NEW Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs Release!

Hi there! The new Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs Collection is now live, and it’s full of beautiful products for your fall, holiday, and regular crafting! I love trying out new color combinations, and I cannot get enough of the beautiful Midnight Green cardstock from Simon Says Stamp, so I paired it with some pinks, greens, and golds to create some festive holiday cards using the new products. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by running the new Floral Festoon Embossing Folder through my die cut machine with an A2 panel of Midnight Green cardstock. Using Altenew’s Antique Gold pigment inkpad, I lightly brushed the raised areas of the embossed background to help make the pattern stand out. I also gently swiped the inkpad around the edge of the panel. The rich gold ink stands out beautifully on the deep green cardstock! I also splattered some handmade gold watercolor on the background to create an artistic look for my card front.

Next, I die cut the Layered Warbler and Etched Berry Branch dies from some Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I used the Altenew Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolors to add lots of vibrant color to the die cut pieces, keeping the color combination bright and cool and allowing plenty of light highlights to contrast with the dark, saturated background. I put the bird together, adding the wing with some thin foam adhesive to help give it extra dimension.

I heat embossed a greeting from the new Painted Christmas Wreath stamp set using gold embossing powder on some more Midnight Green cardstock. I fussy cut the sentiment, then added a solid strip of the Midnight Green cardstock over the top of the embossed background using some thin foam pieces, then added the sentiment, watercolored bird, and sprigs of holiday greenery using thicker foam tape. The final step was to add a few Matte Gold Pearls to finish it off!

My second project uses the same gouache technique that I illustrated in this video. After stamping the new Painted Christmas Wreath using Hero Arts Dove White ink, I used white gouache mixed with liquid watercolors to paint over the top of the stamped image. The images are a bit simpler, and so it was very quick work to add some simple painting over the top of the white image! After the painting had dried, I splattered a bit more of the sparkling handmade gold watercolors for an artistic, festive feel.

For the greeting, I used the older Season’s Greetings die to cut a sparkling gold greeting from some gold glitter foam from Spellbinders. The foam makes it super simple to create a dimensional die cut greeting with just one pass through your die cut machine!

The final touch was to add a few Twinkling Tourmaline gems; the purple coordinates nicely with the purple berries, and the iridescent coating catches the green foliage beautifully!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I have one more to share with you, but I will save that one for later this week. You can check out the full Cozy Hugs Collection HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!