Ellen Hutson | Essentials by Ellen March 4th Release | Reveal Week - Day 1

It's an exciting week with a new Essentials by Ellen Release available this Friday, March 4th! Today is Day 1 of Reveal Week and we're sneak peeking three new sets - Bear Ware Dress-Up 1, Bear Wear Dress-Up 2 and Bear Ware Dress-Up Sentiments.

I have a pair of cards using these new stamp sets and, if you're a fan of the Bear Ware Collection, you're in for a real treat! I started collecting all of the Bear Ware sets right after All Inside was released and I always feel giddy when I use these cuties. 

I love that there are now two big bears and two little bears that you can pair up with all of the accessories for the cutest, customized scenes. This first card pairs up the bear from All Inside with the globe from Bear Ware Grand Tour.

The new items include a pencil, laptop, stack of books and desk from Bear Wear Dress-Up 2. The sentiment is from Bear Ware Dress-Up Sentiments. The stars are from Home & Hearth, the patterned paper is from Honey Bee's Back to Basics and the gel pressed panel was created using Catherine Pooler's Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass and Garden Party ink pads.

After creating the gel pressed background on my second card using a different combination of Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass and Garden Party ink pads, I used the A2 Piercing Plate to add even more texture. To create the sentiment, I used a combination of old and new products, more of which you'll see on Days 2 and 4!

The little bear is from Bear Ware 4, the passport and suitcase are from Bear Ware Grand Tour and the airplane and taxi are from the new Bear Wear Dress-Up 2. I used the Classic Block Alpha and Classic Block Numbers & Symbols (yay, finally!!), plus the awesome new Casual Taglines Stamp Set which coordinates with the existing Nice of You Die. The letters were die cut from leftovers from the background on the first card and I added a blue enamel heart to finish.

All of the images on both cards were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink and clear embossed on watercolour cardstock. I used Catherine Pooler inks in Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass, Garden Party, Oh Boy!, Sand Castle, Over Coffee, Twilight and Black Jack to watercolour all of the images, using all of the colours on both cards, just in different proportions.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll see you again tomorrow for more sneak peeks!

Sources:

Ellen Hutson | Stitched Birthday Card

While I was making yesterday's card, I was also inspired to make this card since I still had the supplies out and the colour combo was begging to be used again. Today's card features the Essential Arches, Essential Arches for Stitching, A2 Piercing Plate 2 and Cake Stamp Set with coordinating dies.

I cut the A2 card base from Concord & 9th Dove cardstock. To create the panel, I cut 1.25" x 5" strips of Peacock, Sprout and Aqua Sky cardstock and taped them together. Then I ran the entire piece through my die cutting machine with the A2 Piercing Plate 2. My husband asked how I made the panel because he couldn't see the seams and was super impressed with the way it looked. ;)

I stamped the sentiment, then die cut both the Essential Arches and Essential Arches for Stitching around it, gauging where the cake would sit. I stitched around the sentiment using Dark Tin embroidery floss, using all six strands of the floss.

I used Aqua Sky, Dove and Peacock ink pads to fill in the cake. I also heat embossed over the Dove section with clear sparkle embossing powder. Before attaching all the layers, I recut the arch from silver glitter cardstock and glued it to the tri-coloured panel. I popped the pieces on with foam strips and embellished it with silver star sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sources: 

Ellen Hutson | Stitched Hexagon Card

I'm capping off National Embroidery Month with a simple card featuring one of my favourite colour combos! I used several Essentials by Ellen products including the Essential Hexagons, Essential Hexagons for Stitching, Besties and Home & Hearth.

I die cut the largest of the Essential Hexagons three times from 110lb white cardstock. I scored the one to form a foldable flap and glued it to another, forming the shaped card base. Then I used the five largest of the Essential Hexagons for Stitching and die cut the holes into the third piece.

I used five colours of embroidery thread from the Essentials by Ellen Floss - The Arctic Collection. The custom pack is currently out of stock but you can also purchase the colours individually and they are, from the inside-out, Apple Green, Very Light Turquoise, Turquoise, Tin and Dark Tin.

Starting with the inside (smallest) hexagon, I used a Size 3 Embroidery Needle and Apple Green floss. I used the back stitch on the entire card, working my way out towards the edge of the card.

On a separate piece of 110lb white cardstock, I stamped a sentiment from the Besties stamp set using Concord & 9th ink cubes that coordinate with the embroidery floss. I used washi tape to mask the different lines and stamp the lines using Sprout, Aqua Sky, Mushroom and Peacock ink cubes. I used one of the Essential Hexagons to cut out the sentiment and pop it on the stitched panel.

To embellish the card, I die cut the hearts from Home & Hearth from coordinating Sprout, Aqua Sky, Peacock cardstock and layered them on Silver Glitter cardstock for a bit of sparkly shadow. The final step was to attach the finished panel on to the card base with foam strips.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sources:

Spellbinders | February 2022 Card Kit of the Month + Sale

Today, I'm sharing more of the Spellbinders February 2022 Club Kits and you're going to love this month's Card Kit of the Month! It includes so many fabulous supplies, enough to make at least 10 cards. The kit comes with cardstock, a stamp set, dies, patterned paper, chipboard stickers, ephemera, card bases, envelopes, double-sided tape and foam tape.

Some of the patterned paper includes incredibly beautiful foiling details and I used a couple of these sheets on two of my cards. I used the mint, lavender and white cardstock to create card bases, then chose two pieces of patterned paper per card.

I used five of the dies to create the laurel, first two words of the sentiment and the small flowers on the first card. Then I used one of the chipboard frames, label sticker and butterfly ephemera to complete the card. You can click on any of the smaller photos to enlarge them for a closer look.

I chose the opposite layout for the patterned papers on my second card. Then I used a contrasting chipboard frame, followed by a cluster of three ephemera pieces and a sentiment sticker. This is my favourite of the three samples I made!

For my third card, I used one of my all-time favourite layouts. It's classic and works for practically any combination of products. I arranged the chipboard frame, squirrel and heart stickers, plus the ephemera to gauge positioning of the sentiments before stamping them. I love the combination of typewriter font and handwritten fonts. 

To finish, I die cut the little flowers from gold and white cardstock and attached them to the leafy ephemera for some sparkle and shine. The squirrel is so cute, isn't she? The problem with using these adorable stickers is that there's only one! I'll have to save this one for a very special person. LOL

Here's a list of kits I share each month and some of the value kits:

Small Die of the Month

Card Kit of the Month

Die Hard Value Club

Die & Stamp Addict

Glimmer 'n Cut Value Club

The Total Value Club

Spellbinders has a fabulous promotion on now through 11:59pm MST on February 28, 2022. Buy one item and get a second participating item of equal value or less free. The BOGO Die Cutting Sale is a great time to check off a few items from your wish list, which I'm sure is as long as mine!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sources: 

VIDEO | Taylored Expressions | Easter Tags feat. Spring Squad Die & Clear Combo

Hello, crafty friends! I hope you're all well. We're heading into a four-day weekend here and I'm looking forward to chilling out and getting a lot of crafty deadlines met. If you loved the Snow Squad Die & Clear Stamp Combo, you're sure to love the new Spring Squad Die & Clear Stamp Combo from the Easter Release by Taylored Expressions.

I love these adorable springtime animals and look forward to mixing and matching them with the previously-released bear, penguin and snowman, even if they might not normally hang out in real life. LOL

I wanted to create tags that open up for a message so I die cut two each of the largest Pierced Tag Stacklets 2 Dies from Mint Julep, Sprinkles and Guava cardstock. I partially die cut the top tag to make it shorter in a design that would allow the sentiment to show at the bottom.

I die cut the Tag Reinforcements from the same three colours and rotated them so that all three colours would be represented on each tag.

Using Cherry Pop, Guava, Peaches 'n Cream, Pineapple, Potato Chip, Sugar Cube and Sea Salt cardstock, I die cut all the parts for each of the animals and used corresponding Peaches 'n Cream, Pineapple and Sea Salt ink and Bitty Blender Brushes to add depth and dimension to some of the larger pieces.

Before popping up the animals with foam tape, I die cut the Build a Scene - Rolling Hills from silver glitter cardstock. Then I heat embossed the Mini Strips - Easter sentiments on Poppy Seed cardstock and die cut them with the Mini Strips - Asymmetrical Die.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Easter Release and take advantage of the class with purchase and other freebies!

Thanks so much for watching!

Sources: 

Spellbinders | February 2022 Small Die of the Month

It's time to share the Spellbinders February 2022 Club Kits and you're going to love this month's Small Die of the Month -- Oval Stitch & Border! It includes three stitching dies -- two ovals and one straight line -- as well as border dies for all the shapes, making them extremely versatile for all kinds of designs.

I used the same colour combination as my previous card -- Azalea, Adriatic and Lavender -- adding Pitch Black and gold glitter cardstock to the mix. I used the two largest of the Precision Layering A2 A Etched Dies to create the split base panel and the top, embroidered panel.

I used three of the Oval Stitch & Border dies, two on the Lavender panel and one on the gold glitter panel. The large oval was stitched using DMC Diamant Metallic Thread in Dark Gold. I popped the Lavender layer on to the gold glitter cardstock and Pitch Black layers with foam tape.

I die cut two sentiments, one from the Mini Everyday Sentiments Glimmer Hot Foil Plate & Die Set and one from the Mini Sincere Sentiments Glimmer Hot Foil Plate & Die Set. Both the sentiments were heat foiled with Polished Brass Glimmer Hot Foil on Azalea and Adriatic cardstock, then layered on Pitch Black cardstock. To finish, I embellished the card with leftover die cuts from my previous card featuring the Magnolia Bouquet Glimmer Hot Foil Plate & Die Set.

Here's a list of kits I share each month and some of the value kits:

Small Die of the Month

Card Kit of the Month

Die Hard Value Club

Die & Stamp Addict

Glimmer 'n Cut Value Club

The Total Value Club

Spellbinders has a fabulous promotion on now through 11:59pm MST on February 21, 2022. Get $25 off plus FREE U.S. shipping with your purchase of $100 or more. There's no better time to check off a few items from your wish list, which I'm sure is as long as mine!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sources: 

Spellbinders | I Adore You + Valentine's Week Promotion

Happy Valentine's Day, crafty friends! I adore you! I hope you're all having the best Monday ever, whether you're celebrating big, small or completely ignoring today, which is really all about consumerism. Instead of chocolates and flowers, let's talk stamps and dies! ;)

I had the chance to play with some new release products from the Yana's Blooms Collection and they are absolutely stunning! This card features the Magnolia Bouquet Glimmer Hot Foil Plate & Die Set. I heat foiled all but two of the flowers with Polished Brass Glimmer Hot Foil on Hero Arts Azalea, Adriatic and Lavender cardstock. 

I cut the card base and to panel from Essentials by Ellen white linen cardstock. The panel was cut using the new Precision Layering A2 A Etched Dies which are my new go-to dies for creating panels! I love that the largest one cuts the perfect A2 panel.

To finish the card, I heat foiled a sentiment from the Mini Everyday Sentiments Glimmer Hot Foil Plate & Die Set using Polished Brass Glimmer Hot Foil on white linen cardstock. I popped up all of the pieces on foam tape and adhered them to the panel.

Spellbinders has a fabulous promotion on now through 11:59pm MST on February 21, 2022. Get $25 off plus FREE U.S. shipping with your purchase of $100 or more. There's no better time to check off a few items from your wish list, which I'm sure is as long as mine!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sources: