Hi there! Simon Says Stamp is celebrating their newest Just For You collection with a two-day blog hop, and today is the first day full of tons of inspiration using the amazing new products! You should have arrived here from Heather Ruwe, and your next stop is Alberto Gava. It never ceases to thrill me to see one of my illustrations come to life as a stamp set, and so it is super exciting for me to see my new Herb Labels set in the Simon Says Stamp lineup!
I designed the Herb Labels set to create customized labels for your herb garden, but since I’m a cardmaker, I wanted to make sure that there were some sentiments to create cards, as well! I added several punny sentiments, and while puns are not my normal jam, I have to say… these make me chuckle. I kept the fonts simple and classy, and I really am enjoying using them! They work for so many occasions, too…. “Mint to be” would be perfect for a wedding, engagement, or just an I love you card; “eat, drink, and be rosemary” would work for a wedding or for the holidays; “tis the seasoning” works for a holiday card; “you’re kind of a big dill” would work for tons of occasions-how cute would it be for a Father’s Day card?! (You can see another project using the herbs and other new release goodies HERE.) I had such fun creating these, and I couldn’t resist using my favorite sentiment on the card below. Let’s get started with the details!
I adore the look of colored pencils on colored cardstock, and red and kraft are just *chef’s kiss* together! I stamped my tomatoes from Herb Labels onto some Sand cardstock from Hero Arts using white pigment ink, which is the ink that I prefer to use when doing pencil work on colored cardstock. I then used colored pencils to add several shades of red and green to the tomato vine. I love how vibrant these colors are on the muted kraft cardstock.
I die cut the large label image from Herb Labels from some more Sand cardstock, then heat embossed the frame outline and the sentiment with white embossing powder. The white looks so crisp on the muted brown cardstock! I popped up the penciled, die cut tomatoes on the tag using foam adhesive, so that they look as though they’re hanging from a vine in a garden
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When creating a card with a simplistic color scheme, I like to add lots of texture to the background, as well as lots of height with different levels of foam adhesive. To create the card base, I ran a full size A2 card front of the Sand cardstock through my die cut machine using the Spun Glass Embossing Folder from Simon Says Stamp. The repeating pattern and subtle texture were perfect for my somewhat monochromatic card front. I also popped up a white glitter die cut frame around the edge, which I cut using the A2 Thin Frames die set. I haven’t snipped my dies apart, instead leaving them as one solid die, so that when I run it through my die cut machine, I get a ton of frames in various sizes and widths and can just save the rest for a rainy day! I added the tomato label to the embossed, framed card front using foam tape, creating lots of height and texture.
My second card features the beautiful, scripty new Easter Blessings die. I have had the utterly lovely Dandy Floral Embossing Folder + Die set out on my desk for such a long time, waiting for the perfect project on which to use it. As soon as I saw the gorgeous font and generous size of the Easter Blessings die, I knew they would work beautifully together! The large flower on the Dandy Floral Embossing Folder reminds me of one of those ruffly, specialty daffodils, and what is more reminiscent of Easter and springtime than a daffodil?
I ran the Dandy Floral Embossing Folder through my die cut machine with an A2 piece of Arches cold press watercolor paper inside. I find that the Arches cold press works beautifully with these detailed embossing folders, sturdy enough to hold up to the deep embossing but also retains some of the texture that is important for (my own personal style of) watercoloring. After taping down the panel to my watercolor board, I used Daniel Smith watercolors to add lots of vibrant color. After laying down my initial layer of color, I always like to go back a second and sometimes even a third time to enhance shadows and add more vibrance. The heavy duty watercolor paper allows me the flexibility to go back in and add more pigment and water without worrying that it will start to pill or disintegrate. I find that a paintbrush with a nice, crisp point is crucial for watercoloring these embossing folder images, just as it would be for any no-line watercoloring project.
I wanted the greeting to be simple, elegant, and stand out nicely on the vibrant background, so I die cut it twice from plain white cardstock and once from the same white glitter cardstock that I used for the frame in the previous project. I adhered all of these together using liquid glue, creating a dimensional die cut. The extra height allows the greeting to stand out a bit from the super textured, colorful background, while the sparkle of the glitter cardstock adds some opulence and shimmer! I adhered the dimensional die cut to the colorful card front using plenty of liquid adhesive. I find that liquid adhesive, rather than a tape runner, works best when adhering die cuts to super textured papers. A few Milk Glass gems helped to add one last touch of sparkle!
Well, that’s all for my projects today. I have a couple more up my sleeve to share with you, but I will save them for next week!
To celebrate the Just For You release and the blog hop, Simon Says Stamp is offering a fun discount:
Use code GREEN to receive $7 off with a purchase of $40 or more! This promotion will expire 3/19 at 11:59 pm EDT.
They are also giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop, selected from the comments section. The winners will be announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday the 22nd of March. All winners must email Simon Says Stamp to claim his/her prize, so be sure to check the blog next week!
Also-I will be attending the Simon Says Stamp CREATE event next month in Columbus, Ohio! I will be working in the Hero Arts booth and meandering around seeing all of the crafty goodness and crafty friends. There are some crazy talented instructors teaching amazing Create It, Take It classes, and tons of awesome shopping opportunities. You can find out all of the information HERE. Will I see you there?
Your next stop on the hop is the ridiculously talented Alberto Gava. And don’t forget to check out the enormously talented hoppers tomorrow on Day 2 of the hop, as well! So much inspiration-you won’t want to miss. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!
