Hey, friends!! If you're visiting me for the first time today, then welcome, welcome! I'm so glad each of you are here!! Whether you're new or you've been coming here for years, I hope that your time with me today will be a blessing to you!
I'm popping in with a few fun cards to share for a Spellbinders Blog Hop that's happening today! The Spellbinders crew reached out to me to see if I'd want to participate in their blog hop and use a few of their die sets from the new Shadowbox die collection by Becca Feeken, to create some cards with, and I happily agreed! They sent me four die sets to work with and I've mixed and matched and used them all here, on a few different cards, starting with this beauty!
Be sure to read all the way to the end of the post, because the folks at Spellbinders are hosting a giveaway and all the details for how to enter to win, can be found at the bottom of this post!
So let's talk about this first card, shall we? Goodness, it makes me smile! I love the bright pops of color against the crisp white background! I used the new Cinch & Go IV dies, to cut out those delicious flower and leaf layers from a panel of watercolor card stock, that I'd colored with some reds and pinks and purples. Seriously, this is a really easy way to create a gorgeous flower......you can really kind of blob the watercolor on your whole panel without worrying about being too precise, because once you die cut all the layers and stack them up, it all kind of blends together to create really pretty flowers.
A nice thing about these flower dies, is that they cut out several different sizes of the same flower shape, and you can use as many or as few of them as you'd like, in each little flower stack. So I took the flower die (that cuts multiple flowers) and die cut it twice. Then, I stacked up the flowers in various arrangements, to create these three flowers. Another really handy thing about them is that they all have a tiny die cut hole in the center. So I just popped a brad in the center of each and VOILA! Done!
You could literally watercolor a few panels of card stock and then die cut them and pop a whole pile of flowers together in literally no time at all, once your watercolor is dry!
As for that gorgeous frame, I used the Adoria Square Shadowbox Frame dies to cut that out. The set includes five dies that all nest together, so you can use them all or any combination of them, or you can use them individually as well. Lots of options with these. To create the frame, I used the largest outer die, the decorative detailed square in the middle, and a small square to cut out the center. But because they all nest together perfectly, you can just run them through your die cutting machine at the same time and cut this beauty out in one pass. Love.
I used some spray adhesive to attach the frame to the card front because it's so fast and easy, and I turned it on an angle for a fun twist! I trimmed off a bit from the bottom and two sides, leaving the point at the top intact. All that was left to do was add a sentiment, which is from my Blooming Amaryllis stamp set.
{Much Love supplies -- click on thumbnails}
Ok, so next up is a fun card.....I used the new Vintage Starburst Valance and Gatefold die set, to cut out a panel that I used as a stencil on the top of my card! I love that pretty shape, but I wanted to layer the butterfly over the top. However, when layering it over the top of the die cut scalloped panel, it just felt like I kept "losing" the detail on the butterflies wings, because of all that gorgeous detail on the scallops. SOLUTION: Use that pretty scalloped detail, but in a more subtle fashion than in actual die cut form! I layered the die cut scalloped panel over the card base, and did some ink blending with an ink blending tool. I went for a tone-on-tone look and used the same color ink as the card stock, so that it would be a bit more subtle.
Then, when I popped that gorgeous die cut butterfly on top (from the new Flutter Wing Shadowbox Butterflies collection), it really allowed the butterfly to POP. As for that butterfly, it was die cut from another piece of card stock that I'd watercolored.
I added a strip of green card stock, as well as a scalloped strip that was cut with another die from that same Starburst set. Lastly, I added a sentiment from my "The Skinny" stamp set, to finish it off.
{Wishing You a Very Happy Birthday supplies}
Ok, one more for you today, that's just for fun because I couldn't resist! Is it an owl? Is it a peacock? I'll let you decide! Haha! I got a set of these cute little wooden owls at Michael's awhile back, and wanted to use one here. I layered up five die cuts from that same Vintage Starburst set I used on the previous card, as a stencil. And then, I used several more watercolored leaves that were left over from the first card I made at the top of this post, to tuck behind the owl and give him a little place to "nest". I think he likes it. What do you think? Haha!
I just love how all of those scallops look layered up! I chose not to put a sentiment on this card because it already has a lot going on. But it's perfect for a little "just because" note card. And if you wanted to make one but reeeeally wanted to add a sentiment, you can always stamp one on the inside!
Isn't he cute?! Gah.
OK, so I mentioned a giveaway at the top of this post! Here's all the info from Spellbinders:
"To celebrate this release, we are giving away a $50 gift certificate to 3 lucky blog readers – selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. Giveaway closes on Sunday, February 10th 11:59 pm EDT. Winners will be announced in our blog hop post the following Monday. Winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes."
Friends, I really hope it's one of YOU that wins! That means you're gonna need to leave a comment here, to get yourself entered to win!! You can also comment on the other gals blog posts as well! I'm sure they'd love to hear from you! Plus, you might as well leave them some love and give yourself more chances at winning, while you're at it!
I'm grateful you chose to spend a bit of your day with me and I hope you're feeling a bit inspired as you head on to the next stop in the hop! Here's a list of all the gals participating today, so you can visit each one! I'm looking forward to visiting them myself, to see what all they've created to share with you!
Spellbinders
Becca Feeken
Nichol Spohr
Hussena Calcuttawala
Jung AhSang
Tina Smith
Lea Lawson
Desiree Kuemmerle
Dawn McVey <<<In case you've lost track, you are HERE! Head to Olga next, & if you missed the gals at the top of the list, you can circle back to them as well!
Olga Direktorenko
Gemma Campbell
Sandra Nagel
Jennifer Snyder
Jean Manis
Yana Smakula
Thanks for popping in today and if this is your first time here, I so hope you've enjoyed yourself and I hope you'll stop in again soon! You'd be most welcome! If you'd like to join me on social media, you can find me on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest! I'd love it if you'd come say hi!
Have a wonderful day, sweet friends!
(Affiliates Disclaimer: Just so you know, I sometimes use affiliate links here on my blog, which means that I participate in several affiliate programs, in which I may receive a small commission when you click one of these links and purchase a product at the corresponding product site (usually within a certain amount of time). There are no additional costs for you as a result of these links, but by shopping through these links, you are not only supporting me and the work I do here in the Raspberry Suite studio, but you're also helping me to continue to bring you beautiful content and inspiration here at my blog, for free! Please know that I share products with you that I use and enjoy and I make every effort to represent those to you honestly. Thanks so much, friends, for your support! I appreciate you!)
{Owl Notecard supplies}
