Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes Blog Hop

Hey everyone!  Today I'm participating in the Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes Blog Hop today.  I'm extra excited about this because I designed one of the products in the box, the Concentric Circle Die.

Stamp of Approval is a collection of products (stamps and dies) that work fabulously together but they’ll also work incredibly well with supplies you already own. They are released quarterly and sell out quickly (the last one sold out in 33 hours!). To be the first to know when they go for sale, make sure you are on the wait list (www.cpstampofapproval.com). You’ll get the link to purchase one day before it goes for sale publicly. Not only do you get a box FULL of amazing stamps and dies, but you’ll get a downloadable PDF Project Guide (for free!) with tons of project tutorials using them! The stamps and dies in the Stamp of Approval Collections are brand new on the market and won’t be released for individual sale for several months.

For my first two cards I'm featuring the Concentric Circle Die.

I started by cutting the die once from regular white cardstock and once from Smooth White cardstock.  Then I used Copics to color the pieces, varying the intensity of the shades in the concentric circles and added just a small bit of shading.

Those colored pieces were then inlaid into the regular white cardstock piece which was adhered to a black mat cut using the frame for the Concentric Circle Die.  The sentiment is from the Handpainted Thanks set.



I created my own polka dot paper for the mat using one of the stamps from the Lovely Flowers stamp set.

For the next card, I wanted to show that you can use the die vertically as well, and I went very modern and graphic with the design.



The die was cut from both black and white cardstock, and I cut the coordinating mat in white.  I adhered the black die to the white mat, and then added some inlaid pieces to create an alternating look to the circles.  I continued the design into the center of the die, using some of the negative cuts.  A couple of the white pieces were trimmed down a bit, and the circles on the inside are not perfect, but I think that actually adds to the graphic look of the card.



I combined two sentiments from Butterfly Notes set, embossing them in white towards the bottom of the card.  The entire panel was then popped up over some colored cardstock.

Finally, I really wanted to use the wreath from Wonderful Wreath.  The technique I used yielded two cards from one inking, and is a great way to mass produce cards.



To create the look, I colored over the wreath with a Distress Marker, spritzed the wreath with water, and then stamped it on some watercolor paper.  Without reinking or remisting, I stamped it again on a second piece of watercolor paper.  This was repeated with several shades of Distress Ink.



Then I went in with a waterbrush to soften and blend a little.  This step is totally optional.  You might like a more delicate crisp look in which case, just skip the waterbrush.  The cards are very similar, but one is clearly lighter and more delicate than the other.



I finished both cards with that Handpainted Thanks sentiment again, embossed in copper on the darker card and gold on the lighter, and then stitched the watercolor panels to the card base.  Very simple, but that wreath really does stand on its own.

 

OK, you'll want to continue on the hop now, head on over to Lisa's blog!  This is actually a three day hop, and Catherine is giving away a box to a lucky commenter on each day of the hop!  Head over to Catherine's blog to start.  Here is the full hop list if you get turned around:

Catherine Pooler

Laura Bassen

Maureen Merritt

Miriam Prantner

Lisa Harrolle

Deepti Stephens

Laurel Beard

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