Pinkfresh Studio May Essentials Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the Pinkfresh Studio May Essentials Release Blog Hop! I'm sharing three projects with you today using a few of the new Essentials that you're sure to love! I always get so excited for the "Essentials" releases because the new products give me new ideas to freshen up my designs and to keep those creative juices flowing!

Before I dive into the details of my projects, there are a few details to make you aware of! As always, please leave a comment here and on all the stops of the hop for a chance to win one of 10 $25 dollar gift certificates to the shop! Also, head to the Pinkfresh You Tube and Facebook pages for two chances to win the ENTIRE release!

As I mentioned earlier, I have three projects to share with you today! Up first is something I am SUPER excited about and that is the new Mini Slimline Essentials Bundle! This particular suite of products is jam-packed with everything you need to make mini slimline cards! I can tell I will be using these A LOT!

I'm also beyond excited for the new Mini Slimline Envelope Die Set! I've always loved making my own envelopes and the fact that there is a die makes it even better! You know all of that 12 by 12 pattern paper that you've been hoarding? Well, now you can make your own envelopes to put your mini slimline cards in! There is also a new slimline envelop die for all of your regular sized slimline cards! 

To begin this mini slimline card, I used the Slim Leafy Squares stencil and rainbow colors to create the background panel. Once it was done, I die cut it using the largest diagonal stitched die from the new bundle! I also die cut the circle, which is also included in the bundle.

For the sentiment, which was super hard to photograph (grr), I did some quick inkblending onto  a white piece of cardstock and then die cut it using the Love You the Most die. I glued it all together and then added some Nuvo Crystal Glaze over the top of the letters to give them that retro puffy sticker look! The butterfly is from the Butterflies stamp set that was released last month! And of course, I couldn't resist making a rainbow mini slimline envelope to match!

My second card for today uses the AMAZING new Blanket Stitched Oval dies! These are one of those die sets that you KNOW you will be using again and again! I also used the delightful new Garden Wreath dies that were released last month!

To begin this design, I heat embossed the Enchanted Blooms cling stamp and then added Ocean Breeze and Aquamarine ink over the top. Once that was done, I used the smaller of the two oval sets to die cut the opening. I saved the middle portion and used it on my last card for today. I layered the embossed panel over the top of a white card base that has the flower die cut piece using the Modern Bloom die. I used to shy away from using this but as soon as I got my Gemini Jr., it cuts like butter and I can't stop using it!

I layered the leaves and flowers around the oval using liquid glue. I added the "you're a great friend" sentiment to the middle using foam squares.

My third and final card for today's hop uses the other butterfly that is included in the butterfly set I used on my first card. As you can see, I used that middle portion of the emboss-resist background from my previous card. 

I also used the largest oval to go behind the smaller blue oval. I heat embossed the sentiment using white powder on a black strip of cardstock to make it pop! Before I send you off to the other designers' blogs, there is something that I think you'll all be happy about! I love to use the Essentials: Jewels on most of my projects and know you can buy them in each individual color so you can replenish your favorites or simply purchase your favorites! With that, I'll send you on your way for the rest of the hop! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

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The Challenge #93 {Everyone needs a friend like you}

Just popping in with this week's new design for The Challenge! It's keywords again, which I just really love! I hope you got a chance to play last time and that you're excited to play again this week! I realized something this week...my last three cards for the challenge have been YELLOW! How crazy is that?! I guess I just really like yellow! I also decided to use it because one of the keywords is Friendship and yellow roses are a symbol of friendship so I guess that just stuck in my brain.

                                             

 Anyway, you can check out all of the details HERE. If you'd like even more inspiration, you can see what the other designers have come up with as well.

Anita Madden

Claire Broadwater

Kim Heggins

Lee Ann Barret

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

For my card, I chose to use the Glorious Petals Stencil as well as some embossing paste and clear embossing powder for a fun effect. It is the same technique that I used on THIS card and I included a little bit of a tutorial if you are interested. Since one of the keywords is "monochromatic", I only used two shades of yellow! After it was all done, I die cut it using the largest circle nestabilities die that I have. The sentiment was heat embossed using gold powder onto a strip of vellum cardstock. I didn't want to hide the fabulous background that I created so I thought vellum would be a nice choice. A strip of thin gold washi tape underneath the sentiment adds a little bit of shine and a few more circles.

I punched out quite a few butterflies using an old Martha Stewart Crafts punch in three shades of yellow for contrast and interest. I adhered them onto the circle portion using liquid glue. I bent them in the middle first so that they would have a little bit of dimension.

The finishing touch was a trio of yellow rainbow sparkle jewels around the sentiment. I also couldn't resist making a coordinating envelope since I had a template in the perfect size. This sweet little card measures 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 I also created a liner for it as well in another yellow pattern. Everything looks so sunny and happy! I hope you get a chance to play! Thanks for fluttering by!

Keeping Christmas {From the desk of}

"I will honor Christmas in my heart...and try to keep it all the year long." ~Charles Dickens

I'm super excited to share this month's "Keeping Christmas" project with you. To be honest, they are becoming some of my most favorite projects. I seriously can't seem to make myself stop...as you will see today...there are LOTS of pictures! It's almost like 3 posts in one! Well, since I have a lot to share, let's get on with the projects!

This project is actually years in the making...I have been wanting to execute this idea ever since Santa Stationery came out back in 2010. Every year I have grand plans of putting together these "letters" and every year I am just too busy once the Holiday season hits. Not this year, however!!! When I started brainstorming what I should do for this month's project, I was so happy that I remembered this! It was SO much fun to do, but I had to be sneaky which was hard with my kids home for the summer. I even have to blog this sneakily...they are outside right now and my heart beats fast every time I hear someone bounding through the door! LOL!

To get started, I found a pack of super old SU! Christmas paper that is double sided which worked out perfectly for today's project. It eliminated the need to make liners for the envelopes and it also made it so that when I folded the "certificates" they looked nice as well. So...what I have created here are "nice list declaration" certificates for each of my kids from the desk of Santa Claus! I am a brave woman by declaring them "nice" this early in the year, especially during summer break! LOL! 

To create the certificates, I cut each piece of 12 by 12 pattern paper in half. I heat embossed the "from the desk of Santa Claus" sentiment at the top of each paper. After that was done, I quickly perused the other images to make sure that I placed them in a way that made sense. You can choose how you would like to lay them out, but I liked this way. Most every thing was just stamped in black because it stood out nicely on the pattern paper, but I did emboss the line for Santa's "signature" as well. Each child's name is stamped out using some seriously old alphabet stamps from PSX...they're my favorite and I will never part with them. Once those were all stamped, I trimmed them to the correct size. I also needed to trim the edges of the certificates as well because my handmade envelopes were slightly too small for the 6 inch width.

Let's talk about the handmade envelopes for a minute...they were created using another dear treasure...my Martha By Mail envelope templates. I used to use these for EVERY card I made WAY back in the day! I'm so old now that I can say "way back in the day"! I'm glad I had a need to pull them out to create these one of a kind envelopes straight from the North Pole *wink*. The envelope templates actually inspired the rest of the projects that you will see later on.

You can see the one that I used for this project in the photo. I love that you can use it either horizontally or vertically. It also included a template to make the liners if you'd like as well, but since I used double sided paper, I didn't need to use this feature. You can also see the seals that I created by using gold embossing powder layered multiple times. This used to be my "go-to" technique to share at all of my SU! demonstrations. It was the perfect technique to create a realistic looking seal.

Don't they look fabulous on the envelopes? Signed, sealed and delivered...well, they will be in December! ha ha! I added one of my favorite sentiment stamps on the flap of the envelope. I have used these on different projects in the past, but it felt good to actually used them all coordinated together. I also made some santa postage stamps using the included stamp image as well as the postage die for a realistic look. I also used the "canceled" image from the postage stamp set to add to the charm.

I had Santa's signature in the return address section and the "please deliver via the polar Express bin the addressee section. My little boys will love that!!!

Once those were finished, I decided that I couldn't let the remaining images go un-inked so I put together a quick set of letters that my kids can send to Santa! I can't wait to pull these out, whip up a pot of hot cocoa and let them get to work! 

It will be interesting to see if they check naughty or nice. I used the postage strip in the blue and red from the postage set as well and inked it up with markers. I just used cheapy typing paper and standard envelopes! 

They're all addressed and ready to go! I put all of these letters back into my envelope template kit to keep them safe until December!

So.... like I mentioned before, the envelope templates inspired yet another project! There is a tiny gift enclosure card envelope template that was begging to be used for a Christmas tag. It was all feeling a little squeal worthy! I didn't want the tags to look anything like the previous project because my kids are clever and I didn't want their wheels to start turning. I went to my Christmas paper section and found a fabulous plaid that worked perfectly!

I was able to get 9 tiny envelopes traced onto 2 sheets of 12 by 12 paper. I wanted to make 6 tags, so I decided to make 3 coordinating cards with the remaining envelopes.

I used the fabulous knitted embossing folder from Richard Garay for the background of the cards. I used it on a nautical card I previewed on Instagram the other day. It worked surprisingly well on that design, too!

I couldn't decide if I liked it better with red baker's twine or without, so I tried both.

I really like how these tags came out. I used a black seal on the tags and I opted for a red seal on the cards. I like both.

I decided to create a quick set of tags, too, just like last month. These worked up so quickly! I literally had to make myself stop or I would have just kept going! I am really enjoying these projects so much! I actually stumbled upon a Christmas challenge on Instagram today. Uh oh! I might be in trouble!!!! Thanks for fluttering by! P.S. I would be over the moon if you would share any Christmas projects that you work on! Use the hashtag #keepingchristmas2017 on Instagram!