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!