Pinkfresh Studio Essentials 3 Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! So much fun stuff going on today!!! I'm thrilled to here today helping Pinkfresh Studio with their Essentials 3 Release and Blog Hop! I am in love with the entire Essentials Product Line and these new additions are no exception! I know you will fall in love, too! I've got quite a few projects to share with you today, so make sure you scroll to the bottom to see how I've used many of these new essential dies in some fun and festive ways! Also, we're doing the blog hop a little bit differently this time around, so hopefully I've linked everything up correctly! If not, I apologize; computers aren't my strong suit! 

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As always, there's a fun prize for one of my lucky readers; simply leave a comment here to be eligible for the randomly drawn prize! Make sure you head to the Winner's Page to see if you are the lucky winner! There is free shipping on U.S. orders over $100 dollars!

My first set of cards use the new Essentials Ornate Banner which I shared a sneak peek of a few days ago! Of course, it was just a sneak and I hadn't finished it yet, but someone commented on how much they loved the "shaped" card. As you can see, it didn't end up as a shaped card because I was dying to use the new Essentials Radiating Background 1 as well, but I will DEFINITELY be trying that! LOL! These beautiful banner dies were the perfect companion for the Forever in our Hearts stamp set! There was an unfortunate shipping mishap during the release of this set, so I didn't get to use it at that time, but I was thrilled to use it on two of today's cards.

To begin this particular card, I used the AMAZING Rainbow With Splatters A2 sized Washi Tape on a panel of white cardstock. I used the inner portion of the largest Banner dies and die cut the panel. I also stamped the sentiment in black ink for some contrast.

I heat embossed the butterfly image onto a second panel using gold powder for high shine and detail. I die cut it using the Forever in our Hearts die and added it to the rainbow banner using foam squares.  I also layered the rainbow banner onto the largest panel of the banner dies using additional foam squares. I layered that onto the panel that was die cut using the Radiating Background 1 die. I love that extra bit of detail it gives to the card. I just couldn't resist adding some beautiful rainbow gems from the Essentials Jewel Mix here and there.

This second card doesn't actually use any of the new dies, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw away the negative space left over from the embossed butterfly I used on the first card so I quickly made this second one using that panel. It ended up having some excess embossing powder stick to the top, but since I wasn't planning on using the panel I didn't think anything of it! I actually love it and it really adds to the effect of the other gold splatters on the washi tape.

I heat embossed the sentiment onto a strip of vellum and wrapped it around the card and secured it with a tape runner.

The butterfly on this card is embossed onto some heavy duty vellum cardstock for a light, but sturdy look. 

I'm completely switching gears for this second design and feeling a little festive! This card was 1000 percent inspired by Debbie's card that she made recently, only mine pales in comparison to hers, but I really liked the colors and use of background and die cuts paired together, so that was the catalyst for this second design! Once again, I'm using the Essentials Ornate Banner die collection to create this country/chalkboard look!

I stamped the image from the Cozy Christmas Stamp Set in white onto a panel of blue cardstock that was die cut using the banner dies. I used my finger to smudge the ink to get that trendy/fun chalkboard look. In real life it's not so smudgy looking, but when I sharpened my image in editing, it really enhanced it! LOL! 

This stamped banner is then added to a white panel that was die cut using the amazing new Essentials Fancy Diagonal Stripes . I also added that to the top folding A2 cardbase to give it a tone on tone, but dimensional look. I also added the Leafy Branch that was sponged with some Olive Ink. I added some Nuvo drops, jewels and glitter to give it some extra holiday sparkle!

Now things are getting downright Jolly; I've paired the Fancy Diagonal Stripes with a few new things and oldies to give this peppermint twist design some Christmas whimsy!

My husband brought home a co-worker gift the other day that had an ornament adorning the sweet box. I, of course, was immediately inspired to translate some of the details onto a card. The ornament had the word joy with Santa's belt stretched across the "O". I had to modify that idea, but I still like how it turned out.

The new Ornate Oval die set the stage perfectly to added the word "JOY" that was die cut using the Kelly Alpha Upper and stacked twice. I also added some of the greenery images from the Sparkle With Magic stamp set using the same Olive ink I used in the previous card.

To get the "buckle" vibe for the belt, I heat embossed one of the sentiments from the Skiing By stamp set onto a piece of gold cardstock that was die cut using the Fancy Label Frames. In hindsight, I would have made the black "belt' portion a little wider, heat embossed the sentiment in gold onto that and then added the open frame to create a true buckle look! Oh well! Sometimes these ideas come to me as I'm editing my photos and it's too late! LOL!

That being said, I actually love the result I got with the tone on tone embossing using metallics; it looks like an army dog tag! I'll be keeping that idea in my back pocket for a future design!

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I added some jewels to the sprigs of greenery to mimic berries and give the card some added sparkle! 

I had a ball working on these cards using so many of the new essentials dies, but of course, the ideas are endless and I can't wait to play some more! Thanks for fluttering by!