solid hot foil plate

Pinkfresh Studio “Kindness in Bloom” Release Blog Hop

October 8, 2024

Good morning friends! I am hopping along with Pinkfresh Studio today to share inspiration using some of the gorgeous new goodies from the Kindness In Bloom release! This new release is filled with stunning florals in all forms: stamps, dies, stencils, and press plates, but we also have some marvelous new Essentials dies that are going to be staples in your craft room, as well. I have two projects using some beautiful blue tones, so let’s get started with the details!

*I have linked 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 today, I used the new Print Shop Modern Botanicals stamp, die, and stencil product suite (there is also a coordinating Press Plate, but I focused on the stamp set today so that I could do some heat embossing!). To start, I stamped the beautiful Print Shop Modern Botanicals cling stamp twice onto some pale aqua cardstock from my stash using white pigment ink, which I then covered with Iridescent Blue embossing powder to create a shimmery, iridescent, almost tone-on-tone embossed outline. I embossed two of these floral panels in this way: one to use as a background and one to die cut to use as accents for another card!

Before die cutting one of the panels, I used the coordinating stencils with Waterfall, Turquoise, and Paradise inks to add some beautiful monochromatic details to the floral images. After I had finished blending, I used the fabulous one-pass die to die cut all of the flowers in one fell swoop. So convenient!

For my first card, I created a beautifully textured background by pressing the floral bouquet into some more of the lovely pale aqua cardstock. To achieve the textured letterpress look on colored cardstock, I tried a technique that I saw the incredibly talented Carissa Wiley demonstrate. I placed a piece of letterpress paper behind my A2 panel of colored cardstock and used some light washi tape to temporarily adhere the two pieces together. I then used my Better Press system to impress the beautiful bouquet from the new Always Smiling product suite into the corners of my panel. The thick cotton letter press cardstock allows the cushion for the Press Plate to impress the images into the regular colored cardstock! Isn’t that ingenious? Carissa is amazingly clever! After removing the washi tape and letterpress panel, I used a blending brush to blend Turquoise ink around the edges of the panel, enhancing the beautifully detailed letter press images.

To further enhance my card front, I die cut the largest frame from the new Dotted Fancy Frames Essentials die set, placing it in the center of an A2 sized panel of Pinkfresh Studio Aqua Glitter Cardstock. I reserved the die cut frame itself for the next project and instead used foam adhesive to pop up the negative space around the edges of my textured background panel, creating a tone-on-tone glittery shaped frame. I tucked a vellum Dotted Fancy Frame die cut on the bottom right corner of the card and arranged my stenciled Print Shop Modern Botanicals die cuts around a greeting from the Always Smiling Press Plate set, which I foiled onto some more aqua cardstock using Spellbinders’s Skybright foil and die cut with the coordinating die. Finally, I embellished my bouquet with some shiny foil “twine” cut using the older Wrap Around Elements dies and added a few coordinating Aqua Glitter Drops for added sparkle!

My second card is a bit simpler, using some of the leftovers from my first project to create this dainty, monochromatic card. I embellished the full A2 embossed and stenciled Print Shop Modern Botanicals background panel with the leftover Aqua Glitter Dotted Fancy Frames Essentials die cut, adhering it around the edges of the background with some liquid adhesive. I think it is such a pretty addition to the subtle floral background! I also used the smallest die from the Dotted Fancy Frames Essentials die set to cut a piece of vellum, upon which I would build my focal point.

For my focal point, I hot foiled my greeting from the new Blooming Arch Press Plate set, which I created by first hot foiling the sentiment Press Plate, then hot foiling the leftover foil panel using Pinkfresh Studio’s Solid Hot Foil Plate and cutting with the coordinating die. (It looks black in the photo because hot foiled images are so difficult to photograph accurately, but I promise the sentiment is a coordinating pale aqua!) I popped up the sentiment in the center of the vellum piece using foam adhesive, then arranged some leftover Print Shop Modern Botanicals die cuts behind the sentiment. I flipped over the vellum piece and added some thin foam square adhesive behind the solid die cuts in order to keep my vellum piece clean. Finally, I added a few more Aqua Glitter Drops for added 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 be giving away a total of TEN $25 gift cards along the hop. The winners will be selected from the comments, so the more comments you leave along the hop, the more chances you have to win!.
Winners will be selected and announced on October 16, 2024 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

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

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

Matching Copics to Colored Cardstock-Alcohol Marker “Glazing”!

July 17, 2023

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

Hi friends! With as much work as I’ve been doing in my craft room lately, I’ve been trying to keep things interesting with different color schemes and techniques. I love cornflower blue, and I love all variations of aqua/pool, but the new Tidepool color from Concord and 9th’s 2023 color release has absolutely won my heart, so for today’s post I wanted to combine the two colors to create a pair of elegant floral cards. I have created a collection of color combinations for my alcohol markers to use as a quick reference when I am searching for a color match or looking at different color combinations, but I couldn’t find just the right match for the gorgeous and unique Tidepool. No matter; I pulled out my Hex Chart and started swatching different combinations of colors that were a close match to the beautiful blueish-green cardstock.

When watercoloring, one can use a technique called “glazing” to add a subtle wash of diluted color over a dry, previously-watercolored area. This addition can completely change the overall feel of the color, brightening or muting the area, depending on the color of the glaze. I frequently use this technique when watercoloring large florals to add reflections of the surrounding colors and to add interest to the image. When searching for an exact match for Tidepool amongst my Copic markers, every combination that I tried was either too blue or too green. After trying a dozen different combinations, I settled on BG78, 75, and 72, which are lovely shades of a muted gray-turquoise, adding a “glaze” of G00 to brighten up the green.

For my first card, I die cut the Flourishing Blooms Plate from some Hammermill cardstock. This beautiful floral cover plate is totally stunning cut from basically any cardstock; I used it HERE with metallic cardstock and pale blush cardstock, adding a bit of interest with some ink blending. Today, I wanted to go more in depth with some coloring, adding dimension and shape to the flat die cuts with some alcohol markers. I used the debossed lines on the floral die cuts to determine which petals were on top vs. tucked beneath. The shape of the flowers reminds me of forget-me-nots, so I used Copics B39, 37, 34, and 32 to create beautiful blue flowers. I used the BG78, 75, 72 with a G00 glaze for all of the foliage, then added some sparkling handmade gold watercolor to the centers of the flowers. I absolutely love the finished product!

To coordinate with the “Tidepool” Copic colored foliage, I trimmed down a panel of Tidepool cardstock to A2 size, then blended some Tidepool ink around the edges to add interest to the background. I also splattered the background with some of the same sparkling golden watercolors that I used on the flower centers. (I hope you’re not sick of watercolor splatters-I just adore the texture and interest that they provide to a colorful background!)

To finish off the card, I die cut the Bold Thanks die from Simon Says Stamp three times from deep navy blue cardstock, adhering them together to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I adhered that to a strip of heavyweight vellum and fussy cutting around it, leaving a border around the die cut. This vellum border helps differentiate the sentiment from the rest of the similar textures on the card. I popped up the colored floral cover plate die cut and sentiment die cut on the blended Tidepool background using foam adhesive.The final touch was a few shimmering iridescent blue pearls!

My second card features the same color combination and Copic colors, this time using the Etched Primrose Blooms and Windswept Leaves dies for the focal point. I die cut the large Etched Primrose Blooms and Windswept Leaves dies again from white cardstock, then used the same Copic combinations to add lots of depth and color to the plain die cuts.

For the background, I ran a panel of Tidepool cardstock through my Platinum 6 machine using the Exotic Vines Embossing Folder. The elegant detail on this folder is spectacular; to enhance it, I first trimmed the panel down to smaller than A2 size, then blended Tidepool ink around the edges. I also lightly swiped the Antique Gold pigment inkpad from Altenew onto the raised areas of the embossed panel, which adds a gilded effect to the background. It almost reminds me of the patina on the Statue of Liberty! I matted the panel with an ever-so-slightly larger panel of matte gold cardstock to add a gold frame and coordinate with the gold accents on the card. To coordinate with my blue flowers, I mounted the embossed panel with the gold frame on a panel of Blueberry cardstock from Concord and 9th.

For the greeting, I heat embossed the newer Elegantly Modern Hot Foil Plate + Dies from Simon Says Stamp, creating both the positive sentiment image and the negative by using the leftover foil panel with the Pinkfresh Studio Solid Hot Foil Plate. I die cut the sentiments with the coordinating die, selecting one and saving the rest for a rainy day. I lightly blended more Tidepool ink over the white areas on the foiled sentiment to coordinate with the rest of my card, then arranged the flowers and foliage on the card front, tucking the sentiment in the corner with a double layer of foam adhesive. The final touch was a few more shimmering iridescent blue pearls.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am so excited to try color glazing with my Copics to match even more of my (copious) colored cardstock stash! I hope you will give it a try, too. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Pinkfresh Studio May 2023 Stamp, Die, Stencil, and Hot Foil Release + Giveaway!

May 22, 2023

Good morning! Happy Monday! We are hopping along today to celebrate the new Pinkfresh Studio May 2023 Release! (You can see the full hop list at the bottom of the post.) Pinkfresh Studio always provides a floral feast for your eyes, and this month’s release is no exception. Click HERE to see all of the new goodies! I have two pretty-in-peach cards to share with you today using new goodies, so let’s get started with the details!

My first project features the Handpicked Flowers stamps and dies. I began by heat embossing the large floral image from Handpicked Flowers onto some hot press watercolor paper with rose gold embossing powder, then used my Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to add some lovely shades of peach, coral, and warm pink to the pretty floral cluster. I always scribble my Karin markers on my glass mat, then pick up the color with my damp paintbrush, which allows me to control the vibrancy of the color a bit more easily than if I were to put the marker directly to the paper. I die cut the finished watercolored piece with the coordinating die.

Next, I created a color-coordinated monochromatic background by die cutting a Dotted Lattice cover plate die from some peach cardstock, which I layered atop a super pale peach A2 card front. The effect is a lovely, slightly textured background with colors that perfectly match the watercolored floral bouquet! I adhered the die cut watercolored bouquet to the center of the card front with some foam adhesive. I decided that I wanted to enhance the shape of the bouquet a bit to cover more of the card front, so I die cut some foliage using the Curvy Leaves die set from some Aura hot foiled cardstock, which I created with the Solid Hot Foil Plate. The iridescent foiled cardstock picks up the different pinks, corals, and greens in the bouquet beautifully!

To create the sentiment for my floral card, I heat embossed the Thanks greeting from Handpicked Flowers onto some more super pale peach cardstock using more rose gold embossing powder. I die cut the Thanks using the coordinating die (love that there are sentiment dies included with the floral die set!) and a coordinating sentiment strip, adhering them to the center of the floral bouquet with some foam tape to give them some extra height and visibility on the busy bouquet! The final touch was to add a few Butterscotch Glitter Drops for a little more sparkle!

My second card features a similar color palette, featuring the reverse-foiled image of the beautiful new Pretty Blossoms Hot Foil Plate (reverse-foiled with the Solid Hot Foil Plate). After hot foiling the leftover solid foil piece, I die cut the panel using the Ornate Oval Frame Die once from the foiled piece and once from some plain white cardstock. I placed the solid patterned center piece in the middle of the white frame.

For the background, I trimmed down another panel of that super pale peach cardstock to slightly smaller than A2 sized and ran it through my die cut machine with the Stitched Diamonds Cover Plate die. I matted it on a full sized panel of white A2 cardstock to create a thin white frame around the edge, then popped up my decorative oval frame with the patterned foiled center, turning the oval east-west rather than my typical north-south. It hangs over the edge a bit, but using a 5×7 envelope would take care of that issue!

For the greeting, I stamped the “hope your day is beautiful” from Butterfly Garden using Passion Fruit ink on white cardstock, then fussy cut and die cut the pieces. I kept the peachy keen theme going by die cutting some dainty flowers in different shades of peach using the Garden Wreath die and arranging them around the sentiment. Finally, I added a few tiny Butterscotch Glitter Drops to the center of the flowers for some more 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. Winners will be posted on May 31, 2023 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here’s the full hop list:

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