

Hello everyone! I have something special to share today. I recently have become utterly obsessed with all things Anna Griffin... the gorgeous pattern paper, the detailed dies, and beautiful sticker embellishments. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest on her livestream, AGTV. Click here to check it out! (You'll see me hop on towards the end of the show) Anna sent me some of her newest Collection - Summer House. It's all beyond gorgeous and perfect for beach stories and summer celebrations. 

Here are some cards I made with the papers, embellishments, and dies. 

This first card was created with the star of the show... Summer House 3D Easel dies. This die set makes it so easy to create a fun house shaped easel card. I also used the Summer House Cardstock and Embellishments. If you watch the show, you'll see everything that's included in this collection along with how to assemble the house easel card. 

These next two cards were also made with the Summer House Card stock and Embellishments. I just love the Hydrangea die cuts in this collection. There are bunches of them included in the bundle so you can add several to a card without fear of running out.

To die cut the fancy frame, I used the Birthday Present Scroll 3D Concentric Frame dies for the gold one pictured above. The Harlequin Bow dies were used for the ivory one pictured below

We can't forget about the men in our lives so I've made cards for them too! Included in the Summer House Embellishments Collection are lots of sailboat die cuts along with sea shells, anchors, and even a gold foiled compass. There are some great sentiment stickers included as well. 

The Schooner Easel dies make a really fun sailboat shaped card. The assembly may look complicated but the die set makes it easy to create such a unique card for your favorite sailor or boating enthusiast. 

During the livestream I showed a little mini album I made with the Summer House dies. I will share photos and lots more details about that in a separated post. So stay tuned and thanks for stopping by today!  

Hello Bluebird Ruffle Heart Easel Cards

Hi everyone! This post is for my Hello Bluebird fans out there... there's a new release available and it's Valentine's Day themed. There is also a Spring Clearance sale going on too! Click here to go to the Hello Bluebird Shop.

Today I'm sharing a tutorial how to use the new Ruffle Heart dies and some of the new stamp sets to make heart shaped easel cards. 

These cards lay flat just like a typical folded card, however they display like an easel when you open them as shown in the photo below.

Here's how to make the easel card base....

Now with the card base and front panel adhered, you can embellish the outside and inside however you'd like. For the inside, be sure to pop up whatever you add just a bit so it will be tall enough to prop up the card front when displayed. 

For this card, I used Crafted with Love stamp set for the images. The "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment comes from Kissing Booth. The "XO" die is included in the Heart Medley die set. The Word Bubbles die set is an oldie but goodie and I use this one often when I need something to stamp greeting onto. 

For this next card, I used the sweet images from Bee Mine. The patterned paper I used for both cards is from Carta Bella's Here Comes Easter collection. Even though it's mostly Easter prints, I found that the simple patterns and florals work well for anything. 

Again make sure your add something with height to the inside of your easel cards. The smaller heart dies in the Ruffled Heart set are the perfect addition on the inside of these. I used foam tape to adhere them which gives them a little dimension and height to prop the bottom edge of card front up. 

These will lay perfectly flat when closed and fit into an A2 size envelope for mailing. Fair warning...these are addictive to make and just a fun twist on a card design. I think you'll find yourself wanting to make all your cards into shaped easels now. I know I do!

Waffle Flower December Release

The Love You More Release from Waffle Flower is now available in their shop. This release is all about the basics with hearts and roses for Valentine’s Day, in addition to sentiments that help you send lots of love. Click here to see it!

I'm sharing a card created with some of my favorite products from the release. 

Here's a linked list of all the new products I've used to create this card:

• Rose Bouquet die-n-stencil set - for the large cluster of roses
• Shape of My Heart stamp set - for the stamped sentiments on the hearts
• Shape of My Heart die - for the die cut heart shapes **December freebie**
• With Love Word die 
• Dashed Lattice Texture die - for the texture on the background

The graphic below has info on how to get the gift with purchase this month. It's the Shape of My Heart die which creates a cute little 2D heart shape. 

PoppyStamps Challenge - Pockets Please!

Hi everyone! I'm guest designing with Poppystamps this month for their December Poppy challenge - PSC#133 Pockets Please! As the name suggests, this month's challenge is to incorporate a pocket of some kind on a project.  

Below are the instructions I've copy and pasted from the Poppystamps blog:

"Want to play? The rules are simple – just create a project following the theme, use at least one Poppystamps image or die, and link it up here. The design we love best will receive our winner badge to proudly display on their blog, and one lucky random winner will receive a prize. You don’t have to have a blog to play.  You can link to any online gallery. In fairness to other players, we reserve the right to remove entries that do not use at least one Poppystamps image. We ask that you link a maximum of  3 entries to each challenge. You are welcome to link your design to other challenges. Grab our badge to post on your blog post or sidebar!"

Here's the project I made....

I have made an A2 size card and the background is actually the pocket. This was so easy to do! I simply used a panel of pattern paper that I trimmed slightly smaller than my A2 card base. I applied adhesive to the sides and bottom of this panel leaving the top open. The notch at the top of the panel was created with a 2” circle punch. I made a tag that slides right behind the background panel. The tag is where you can add a gift card or money or even a secret message. 

Below is a list of all the Poppystamps dies used to create this card:

• Nordic Forest Gnome 
• Nordic Swirl Tree 
• Merry Christmas Cheerful Script
• Scallop Pinpoint Tags

Be sure to check out the Poppystamps blog where you'll find more pocket inspiration to help get you started with the challenge. 

Thanks for visiting today and happy crafting!