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Alex Syberia Designs One-Year Anniversary Release Blog Hop | Giveaway | Over £800 ($1000) in prizes

September 7, 2023

Hi friends! Today, I am ever so excited to be joining a blog hop to celebrate one year of fabulousness from Alex Syberia Designs!! You should have arrived here from Raquel, and your next stop is Erin. You can also find the full hop list over on the Alex Syberia Designs Blog Post. To celebrate this impressive achievement, tons of your favorite companies are joining in on the fun and have sponsored marvelous giveaways. Read all the way to the bottom to find out how you can be one of the winners of these fabulous prizes!

I have a thing for birthday cards. I love to go all out on them and make them crazy festive, with tons of layers, sparkles, textures… the sky is the limit! I think going all out on the birthday card makes the recipient feel extra loved, and who wouldn’t want that? Balloons with flowers are certainly having a moment on my blog (remember this project??), and I fell in love with these beautiful, sketchy floral clusters from the Floral Balloon Extravaganza Stamps (ASD | SSS) and Dies (ASD | SSS), so much so that I created two different cards using two different techniques using these gorgeous balloons! Let’s get started with the details.

For my first project, I wanted to create some transparent balloons to make them look as life-like as possible by adding color with some light ink blending. I also wanted to test out my Karin Decobrush Pigment Markers on vellum to create the opaque flowers! I am absolutely in love with this technique and can’t wait to play with it some more.

I started by heat embossing the different balloons included in the Floral Balloon Extravaganza Stamps (ASD | SSS) set using gold embossing powder on some lighter weight vellum paper. I then die cut the individual images with the Coordinating Dies (ASD | SSS). Once I had each of the individual components ready, I flipped them over and began using the opaque Karin Decobrush Pigment Markers on the flowers only. Adding this opaque color on the back of the die cuts allows the details of the embossing to still be visible from the front. Because the floral images are on the small side, you don’t need to worry much about adding details and shading, because the embossed details on the front do the work for you. The opaque paint is solely adding color to the image, as well as a sneaky place to hide your adhesive!

After the paint had dried, keeping the balloons with the embossing face down on my work surface, I used a blending brush to blend Cheeky and Blush Pawsitively Saturated Inks. The semi-transparent vellum combined with the water-based dye ink allows the ink to simply dye the vellum without compromising the transparency! I think the balloons look positively weightless and so unique. It’s such a fun technique! I also heat embossed some balloon strings on some more vellum to allow them to “float” on my card front, as well.

For the background, I die cut a slimline panel of white cardstock using the new Slimline Nested Stitched Die (ASD | SSS). I then used the same Cheeky and Blush Pawsitively Saturated Inks with the super festive and fun new Carnival Party Stencil + Die (ASD | SSS) set from the Alex Syberia Birthday Release. I blended the two part streamer stencils on the top of my die cut panel, then lightly blended the Cheeky ink around the upper edges of the panel. I splattered the entire piece with some super sparkly gold watercolors, as well.

For the greeting, I hot foiled the sentiment strips using the new Celebrations Sentiments Hot Foil Plate (ASD | SSS) onto some white cardstock using shining gold foil, then die cut the sentiments with the Thin Stripes Cover Die (ASD | SSS). (I have a bunch of birthday sentiments ready to go-love these one-and-done hot foil plate and die sets!) I also die cut the “wish” portion of the Birthday & Wish Die Set (ASD | SSS) from some super shiny gold mirror cardstock. I arranged the balloons on my blended card front, hiding the clear dimensional adhesive behind the opaque floral bouquets, then added my sentiment pieces. The final touch was to add a few shimmering gems to this super festive card front! I love that you can still see the streamers through the balloons. So much fun!

My second card is a bit more traditional. I heat embossed the balloons and the gorgeous floral bouquet from the Floral Balloon Extravaganza Stamps (ASD | SSS) set on some watercolor paper using pale rose gold embossing powder. I then added lots of beautiful pink, peach, and jade watercolor to the images using my Karin Brushmarker Pro watercolor markers. I glazed the finished pink balloons with some super shimmery, handmade glitter watercolors from Etsy, as well. Birthday cards, especially super feminine pink floral birthday cards, need as much sparkle as you can pack on, in my opinion!

For the background, I cut down an A2 panel of Dragonfruit cardstock from Concord and 9th and blended it with the coordinating Dragonfruit Ink around the edges of the card front. I splattered some more rose gold metallic watercolor on the background to add extra interest and shimmer to the background.

For the greeting, I heat embossed one of the beautiful scripty sentiments included in the Floral Balloon Extravaganza Stamps (ASD | SSS) set using the pale rose gold embossing powder. I used the coordinating dies (notice the sentiment dies for each individual sentiment, including the tiny sentiment strips! Now that is some attention to detail! Well done, Alex!) to die cut the sentiments. I then arranged the floral bouquet and balloons on my blended, splattered card front using foam adhesive for extra dimension. I heat embossed some more balloon strings on vellum so that they were as floaty and ethereal as possible, then added them to the card front with tiny dots of liquid adhesive. I added the greeting pieces using more foam tape, finally finishing the card off with some sparkly gems!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now for the fun giveaway information I promised at the beginning of the post:

To celebrate their birthday, Alex Syberia Designs has collaborated with a ton of wonderful sponsors to give away a grand total of £800 ($1000) in prizes!

Alex Syberia Designs: 5x £40 ($50) Gift Cards

Altenew : $50 Gift Card
Auzz Trinklets n crafts : $30AUD Gift Card
Crafty Purple Frog: £25 Gift Card
Dies to Die For : £25 Gift Card
Doeading : 50€ Gift Card (only for EU)
Gina K : $100 Gift Card
Glitter and ink : $50 CAD Gift Card (only for Canada)
Jennifer McGuire Ink : 1 Share Handmade Kindness goodies bag -$75value
Kit & Clowder : $15 Gift Card
Mennys Bastelshop : 2x 20€ Gift Cards (EU)
Online Card Classes : 3 x free spots to any classes
Paper & i : $25 Gift Card (only for USA)
Pear Blossom press : $25 Gift Card
Scrap Shotz : $25 CAD Gift Card (only for Canada)
Seize the Stamp : 2x CHF 25 Gift Cards
Simon Says Stamp : $100 Gift Card
SCT Magazine : $50 Gift Card
The Glitter Hubb : $25 CAD Gift Card
WOW Embossing : 2x $25 Gift Cards

Be sure to leave comments by midnight BST (London, UK time) on September 17th, 2023, for a chance to win!

Start your comment by telling us where you’re from (USA, Canada, Europe, or Australia) and what your favorite product is from this September Anniversary release.

All the winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the posts in the blog hop, upcoming YouTube hop, and the three upcoming Instagram hops. Winners will be announced on the Alex Syberia Designs GIVEAWAY WINNERS PAGE on September 18th, 2023.

Make sure to come back and check if you are a winner! Prizes not claimed within two weeks will be forfeited.

To increase your chances of winning, be sure to comment on this blog hop, the upcoming Anniversary Video Hop that starts on the 9th of Sep on Alex Syberia Designs YT Channel, and the three consecutive Instagram Hops on Alex Syberia Designs Instagram starting on the 11th of September.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends, and happy anniversary to Alex Syberia Designs! May this be the first of many years of success!

One Peony Panel, Two Cards!

August 30, 2023

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I love a good patterned background stamp; don’t you? I especially love a background stamp like the Pretty Peonies Background Stamp, which gives you enough detail as to be able to use it on its own (like I did HERE) or to put your coloring skills to use like I did for today’s card. After taking the time to paint the image, I wanted to maximize the amount of projects that I could create with it and ended up with a pair of cards! Let’s get started with the details.

I began by stamping the Pretty Peonies Background Stamp onto some Fabriano Artistico Cold Press watercolor paper using black pigment ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The black pigment ink picks up the smaller details beautifully, while the clear embossing powder makes the watercoloring super easy, creating little wells for each individual image so that the colors don’t spill into each other! I taped my embossed image down to my watercolor board, then used Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to watercolor the images. I like to scribble my watercolor markers onto a glass mat or ceramic palette, then pick up the color with a damp paintbrush. I find that this method (rather than putting the marker directly to the paper) helps me control the vibrancy of the color that is added to the images, allowing me to maximize the contrast and create shadows and depth on the images.

After I had finished painting the image, I trimmed it down to A2 size, then die cut the very center of the image using the Nested Domed Arches dies, creating a window within my floral panel. I backed this window with some clear acetate and added a frame of Black Foam Adhesive around the open window. I filled the shaker with an abundance of shimmering black and charcoal gems and sequins from my stash and backed the entire panel with a piece of plain black cardstock, highlighting the crisp black embossed lines.

Once I had filled my shaker window, I white embossed a greeting from Elegantly Modern Greetings onto some more black cardstock and die cut it with the coordinating die. (Side note-I love how detailed these dies are! So intricate and beautiful!) I popped it up over the window of the card front using more Black Foam Adhesive, then added a couple of sparkling black leaf sprigs, cut using Black Glitter Paper and the Windswept Leaves dies. So many fun details going on with this card, and those dramatic pops of black against the vivid pink peonies are just so beautiful!

My second project features the “leftover” watercolored peony die cut. I die cut another Nested Domed Arches die from some more Black Glitter Paper, creating a sparkling black frame around my pink peony die cut. I also die cut the Laurel Leaves Background Plate from some more black cardstock and adhered it to an A2 panel of black cardstock. This black-on-black adds just a hint of patterned texture to the background to keep things interesting behind the peonies! Because we have two different patterns going on this card front, that solid black glitter frame around the peonies acts as a bit of a visual buffer between the two patterns!

After popping up my arches die cuts on the textured black background using foam adhesive, I heat embossed another greeting from the Elegantly Modern Greetings set and popped both pieces up on the peony panel using foam adhesive. I added a few shimmering pink gems to finish things off.

This minimal color palette card features so many different textural elements and lots of height to keep things interesting!! I love when I can get two different cards from one watercoloring session. It makes it so easy to build up a stash of cards this way. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Eat, Drink, and Be Rosemary!

July 13, 2023

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! Today I have a project featuring one of my illustrations for Simon Says Stamp: Herb Labels. This stamp set features several different types of herbs and was initially designed to create labels for an herb garden! I, however, possess the blackest of black thumbs, so I added a bunch of fun, punny sentiments to make the set work for gardeners and/or cardmakers! When I was brainstorming ways to use this set, I loved the idea of a classy “wallpaper” created from the herbs, a la Martha Stewart. I created a similar card when the stamp set was released, but I didn’t love it, so I thought I’d try again with a different medium and color scheme.

I began by stamping the rosemary stamp from the Herb Labels set onto some Fabriano Artistico Hot Press paper using Contour Ink from Hero Arts. I then selected two different shades of green from my Karin Brushmarker Pro stash and scribbled them on my ceramic palette. To paint these small, intricate images, I used a very small, fine paintbrush. I picked up the color with my damp paintbrush and, using a light flicking motion, painted each individual sprig of rosemary, first with the lighter green color, then after the light green had dried, went back in with the darker green to add some deeper, more shadowed green tones, giving the rosemary sprigs more depth. When doing simple painting like this, in which each individual image (or sprig) is merely one color, rather than a larger image that requires more colors and pigment intensity to show shape and depth, it’s easy to work with the lighter colors first, and then add the darker colors over the top. I find that I am more likely to add smaller amounts of the darker colors as just accents when the image is “full” from the base layer of light green.

After I had finished watercoloring the images, I die cut the A2 Thin Frames die from some Evergreen cardstock from Concord and 9th. These thin frame dies from Simon Says Stamp (in addition to the A2 Rectangles, Simon carries A7 Rectangles, and Circles) come as one piece, with the option of leaving them intact or snipping them apart; I’ve kept all of mine together, because with one pass through my machine, they create the handiest little array of frames for future projects. I have found the investment of these frame dies to be such a great value! I love pairing a thick and a thin frame to create a double frame, which is what I’ve done on this card. I adhered the frames on the outer edges of the watercolored “wallpaper” panel.

For the greeting, I die cut and heat embossed the rectangular frame from Herb Labels. I sized the sentiments so that they would all fit within this label image. I love that the thick and thin frame die cuts on the card front mimic the thick and thin frames on the embossed label! I popped up the sentiment label with some foam adhesive, then added a natural white twin bow for some added texture. I also added a bit of sparkle with some Champagne Glitter Drops from Pinkfresh Studio.

Well, that’s all for my project today! I usually am intimidated by no-line painting on smaller images like this rosemary stamp from Herb Labels, but even as small as it is and as many times as it was stamped on the background, the card came together very quickly! Simplifying the amount of detail on the images really helped to make the process a lot smoother and quicker. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero July 2023 Blog Hop + Giveaway!

July 5, 2023

*Affiliate links used where available at no cost to you. Thank you for your support*

Hi there! The new My Monthly Hero collection for July 2023 from Hero Arts is officially live, and we are hopping along with a blog hop to provide you with lots of inspiration! You should have arrived here from Dana Joy and your next stop is Kelly Taylor. You can also start back at the beginning at the Hero Arts blog. The new kit is absolutely marvelous, filled with serene botanical silhouette images that you can use to create beautiful cards for a multitude of occasions! I created a soothing aqua project in THIS post using only elements from the Classic Kit, pictured below:

The Classic Kit includes • Clear Stamp Set, 6″ x 8″, Dandelion Fancy Dies, 8 Pieces, Parklands Window Fancy Die, Linen Cling Stamp, 3″ x 4″, Blue to Green Reactive Ombré Ink Pad, which when added together retails for $71, but can be yours for only $36.99!

The Premium Kit includes all of the components from the Classic Kit, plus: 11 Picnic Basket Fancy Dies, 2 Picnic Scenic Detail Fancy Dies, Wildflower Ephemera Pack, 45 Pieces, 2 Sheets of White Woodgrain Paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 1 Sheet each of Pesto and Passion Flower Cardstock, 5.5″ x 8.5″. Individually, all of these components plus the Classic Kit components would retail for $104, but can be yours for only $49.99! (You can always subscribe to be guaranteed a kit each month, because they sell out frequently and are not restocked!)

Starting this month, Hero Arts is also offering the Premium Elements for purchase separately without a Premium subscription!

My projects for this month’s blog hop utilize lots of white space with bright pops of color to create some lovely meadow scenes, even featuring your best pal!

My first card features the My Monthly Hero July 2023 Premium Kit. The Premium Kit features all of the elements from the Classic Kit, but with the addition of some fabulous extra goodies that coordinate beautifully with the Classic Kit elements! This month’s “extras” are some utterly marvelous standalone picnic dies. I die cut all of the different picnic elements from Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I used my Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to add lots of vibrant color to the different die cuts. I used to play dress up in my Grammy and Papa’s basement, and they had the most marvelous red picnic basket that I took with me on my adventures. It could be a suitcase, a treasure chest, a bed for puppies… but today, it’s just a picnic basket!

After I’d finished watercoloring all of the images, I wanted a subtle background to allow those vibrant colors to pop from the card. I stamped the large floral silhouette stamp in the stamp set using Granite ink. It embodies the peaceful background of a picnic without adding any extra bulk or color to the card!

I arranged all of the die cuts in a cluster over the gray floral silhouettes, then adhered them using a combination of foam tape and liquid adhesive for lots of dimension. Finally, I heat embossed a greeting from the Premium Kit‘s stamp set onto some vellum using silver embossing powder. I popped it up amongst the picnic using some clear foam adhesive.

My second project features the absolutely darling new Playful Pets bundle. This sweet set features several different pups with some accessories, friends, and special sentiments. After stamping this happy little fella using Intens-ified Black ink, I colored him using my OLO Markers, modeling him after my own dog, Barney. He’s the prettiest shade of blue-gray and has such happy ears and sweet expression, just like the pup in this stamped image! I colored him using the gray markers, then “washed” the entire die cut with a super pale blue-violet marker to give that “blue” undertone. I also stamped and colored a trio of red butterflies for him to chase!

To allow my pup and his pals to stand out, I stamped the new Meadow Floor Bold Prints stamp onto a panel of white cardstock using Granite ink. Even though this is a very soft gray ink, I wanted it to be even more subtle so that the crisp black lines on my pup and the bright red butterflies would really pop, so I stamped it again in the same spot using watermark ink and heat embossed it with White Satin Pearl embossing powder. The embossing powder tones down any ink color beneath it while also providing a very subtle shimmer and shine.

I stamped a greeting from Playful Pets onto a strip of white cardstock, then backed the strip with a slightly larger piece of Pitch Black cardstock to create a crisp black frame around my sentiment. I mimicked that framed sentiment by trimming down the meadow background slightly and mounting it in the center of a full size A2 Pitch Black card front, creating a stark black frame around the edge. I popped up the sentiment strip and die cut elements on the card front using foam adhesive. So simple, but very effective!

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

We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, July 9th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop is Kelly Taylor. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Pinkfresh Studio June 2023 Stamp, Die, Stencil, and Hot Foil Release

June 26, 2023

Good morning! Today, Pinkfresh Studio is releasing their June 2023 collection of products, and it’s full of stunning new florals that are sure to uplift your cards and cardmaking process! I pulled out my watercolors to do lots of no-line watercoloring today, and I’m excited to share the projects with you. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the Humbled and Grateful stamp set (PFS|SSS) twice on Fabriano Artistico Hot Press watercolor paper using no-line coloring ink. Using a finely tipped paintbrush and my Karin Brushmarker Pro watercolor markers, I added soothing blue and purple flowers with soft green foliage. I find that I get better results with the Karin markers when I scribble the color out onto my ceramic palette; I can better control the intensity of the color and the amount of water that gets onto my paper that way. I also find that the smooth hot press paper works beautifully with the transparent markers. (I have more tips on how to get good results with the Karin markers in my most recent video on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel, which you can check out HERE.)

Once I had finished watercoloring the two floral clusters, I used the Humbled and Grateful dies (PFS|SSS) to cut the images out.

To create a coordinating, subtle, ethereal “sky” background, I very lightly blended Slumber and Lavender inks in a circular motion on my white A2 card base, starting with the Slumber in the center and then lightly tapering into Lavender around the edges. These two ink colors coordinated beautifully with my watercolored blurple floral sprays! I also die cut a white Art Deco Frame die and mounted it on the blended panel with some foam adhesive.

I snipped one of the watercolored Humbled and Grateful floral die cuts apart, then arranged the smaller pieces amongst the intact die cut of the floral pieces in a “meadow,” tucking the ends behind the white frame to hide them. I heat embossed a greeting from Humbled and Grateful onto some white cardstock using silver embossing powder, then added it to the card front with some more foam tape, creating a double layer of foam adhesive. Finally, I added some Matte Silver Pearls to add one last bit of shine!

My next project for today features the beautiful new Peony Fantasy Stamps (PFS|SSS). I can never get enough peonies, and because their growing season is so short, I am so happy to have access to beautiful gardens of peonies throughout the year with stamps! I stamped the tiny beauties from Peony Fantasy onto some Arches Cold Press watercolor paper with no-line coloring ink, then used my Holbein watercolors to add beautiful bubblegum pink to the images, adding light washes of coral on a few petals to provide some variation in color.

After I’d finished watercoloring, I die cut the finished flowers using the Peony Fantasy Dies (PFS|SSS).

For the background, I hot foiled the older Geo Arch Hot Foil Plate onto some peachy cardstock using orange hot foil. Monochromatic backgrounds are one of my most favorite ways to use hot foil. They provide subtle interest behind the focal point without overpowering it! I chose to highlight the coral washes in the peonies by keeping the background peachy. I also used the Modern Script Hot Foil Sentiments to hot foil a coordinating greeting using the same shades of cardstock and foil.

To ground my florals and sentiment, I die cut the smaller Essentials: Mini Slimline Frame die from some coordinating magenta cardstock to accent the pink peonies, also cutting the same small die from vellum to inlay inside the frame. I turned the frame 90*, oriented it to the right side of my card, and trimmed off the excess, making this mini-slimline product work beautifully for an A2 card front! I arranged the watercolored peonies and greeting around the frame and adhered them using foam tape, then added the frame to the card front using another layer of foam tape, creating tons of dimension. The final touch was to add some Bubblegum gems for some sparkle!

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

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel.
They will also be giving away a total of TEN $25 gift cards along the hop. The winners will be selected from the comments, so be sure to leave a comment on each stop along the hop for maximum entries and chances to win! Winners will be announced on July 5, 2023 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here’s the full hop list:

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

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