better press

Pinkfresh Studio “Delights & Doodles” Release Blog Hop

June 13, 2025

Hi friends! I am hopping along with my friends at Pinkfresh Studio today to share their latest release, called Delights and Doodles! This new release is a bit different from their typical style, featuring whimsical critters, treats, and some sweet accessories created with stamps, stencils, and dies! I have a pair of cards to share with you today featuring these new goodies, so let’s get started with the details.

For both of these projects, I kept the color palette sherbet-themed, featuring Lemon Whip, Doe, Warm Buff, Cherry Blossom, and Peach Fuzz inks. The addition of the light brown helps balance out the sunshiny pastel colors! Both projects feature the darling sweet shop from the new Patisserie Pals, which I stamped with Doe ink for the outline, then stamped directly over the top with embossing ink, then added Iridescent Lavender embossing powder to add an ethereal shimmer to the images. I used Cherry Blossom and Warm Buff inks with the coordinating stencils to create a pastel sweet shop, complete with striped awning! The large size of this finished image meant that I could easily cut the image in half to use it for not one, but two projects!

For my first project, I decided to pair the sweet and whimsical images from Patisserie Pals with some florals and a frame to create a little scene. I die cut the kraft frame from Blanket Stitched Octagons, then popped it up with thin foam adhesive squares on a white A2 card front. I tucked one half of the sweet shop beneath the frame, allowing it to peek out, then added some sweets and the adorable little bunny with foam and liquid adhesive.

To adorn the sweet shop and create an almost Parisian vibe for this neighborhood patisserie shop, I used Warm Buff and Cherry Blossom inks with the Cherry Blossoms stencils, then used the coordinating dies to die cut the foliage and blossoms, adhering the pieces with liquid adhesive. I also die cut a branch from some more kraft cardstock, then added all of the blooms and foliage with liquid adhesive. To create a fuller floral corner with this single Cherry Blossom branch, I used my scissors to snip some of the twigs off and create a custom arrangement in the corner of the octagonal frame. For the greeting, I stamped a sentiment from Patisserie Pals using Doe ink, then added the same Iridescent Lavender embossing powder over the top to create a unique sentiment that stands out beautifully amongst the pastel imagery in the background!

For my second card, I created a sweet ice cream shop using some of the leftovers from the first project! One of my favorite things about Pinkfresh Studio product suites is how many of them utilize the “one and done” idea: all of the images are connected on the same stencil or stamp or die, maximizing your time at your craft desk to create tons of images in one fell swoop! Because the Patisserie Pals stamp and stencil suite created so many images, I was able to use some of the images on the previous project and still have leftovers to use for this project! I also stamped images from the Ice Cream Truck product suite and used the same shades of ink with their coordinating stencils, as well as the Sweet Scoops stencils and dies. I used all of these sweet critters with the leftover patisserie shop (now an ice cream shop!) to create a little scene!

Before I began arranging all of my images, I used the new Petal Grid Press Plate with Cherry Blossom ink to create a lightly textured and patterned background. This delicate pattern is so sweet and fairly neutral; it adds interest behind my scene without overwhelming it. I also used the leftover Blanket Stitched Octagons die cuts to create a Kraft frame to ground my images and make the focal point a bit more central to the card front. I popped up the frame, then arranged the stamped and stenciled die cuts, adhering them with a mixture of liquid and foam adhesives. Finally, I added another greeting from Patisserie Pals, stamped again with Doe ink and embossed with Iridescent Lavender embossing powder.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now for some fun giveaway information:

Pinkfresh Studio will give away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog and YouTube channel. They will also be giving away TEN $50 gift cards along the hop. The winners will be randomly selected from the comments, so the more comments you leave along the way, the more chances you have to win!
Winners will be selected and posted on June 20, 2025, on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page and claim their prize within two weeks.

Here’s the full hop list in case you get lost:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Pinkfresh Studio “Sunshine & Smiles” Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

May 20, 2025

Hi friends! I am hopping along with Pinkfresh Studio today to share inspiration using their gorgeous new Sunshine and Smiles release that just went live! You can see the full hop list at the bottom of this post. I have a pair of lovely and soft springtime cards using several of the new press plates and dies. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

For both of my projects, I kept the color palette light and airy, pulling Ballet Slipper, Sparkling Rose, Soft Lilac, Mint, Meadow, Emerald City, and Slumber Pinkfresh Studio inks. These colors work so beautifully together, and I am so pleased with the results of this pairing with these new press plates, stencils, and dies!

For my first project, I thought I would take advantage of the generous size on the new Timeless Tulips Press Plate, Stamps, and Dies product suite to create an A7 birthday card! I used Meadow Ink to press the Timeless Tulips image once into a panel of A7 Porcelain Better Press cardstock and again on a separate panel of cardstock, then used the 1″ Blending Brushes and the coordinating stencils with Ballet Slipper, Sparkling Rose, Soft Lilac, Mint, Meadow, and Emerald City inks. I think this image is so beautiful and graceful! After I had stenciled both images, I used the coordinating Timeless Tulips die to cut one of the images out. I also used Lilac and Slumber inks to create a lovely and soft blended background behind my pastel tulips, splattering the entire blended panel with some shimmering handmade watercolors.

Once I had finished blending the images, I used those same shimmering watercolors to add some sparkling highlights to the edges of the tulips and the center of each leaf. It’s such a pretty effect, but so difficult to capture in a photo!

For the greeting, I used a sweet sentiment from the new Sunshine and Smiles stamps and die product suite, stamping it on white cardstock using Emerald City ink, then again with embossing ink and adding Iridescent Lavender Embossing Powder over the top to add extra gorgeous shimmer to the sentiment. I die cut the greeting with it’s coordinating die, then used the Fancy Edgers dies to die cut a lacy strip of Pinkfresh Studio Glacier glitter cardstock. I adhered this lacy edge to a strip of Simon Says Stamp Vellum, which reminds me of a lovely handkerchief, and mounted the sentiment die cut in the center of the “hankie” with some foam adhesive squares. I adhered the die cuts to the card front with more dimensional foam adhesive squares. The vellum behind the sentiment helps soften the images on the card front so that the sentiment can pop a bit better, while also not adding any additional visual weight to the card front! I finished the card off with some Iridescent Bubble Drops and a delicate white silk bow for added texture.

For my second project, I kept the color palette similarly soft and feminine, pairing the soft Blush cardstock from Spellbinders with Simon Says Stamp Mint cardstock to create a vintage jadeite effect. I began by ink blending the bottles from the Keepsakes of the Heart product suite onto the Mint cardstock using Mint and Meadow inks. I also stamped the blooms and foliage sprigs from the coordinating stamp set onto some more Mint cardstock using Meadow ink, then used the coordinating stencils to blend Ballet Slipper, Sparkling Rose, Mint, Meadow on the images. The tone-on-tone blending on the minty cardstock reminds me so much of my vintage jadeite pieces! I used the coordinating dies to die cut the finished stenciled images.

For the background, I used the trick that I demonstrate in THIS video to impress the new Garden Medley press plate into Spellbinders Blush cardstock with Ballet Slipper ink. I love the spectacularly detailed texture that this adds to my card front! I die cut one of the new Stitched Rectangle Dies from some Simon Says Stamp Vellum and used that piece to ground my floral vase arrangement on the textured background. I die cut “love” from the now-discontinued Julieta Alpha dies from some Pinkfresh Studio Glacier glitter cardstock (I have linked some alphabet dies that would work well in place of the older Julieta set!) and arranged them in the corner, tucking them amongst the foliage and flowers with liquid and foam adhesive. I added a greeting from the Keepsakes of the Heart stamp set, stamping it on some deep emerald green cardstock using white pigment ink, then adding more iridescent lavender embossing powder to add some extra shimmer. I adhered the sentiment on the card front with a double layer of foam adhesive, then added a few Blossom Glitter Drops for added shimmer and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now for some fun giveaway information:

To celebrate this release, Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog and YouTube channel. They will also give away TEN $50 gift cards along the hop. The winners will be selected from the comments, at random. The more comments you leave along the hop, the more chances you have to win! Winners will be selected and posted on May 28, 2025, on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page and claim their prize within two weeks

Here’s the full hop list:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Products used:

VIDEO: Air Mail Inspired Belated Birthday with Pinkfresh Studio!

May 15, 2025

Hi friends! I am up on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel today with this fun “air mail-inspired” project featuring the new Classic Correspondence product suite from Pinkfresh Studio! You can watch the full video below or HERE on YouTube!

If you can’t watch the video or prefer written instructions, I will give a brief rundown of how I created this card!

To begin, I inked up the Diagonal Plaid Press Plate with some Metallic Bronze Ink from Lisa Horton Crafts. This pigment ink works beautifully with press plates and adds a beautiful, subtle shimmer to your projects! While I had my Better Press System out, I used Warm Buff ink from Pinkfresh Studio to press the Classic Correspondence Press Plate onto some Better Press cardstock, then used the trick that I learned from Carissa Wiley to press the gorgeous Floral Square Frame Press Plate into some pearlescent pink cardstock without inking the plate, creating beautiful and intricate texture on the coated cardstock. (I demonstrate this technique in several videos on the Pinkfresh YouTube Channel if you would like to see it in action!)

After I had pressed all of the images, I used the Classic Correspondence Stencils with Cherry Blossom, Peony, Begonia, and Warm Buff inks from Pinkfresh Studio and the fabulous Pinkfresh Studio 1″ Blending Brushes to add a warm, feminine color palette to the mail images from Classic Correspondence. I used the fabulous one-pass die to die cut all of the stenciled images, then die cut the detailed Floral Square Frame image. I also die cut the large Postage Edge Dies from Pinkfresh Studio’s Glitter Champagne cardstock, then trimmed the long edges off of the die cut to use as an accent for my colored cardstock panel. I adhered the glittery postage accent strips so that they were peeking out from around my Tutu pink cardstock piece, adding another touch of sparkle and helping to break up the contrasting patterns on the card.

For the greeting, I used the same Bronze ink to stamp the sentiments from the Classic Correspondence Stamp set, then added clear embossing powder over the top to make the sentiments even more crisp, helping highlight them amongst the busy background. After trimming and die cutting the sentiment components, I used liquid and foam adhesive to adhere al of the elements to the card front, finally adding a few Ballet Slippers Jewels to help fill in some of the bare spots on my card design.

Well, that’s all for my project today! It’s always fun for me to mix and match new and old products, and the goodies from Pinkfresh work so well together even if they’re not necessarily designed to coordinate. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Supplies used (affiliate links used at no extra cost to you-thank you for helping to support my work!):

Going LIVE With Pinkfresh Studio!

May 6, 2025

Hi friends! Last week, I went live with my friends at Pinkfresh Studio to create a super girly, pink and purple, sparkling Mother’s Day card using a few of my favorite techniques with Press Plates. You can watch the whole video below or HERE on YouTube:

Here’s a close-up of the project that I made during the video!

Here are the supplies that I used during the live demonstration:

I also went live with Pinkfresh Studio earlier today, on May 6! I used some more fun techniques with Press Plates, ink blending, and lots of sparkle to create this color saturated, monochromatic homage to turquoise.

And here are the products used in today’s live:

These live demos are so much fun; it’s so enjoyable to be able to chat with you all and answer questions in real-time (or almost real-time, ha!). I am hoping to be able to do more lives starting in the fall when my little boys are starting kindergarten!

Reminder: each time Pinkfresh Studio has a live demonstration, they generously give away two $50 gift certificates to the people commenting during the lives, then give away another two $50 gift certificates for those who watch the replay and leave a comment! Be sure to leave your comments to enter to win, even if you’re watching the replay!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

VIDEO: No-Ink Press Plates with Pinkfresh Studio!

April 24, 2025

Hi friends! I am on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel today with this pretty “blurple” project inspired by the colors of one of my favorite flowers: hydrangeas! You can watch the video HERE on YouTube or below:

Below, I’ve included a quick written rundown of my techniques!

To begin, I used the Pinkfresh Studio 1″ Blending Brushes to blend a superb combination of blue and purple inks in an ombré, creating a soft “blurple” blended background. From light to dark, I blended: Sheer Freesia, Hydrangea, Blue Jay, and Sapphire inks on my plain white A2 panel of cardstock. After I had blended this pretty background, I adhered it with light-tack tape to a panel of thick scrap cardstock, creating a bit of a cushion behind this regular-weight cardstock so that I could use it with the Leafy Lattice Press Plate! Carissa Wiley shared this trick awhile ago, and I have been absolutely obsessed with it since then. After adhering the blended panel to the scrap Bristol cardstock, I used Calico White ink to press the Leafy Lattice Press Plate into my blended background. The extra cushion allows that impression to be nice and crisp in the lighter-weight cardstock, and the white pigment ink creates a subtle pattern and texture.

Once the background had been completed, I turned to the focal point. I have been having fun experimenting with textures on coated cardstocks lately, pairing pearlescent cardstocks with embossing folders, and today I used the Bluebonnet Bliss Press Plate and dies with some stunning periwinkle mirror cardstock that I found in my stash. (I make it my mission to collect interesting “specialty” cardstocks and sometimes have the problem of wanting to hoard them for a long time, so then I forget where I found them!) I impressed the beautifully detailed Bluebonnet Bliss Press Plate into this foil cardstock without inking up the plates, allowing the almost etched impression to be the focal point for my card! I impressed the image twice and then die cut the images out with their coordinating dies.

To accent the background and further enhance the feminine feel of this card, I die cut some Midnight Navy Glitter Cardstock from Pinkfresh Studio using the Fancy Edgers dies, backing the glittery, lacy strip with some pearlescent white cardstock for added shimmer and contrast. I placed the strip on the blended and pressed card front with liquid adhesive, then added the impressed Bluebonnet die cuts with liquid and thin foam adhesives. For the greeting, I stamped the “hugs” from the Basic Sentiments Stamps suite, using Hydrangea and Blue Jay inks to create an ombré sentiment. I popped the sentiment pieces up using thicker foam adhesive squares, then added a white pearlescent bow die cut created using the Wrap Around Elements dies (which are now discontinued– a twine bow would also work here!) to create the look of a hand-tied bouquet. Finally, I added a few Iridescent Dew Drop embellishments to fill in some of the blank areas on the card.

Well, that’s all for my project today! If you haven’t tried using your Press Plates without ink to add gorgeous texture, I hope this project inspires you to try it out. The impressed texture is exquisite and lends such an air of sophistication to your projects. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!