SSS Sweet Wished Blog Hop, Sketched Leaves

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday!  Today I'm helping celebrate the new Simon Says Stamp Sweet Wishes release with a blog hop.  All good blog hops have prizes, and there are lots to be had here.  Simon is giving away a $25 store credit at every stop on the hop.  All you need to do to be entered is to leave a comment.  AND, with any order placed this weekend, you can receive the Tidings of Cheer die set pictured above with code FYCHR.

You should be arriving from Mindy Eggen's blog, and I'll have the full hop list at the end of this post if you need it.  

Today I'm showing off my Sketched Leaves set.  I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with how this set turned out.  I had so much fun creating today's cards.

For this first card, I used all four of the leaves in the set, randomly stamping them with Watermelon, Amethyst, Pucker, and Cherry ink to create my own patterened paper.  I love the look you get when the leaves overlap!

Once I was happy with the coverage, I trimmed the panel down, and added a dark purple mat.

The sentiment, also from the set, was embossed in white.  I added a mat to that as well and popped it up with foam tape.

I went super simple with the next card.

I started by creating a panel using Distress Spray Stains and water.  I used Ground Espresso, Carved Pumpkin,, and Candied Apple for the panel.  I started by liberally spraying my panel with water, and then with the spray stains.  I added a bit more water and then more spray stain moving the panel around to mix the colors until I got the look I wanted.  This is a very inexact science, but I love the depth and coverage you get from the sprays vs just using watercolor.

Once the panel was dry, I ran it through my die cutting machine by itself to help flatten it out, and then gold embossed the leaf and sentiment.  The panel was then popped up on my card base with foam tape.

I created several panels along with the one above, and used another of them for this last card.  This time I used Villainous Potion, Candied Apple, and Carved Pumpkin, and Ground Espresso.

I used three different metallic embossing powders for this card, one for each leaf: Copper, Princess Gold (this is actually my go to gold) and regular Gold. 

Each of the leaves was placed on the panel using my stamping platform, stamped and embossed, and then I rotated the panel 180 degrees and stamped and embossed again.

The sentiment was embossed with Princess Gold on a watercolor panel, inked with Villainous Potion and Ground Espresso Distress ink, adhered to a Matte Gold mat, and popped up with foam tape.

That's all for me today.  Your next stop is Bibi Cameron, and the full list is below.  Don't forget to leave a comment ot be entered to win.  Good luck!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Laura Bassen
Nichol Spohr
Cathy Zielske
Barbara Tarayao
Mindy Eggen
Miriam Prantner
Bibi Cameron
Cheiron Brandon
Heather Ruwe
Keisha Charles
Karin Åkesdotter
Kath Stewart
Barb Engler
Betsy Green