Ellen Hutson Winter 2016 Stamp release blog hop

Welcome to the Ellen Hutson Winter 2016 Stamp release blog hop! My name is Carolyn Peeler and I'm happy that you've popped by for a visit and am excited to showcase several of the new Essentials by Ellen stamp sets and dies on my post today! If you've been following along with the hop, you will have arrived here from the blog of Carly Minner. 

While you're here, I invite you to connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest. And if, like me, you have wanderlust, then (after this blog hop) head on over to www.ladolcevitaforever.com to check out the week-long creative retreat I co-host in Tuscany, Italy. While our 2016 retreat is sold out, I would invite you to subscribe to our newsletter where you will receive details for upcoming retreats.

And, there's a special bonus for your visit today - yay!!! I get to give away an Essentials by Ellen stamp set!  The winner may chose ANY Essentials by Ellen brand stamp set (maximum value $15) currently in stock at Ellen Hutson. (How will you decide?! So many awesome options!!)  To enter my giveaway, please leave a comment on today’s post by February 16th! Please ensure you leave your email along with your comments or you have the "no reply” option disabled so that I can get in contact with you should you win.  You will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

 

There is also a crazy good Grand Giveaway in the CLASSroom!  To enter, be sure to leave a comment there, also by February 16th, with a valid email address; winners will be announced at the CLASSroom on Friday, February 19th! (UPDATE: Winner announced at the CLASSroom, here.)

 

If you get lost, please visit the CLASSroom blog for a complete list of all the designers. At the end of this post you will find the direct link which will take you to the next blog on this hop.

Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, let's dive into my projects! 

For my first project, I was asked to work with the "Mondo Hydrangea" stamp set. 

Although this flower looks like it has been watercolored, in fact, I colored it with Copic markers. Here's a quick walk through:
First, I stamped the Hydrangea image onto vellum with Versamark ink, and embossed it with white embossing powder. Then, I colored the BACK (or wrongside) of the vellum with Copic markers. I didn't try to blend the areas where colors met, instead I let the colors stay segregated, which is what gives this watercolorish (which is so totally not a word!) look. After coloring, I stuck Sookwang double sided adhesive onto the back of the vellum, covering the entire stamped surface and stuck it onto white cardstock. I then used the matching "Mondao Hydrengea" die to cut the image out. After prepping my card background (I did a light wash of green watercolor using "Mowed Lawn" Distress ink onto watercolor paper and then mounted that onto Bazzill "Gumball" cardstock), I mounted the hydrangea on pop dots and stuck it onto the background. The "hi, there" stamp, is from the new "All Inside" stamp set. As a finishing touch, I added some stitching with my sewing machine under the greeting.

For my second project, I was tasked with using the "Brushstroke Wonderful"  die and I combined it with the "Up the Happy" and "Totally Awesome" stamp sets.

 This one was so bright and fun! For this project, I used patterned paper from the "DIY Home" 6x6 paper pad, watercolor paper, black cardstock and Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade. I stamped the "You" using Momento Tuxedo Black ink. For the strings of the balloons I drew them by hand with a black marker. As a final step, I used regular kitchen twine to tie a bow around the balloon strings.

Thanks for your visit. Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win an Ellen Hutson Stamp set!

For your next stop on this ongoing blog hop, please head over to the blog of Lisa Spangler.  

Finally, here are the links to the products used in today's projects:

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mondo Hydrangea

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, All Inside

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Totally Awesome

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Up the Happy

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Mondo Hydrangea by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Up The Happy by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Brushstroke Wonderful by Julie Ebersole

Inkadinkado Clear Acrylic Blocks, Large

VersaMark Ink Pad

VersaMark Ink Pad, Small

Ranger Embossing Powder, White

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Picked Raspberry

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Mustard Seed

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Mustard Seed

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Spiced Marmalade

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Mowed Lawn

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Mowed Lawn

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Pebbles Jen Hadfield Homemade, DIY Home 6x6 paper pad

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Bazzill 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Be Creative Sheets, 5 pk (8x11)

Strathmore Watercolor Paper 9X12

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Gumball, 10 pk