Welcome to the February 2017 Essentials by Ellen Release Hop! I’ll be showcasing several of the new products on my post today! For those of you who are visiting for the first time, I invite you to connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest. My social media links can be found on the top right sidebar of this blog.
It’s a great day to stop by as courtesy of Ellen Hutson, I’m giving away an Essentials by Ellen stamp set! SWEET! The winner may chose any in stock Essentials by Ellen brand stamp set (Maximum value $25 USD) at Ellen Hutson.com To enter, please leave a comment on today’s post by Tuesday, February 28!
There is also an AMAZING Grand Giveaway on the CLASSroom! To enter, be sure to leave a comment there, too, by Tuesday, February 28!
ALL winners will be announced at the CLASSroom on Friday, March 3! Please check there on that date to see if you are a winner and for further details on claiming your prize!
If you get lost along the hop, please visit the CLASSroom blog for a complete list of all the designers.
So let's jump right in, shall we?
Super Cute, right?!
I decided to watercolor the doe and use her as the focal point of my card.
My card features patterned paper from the Pinkfresh Indigo Hills paper collection (along the left side of the card), Taylored Expression Cupcake cardstock (along the bottom of the card), a do-it-yourself #8 kraft tag that I made by using a different colored #8 tag as a template, and a vintage ledger paper and buttons. The watercolor ivy/flower frame around the deer was freehand painted, using Prima Watercolor Confections in The Classics. If painting a simple ivy frame like this is something you would like to see as a future tutorial, please let me know :)
My next assignment was to create a card featuring the "Mirror, mirror" Stamp and Die set, by Brandi Kincaid.
I wanted to do something beyond the obvious with this set, so spent some time shuffling materials around on my desk and trying various things when all of a sudden I had a lightbulb and wondered "what if, instead of using the die set as a mirror, I use it as a chalkboard?!" The hand lettering nature of the sentiments make it a great choice for this application. So, create a chalkboard I did!
To create the chalkboard background I used Taylored Expressions Oreo cardstock and, using a round ink blender tool, applied white ink to the center area of the black circle. (Handy Tip: I used a pigment ink that was no longer super juicy and dabbed the applicator onto scratch paper twice before rubbing the ink onto the black paper as I wanted a very muted application of color. If you have a juicy ink pad, you will want to spend a bit more time dabbing the ink applicator in order to remove most of the ink from your tool.) I then allowed the white ink from the chalkboard background to dry completely before embossing the sentiment (A heat tool can help with this). That is probably the most important step. If you do not allow it to dry your embossing powder will stick to the background when you try to emboss the greeting. Once the background ink is dry I prepped the area by rubbing it with the Embossing Magic bag then I stamped the greeting with Ranger Emboss it! ink, then sprinkled Ranger SuperFine White Embossing powder on it and heat embossed.
The beautiful background paper is from the Pink Paislee "Take me Away" 6x6 paper pad. It's so pretty and really is the only additional embellishment needed.
Thanks so much for joining me today, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Your next stop is the blog of Nicole Spohr. ENJOY!
Here are the links to the products in the Ellen Hutson shop:
