Alex Syberia Designs-August 2024 Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am delighted to be hopping along with my friends at Alex Syberia Designs to celebrate Alex’s latest release. You should have arrived here from Emelie, and your next stop is Keisha. You can also find the full list on the Alex Syberia Designs in case you get lost! I was inspired by a dress from my closet (not an uncommon inspiration spot for me!) that I recently purchased, featuring brilliant pink and red blooms with pale sage green foliage and accented by a lacy white pattern all on a stark black background. (You can check out the dress HERE if you’re interested!) I love finding floral dresses that have lots of different colors for our family photos, because that gives me lots of different color options to tie together with my four kids and husband’s outfits. And, bonus, they provide me with lots of artistic inspiration, as well!

I was so inspired by the colors and design elements on my dress that I was able to create three different cards using the new Alex Syberia release for August 2024! I am just sharing the two cards on the left today, saving the details of the third for a later post. 😉

Both of my projects today feature the absolutely gorgeous blooms of the new Andalusia Flower Dies. These blooms are so bold and gorgeous and are super easy to use. I examined my cardstock collection and pulled out several colors that I thought would work nicely together: Coral from Hero Arts, several different shades of pink, red, and green from the Concord & 9th colored cardstock, as well as some Simon Says Stamp glossy white cardstock and white glitter cardstock to accent the Hero Arts Pitch Black background.

Whenever I am working with lots of cardstock colors and intricate layered dies, I always like to die cut bunches of the different elements and spend some time assembling the images. This allows me to get a good feel for the size and start formulating a layout in my head. Because I wanted to replicate those beautiful pinks and reds from my dress, I kept the color palette fairly monochromatic, mixing and matching the different layers of the new Andalusia Flower Dies with similar colors and adhering all of the elements with liquid adhesive.

After I had die cut and assembled the floral elements, I also die cut the new Alhambra Arabesque die, a lacy patterned background cover plate die that creates the most luscious and intricate pattern. I die cut the background once from a full A2 panel of glossy white cardstock, then trimmed it into two separate pieces so that I could create two backgrounds reminiscent of the pattern on my dress. I adhered the lacy patterned piece with liquid adhesive on my black background, then added some strips of white glitter cardstock and some more glossy white cardstock. For the greeting, I die cut the large scale sentiment die from the new Good Day Quilted Rectangles dies from some more white glitter cardstock, then backed it with a vellum shadow layer. I arranged the flowers around the large sentiment die cut, popping them up with multiple layers of foam adhesive, then added some sentiment strips that I had previously created using the Celebrations Sentiments hot foil plate and Thin Stripes cover die. Finally, I added a few shimmering gems for even more luxurious sparkle!

My second project uses the “leftovers” from the first project, this time flipped to a portrait orientation to keep things interesting. I used a slightly thinner portion of the Alhambra Arabesque die, adding three accent strips cut from white glitter and glossy white cardstock. After I had my dramatic black and white background, I arranged the floral die cuts, leaving space for a greeting!

I die cu the “hello” from the new Thank You and Hello dies, again from some white glitter cardstock and backed with a vellum shadow layer. I tucked another silver foiled sentiment strip beneath the die cut sentiment. I think the vivid florals and intricate background makes it perfect for an anniversary card! Finally, I added a few gems to the flower centers and around the bouquet to add lots of extra sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I will have all of the details of the third card in the sneak peek image at the top of the post in a later post, so be sure to come back again! Now for some fun giveaway information:

Alex Syberia Designs is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 1 winner and a $15 gift card to 3 lucky winners. To play along, simply leave a comment on each stop of the hop.

Open internationally. All 4 winners will be drawn from the entrants that have played along with this Blog hop by midnight BST August 10th, 2024. Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs blog ‘Giveaway Winners’ page on August 11th, 2024.

Your next stop on the hop is Keisha. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!