Today's the day! The new Essentials by Ellen Release is now available in the shop and we're celebrating with an Instagram Hop. The Design Ambassadors and our guest for this month, Jeannie Lieu, have prepared loads of inspiration for you. We're giving away two $25 gift certificates and all you need to do is hop along for your chance to win. While appreciated, comments left here do not qualify.
My card for this hop features the Starry Skies, Happy Trails and Happy Trails More Sayings stamp sets from this release. I created the frame for the scene using the Essential Arches Hot Foil Stamps on Concord & 9th's Stardust cardstock and used the Essential Arches Dies to cut out the window.
In the background, I trimmed a panel of Concord & 9th's Midnight cardstock and gold heat embossed the Starry Skies and a sentiment from Happy Trails More Sayings. Then I set those pieces aside while I stamped the other images.
I used Catherine Pooler's Green Tea and Spruce inks to ombre stamp the trees from Happy Trails. I used sponge daubers to blend the two colours for a seamless transition. I also used Cove Blue and Juniper Mist to ombre stamp the raccoon from Backyard Party. He's so cute holding that mug from Happy Trails More Sayings!
The tent, which is also from Happy Trails, was stamped with Concord & 9th's Stardust and Midnight inks. The mug from Happy Trails More Sayings was stamped with Mushroom and Ballet Slipper, and the steam was stamped with Dove ink. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE or at the bottom of this post.
Since I didn't create blog posts for the eight reveal week cards, I'll share them here. If you already saw them on Instagram and prefer not to see them again, you can skip to the bottom for the full supply list or click on the new release badge at the top of this post to shop the new products.
My first card for Day 1 of Reveal Week featured the Through the Trees Die and Starry Skies stamp set. I love the versatile tree die that you can use singularly or doubled up to create a view of the sky from below, literally through the trees!
I created a background from Concord & 9th's Midnight cardstock and white heat embossed the tiny stars across the top and bottom of the panel, as well as one of the sentiments from Starry Skies. I also splattered white and gold paint, as well as adhered mini gold star confetti to add shimmer and shine.
To finish, I used the Through the Trees Die to cut two sets of trees from both Hero Arts Kiwi cardstock and Concord & 9th's Evergreen cardstock, layering them for a full forest effect. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
My second card for Day 1 of Reveal Week featured the Essential Stars Hot Foil Stamps and I combined it with a sentiment from the Starry Skies stamp set. I heat foiled the largest star directly on the Ballet Slipper base panel. Then I heat foiled two more stars on Evergreen and Midnight cardstock.
To create variation, texture and visual interest, I left the Grapefruit star plain but I used the A2 Piercing Plate 2 on the Stardust star and included the border left by the Essential Stars Dies. I created movement for the stars, in keeping with the sentiment by randomly placing them so the eye follows them upward.
I white heat embossed the Starry Skies sentiment directly on the heat foiled Midnight star, then adhered all of them flat save the one with the sentiment. I also added mini gold star confetti for maximum impact. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
My first card for Day 2 of Reveal Week featured the Nature Walk stamp set with coordinating dies. If you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I love pairing the Abstract Mountain Die with the A2 Piercing Plate 2 and that's exactly what I did here to create the background for the stamped images.
To create the background, I used Concord & 9th's Ballet Slipper, Grapefruit and Stardust cardstock, Hero Arts Kiwi cardstock, then Concord & 9th's Evergreen and Midnight cardstock. The Ballet Slipper, Kiwi and Midnight layers were texturized using the A2 Piercing Plate 2.
The ferns were ombre stamped using Catherine Pooler's Green Tea, Spruce and Juniper Mist inks. The mushrooms were stamped with Concord & 9th's Mushroom ink, then filled in with Ballet Slipper, Grapefruit and Stardust. The sentiment was stamped with Mushroom ink. To add a bit of sparkle, I glued teeny tiny glitter on to some of the dots on the mushrooms. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
I die cut the Midnight panel using the Essential 4-Bar Rectangles. I also used the same die on Stardust cardstock to create the frame. I heat foiled the large Essential Stars Hot Foil Stamps directly on the Midnight panel, and also on Kiwi cardstock. Then I used the Essential Stars Dies to cut out the Evergreen border and heat foiled Kiwi star.
I gold heat embossed both the sentiment and mushrooms, then filled in the mushrooms with Stardust, Green Tea and Evergreen inks. The base panel features a sheet of the Modern Graphics Vol. 2 paper pack, which I absolutely love. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
My first card for Day 3 of Reveal Week featured the Mondo Rhododendron stamp set with coordinating dies. Since this flower has so much detail, I wanted to keep my card simple. I used Dawn Woleslagle's watercolour stamping technique with daubers and Catherine Pooler's water-reactive inks in It's a Girl, Apricot, Green Tea and Spruce to add colour to the stamp.
Once the multi-coloured image was stamped on watercolour paper, I used a wet brush to spread the colour. I love that this technique doesn't require much skill or precision. Once the flowers were done, I used a bit of Juniper Mist ink to add a blue background around the flowers.
I love this beautiful bird image and wanted to keep the rest of the card simple so I heat foiled one of the Essential Circles Hot Foil Stamps using Opal hot foil, then used the Essential Circles Dies to cut out the window. I stamped the sentiment directly on the white linen card base, then tucked a strip of striped paper from the Modern Graphics Vol. 2 paper pack.
In the window of the star, I once again used my favourite Abstract Mountain Die, cut from Concord & 9th's Ballet Slipper, Grapefruit and Stardust cardstock, then Hero Arts Kiwi and finally Concord & 9th's Evergreen. I gold heat embossed the sentiment directly on the die cut segments and love the way it looks!
The card base was cut from white linen cardstock and the top panel uses Concord & 9th's Midnight cardstock. The logs were stamped with Catherine Pooler's S'mores and Macchiato inks, and the marshmallow sticks were stamped with Macchiato. The marshmallows themselves and flame were stamped with Concord & 9th's Ballet Slipper, Grapefruit and Stardust inks. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
My second card for Day 4 of Reveal Week featured the Trippin' stamp set with coordinating dies, which was a gift with purchase during last year's Summer of Stamping. I also used a sentiment and steam accent from the Happy Trails More Sayings stamp set, and the Essential Stars Hot Foil Stamps.
The colours featured on this mini slimline include a white linen card base and oyster gray panel. The retro van was white heat embossed on Concord & 9th's Grapefruit cardstock and layered on Ballet Slipper for an extra pop of light colour.
The stars were heat foiled on Concord & 9th's Stardust, Evergreen and Midnight cardstock. I used the Essential Stars Dies to cut them out with varying borders and inserts for visual interest. All of the supplies for this card can be found HERE.
If you were inspired by any of my cards this week, I hope you'll shop using my affiliate links. Thanks so much!!
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