united we flourish

Celebrating United We Flourish!

February 24, 2018

Over the last year, Ellen Hutson has been collaborating with several different companies within the industry to create some beautiful, limited edition stamp sets. As you know, I have a love affair with all things Concord and 9th, and this darling Sweet Sprinkles United We Flourish set is just so cute that I had to create another project to celebrate the Sweet Sprinkles spotlight on the Ellen Hutson blog.

Isn’t that set just darling? I used it to create an ice cream cone for the Sweet Sprinkles United We Flourish release a few months ago, so today I wanted to focus on the adorable sprinkle strip and the cupcake!

To start, I die cut the cupcake with the dies included in the Sweet Sprinkles set onto some plain white card stock, then stamped the main cupcake image using the Rock ‘n Roll technique to add a little dimension. The cupcake liner is stamped in Persian Blue and Sapphire inks, while the frosting is stamped using Rubellite and Cosmic Berry inks (all from Altenew). I die cut a few white hearts from the included die set, adhered them to the frosting as “sprinkles,” then added some shimmer pen and Glossy Accents to the sprinkles to really make them pop.

For the background, I stamped the included “sprinkle strip” in a blue-to-pink ombre on an A2 white card base using Rubellite, Deep Iris, and Persian Blue inks, then went over them again lightly with the same inks using my Clarity Stencil Brushes to try to “blend” the colors a little. For the greeting, I trimmed a panel of vellum down and white heat embossed a super cute sentiment from the Sweet Sprinkles set.

I adhered my cupcake to the center of the vellum panel, then hid my dimensional adhesive on the back of the vellum panel behind the cupcake. A cute and colorful birthday card made with this limited edition set! Definitely a must have for your birthday card-making collection. Hop on over to The Classroom to see lots more inspiration using this sweet set from Ellen Hutson and Concord and 9th!

Have a marvelous Saturday, friends!

Two Takes on a Trend with Ellen Hutson!

February 14, 2018

Good morning! Today, I am collaborating with Ellen Hutson on a special blog post called Two Takes on a Trend! Using this beautiful inspiration photo:

I came up with two totally different projects!

For this first project, I used several different Altenew inks and white pigment ink to create a bokeh background with the Essentials By Ellen Bokeh Dots. I started by blending Sapphire, Rubellite, and Deep Iris inks on an A2 panel, then used the same inks to stamp various solid and open circle stamps from the Bokeh Dots set across the blended panel. I also added some white stamped circles and bursts using white pigment ink.

I trimmed a strip from the center of the blended panel, then mounted it on an A2 card base using dimensional foam adhesive, sliding a strip of royal blue foil from my stash beneath it. I die cut and stamped the greeting from the United We Flourish Sending Sunshine using Sapphire ink and the same blue foil beneath. I added a few Sparkling Clear sequins to add some sparkle to the front of the card.

I loved the color combination so much that I couldn’t resist making another card with the same ink shades. I used Altenew’s Starlight, Persian Blue, Emerald, Deep Iris, Rubellite, and Sapphire inks to stamp the Blooms Fill In from Concord and 9th, then used the coordinating dies to die cut some individual flowers.

Next, I die cut the tag from the Blooms Fill In die set and stamped it with the greeting included in the stamp set. I arranged the greeting and flowers on the stamped front using dimensional adhesive and added a few Sparkling Clear sequins.

Two completely different looks from the same inspiration photo! What do you think? Which one do you like better?

Check out the Ellen Hutson blog for even more inspiration!

Have a marvelous day, friends!

Ellen Hutson Mix It Up Challenge with Hero Arts!

February 1, 2018

Good morning! Today, I have the pleasure of collaborating with both Ellen Hutson and Hero Arts to help introduce this month’s Mix It Up Challenge. I was lucky enough to get to play with the new United We Flourish set from Hero Arts: Better Together!

I started by stamping the birds, birdhouse, and branch from Better Together using Hero Arts Intense Black ink on some Copic friendly white card stock. I also stamped several flowers and foliage from Little Florals and die cut everything with the coordinating dies and colored everything with Copic markers. (I’ve linked all of the colors at the end of the blog post.)

After I had finished coloring everything, I used the Hero Arts Foliage background to stamp the card base with Mint Julep ink to create a tropical backdrop. I die cut an oval from an A2 panel of white card stock using an Oval Infinity die from Hero Arts and popped it up on the leafy card front using dimensional adhesive.

I arranged the lovebirds on their branch next to the bird house, then added the swag of flowers. I stamped the greeting from Better Together on a strip of white card stock and adhered it to the leafy background with liquid adhesive.

Lots of dimension and color on this card!

Now it’s your turn! Create your own project using any Essentials By Ellen combined with any Hero Arts products and link it up to the blog post. One randomly selected winner will receive a $50 shopping spree to the Ellen Hutson store!! Check out the blog post to see all of the details. Have fun, and good luck! Thanks for stopping by!

United We Flourish- Ellen Hutson featuring Concord and 9th!

December 17, 2017

Good morning! Today, the Where Creativity Meets C9 design team has the distinct pleasure of helping to introduce the newest installment of the Ellen Hutson United We Flourish collaboration sets: Sweet Sprinkles from Ellen Hutson and Concord and 9th!

Aren’t these images just so precious!? And I love that they can be made into a cupcake or an ice cream cone. Nobody does versatility better than Concord and 9th!

For my project, I was channeling those vintage ice cream shoppe posters that you’d see in the 50’s… the ones with the pretty pastel dollops of ice cream and distressed, vintage background. I used Distress Oxide Inks for all of my stamping today. The lovely, creamy colors lent themselves perfectly to ice cream, don’t you think?

I began by die cutting the cone and three scoops of ice cream from some cream colored card stock. Next, I stamped the cone using Wild Honey Distress Oxide ink and the ice cream scoops using Cracked Pistachio, Antique Linen, and Worn Lipstick (mint, vanilla, and strawberry!) inks. I added the sprinkles stamp to the strawberry scoop using some white pigment ink.

I trimmed down a panel of cream colored card stock to be slightly smaller than A2. I arranged my triple decker ice cream cone on the card front and adhered it with dimensional foam adhesive, then used the little heart stamps included in the Sweet Sprinkles set and more Antique Linen Oxide ink (some stamped off once to make a very subtle, almost bokeh look) to add some “confetti” in the background. I stamped the greeting using Walnut Stain Oxide ink, then added some clear embossing powder over the top to add a bit of shine to this fairly texturally flat card. I mounted the cream panel on a minty A2 card base.

Well, that’s all for my card! Aren’t those stamps just darling??! Now, a celebration deserves a giveaway!! Here are the details:

To celebrate, two randomly selected commenters will win a $30 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson shop and two commenters will win a $30 gift certificate to the Concord & 9th shop. To enter just leave a comment on the Ellen Hutson Classroom blog and the Concord blog by 12pm PST on December 26th.

Emily Midgett—-> you are here

Thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the hop! Your next stop is Lisa Adametz.

Waste not, want not! Celebrating Ellen Hutson!

November 24, 2017

Good morning! Happy day-after-Thanksgiving! I hope you all ate plenty of yumminess yesterday… and maybe are getting your shop on today. 😉 (I have more details about that at the bottom of my post! Stay tuned!) I showed you my holiday projects using the bits and pieces in a post a little earlier this week, and this project is along the same vein. Remember the 25 Days of Christmas Tags series the Where Creativity Meets C9 team participated in? I created a panel using the Floral Fill In stamps for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags and was able to make a card from the teeny bits and pieces!

I started by stamping the beautiful Blooms Fill In background from Concord and 9th (EH|C9) with Mountain Mist ink from Altenew, then added the “fill-in” bits with Cosmic Berry, Purple Wine, and Puffy Heart, then added the leaves with Volcano Lake and Lagoon inks. I die cut the two full bouquets using the coordinating dies (C9|EH) (which are super clever and include the lovely inked edge!), which left me several partial bouquets on the full panel. I was left with basically nothing on the stamped panel, but I had plenty of little floral bits to make a card!

I had also heat embossed the Plaid Background stamp (C9|EH) using white embossing powder for the background of the tag, and had a half of a panel left. I trimmed it down, then added two strips of pearlescent mint card stock from my stash on the edges. To arrange my bits of bouquet behind the panel, I first traced the edges of where my panel would sit on the gray card front, so that I would know where to arrange my flowers, then placed a piece of Scor Tape and adhered my flowers down. I added some silver glitter sprigs of foliage, also from the Floral Fill In die set (C9|EH), to add some sparkle and texture.

For the greeting, I used the Season of Cheer (EH|C9) dies from Concord and 9th cut from some silver foil card stock. For a finishing touch, I added a few Oyster Grey Nuvo Drops here and there amongst my blooms. I thought the sentiment would be perfect to help celebrate Ellen Hutson’s 11th anniversary sale! Ellen Hutson is celebrating 11 amazing years in this industry with a fabulous sale… 20% off (nearly) everything in the store!! I have been lucky enough to collaborate several times with Ellen Hutson, and I can personally attest to how well they treat their customers, as well as their guests. When I’m shopping, it always helps me to know that I am appreciated as a customer, and Ellen Hutson certainly does take care of their customers. Be sure to use the coupon code celebration17 during checkout to get your 20% discount!! Congratulations to the Ellen Hutson family on your anniversary! I hope you get to celebrate accordingly! 🙂

Have a marvelous day, friends! Enjoy all of your shopping and turkey leftovers!