Simon Says Stamp In My Heart Blog Hop ~ Day 1

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 1 of the In My Heart Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be joining this hop, and you might have arrived here from Miriam Prantner's blog, but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, by clicking HERE and if you would like to see the entire product release, then pop on over to HERE.

For my card, I was inspired by watching the flowers come to life in the garden, and knowing that spring is finally on its way. But of course, spring also brings another special occasion ~ Mother's Day and with this card, I wanted to celebrate all those special Moms out there who deserve to be made a fuss of. And even though my Mom is a bright star in the sky, that would never stop me celebrating and honouring her and I used some of the gorgeous products from the release, together with a few Tim Holtz products to make a very special card for my best friend.

So, let's begin ~ it's time to share how I created this card and the arrangment of flowers.

CARD BLANK and LAYERS

I started by making a card blank from Kraft card measuring, 17.5 x 13.5cm.

I then cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card, and lightly misted the surface with water before applying Speckled Egg, Bundled Sage and Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stains. After another mist of water to blend the inks, I heat dried the panel.

I then inked up the 'dots" stamp from the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Dots and Floral stamp set using Peeled Paint Archival Ink, and stamped onto the panel. For a panel of this size, you will need to re-ink the stamp and repeat to get a continuous pattern.

After machine stitched a border around the edge of the stamped panel, I mounted it onto the centre of my card blank.

I then cut a panel of green card from the Cool Kraft Stock Stack measuring, 14.5 x 10.5cm and matted this onto a layer of mixed media heavystock inked with Mustard Seed Distress Ink, and a second layer of the green card, each time leaving a narrow border showing around the outside.

Attach the panels to the centre of the covered card blank to form the base layers for the floral centrepiece.

EMBOSSED PANEL

For my next layers, I used the AALL & Create Quirky Postage Dies and cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock using the largest size of postage stamp, together with the inner solid layer.

I inked the die cut cardstock with the same sprays as I previously used on the background, heat dried the inks and then inked the edges of each piece with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Taking the inner die cut layer, I placed this inside the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Intertwined Embossing Folder and ran this through my Big Shot.

I then added a machine stitched border before attaching this piece to my postage stamp die cut and wrapping a piece of velvet ribbon around the bottom section of the panel, securing the ends at the back.

On either end of the ribbon, I added two idea-ology Mini Clips.

Using foam pads, I attached the layers to my card front.

CIRCLE OF FLOWERS

For the circle itself, I used the SSS Stitched Circles die set, approx 8.5cm in diameter and the SSS Basic Circles Die Set. Using the Stitched Circle die, die cut a piece of Kraft heavystock. You only need the solid section from the die cut, discard the remaining waste or you can use it as frame for another project.

I then took the next size down in the Stitched Circles die set and using a circle, slightly larger in size, I placed this on the outside of the Stitched Circle die. Run this through the Big Shot and you will be left with a frame and a solid circle. You need both of these. Repeat this process three more times but this time I cut the pieces from gold metallic Kraft card. You should now have one solid large circle in Kraft, one smaller circle in the mixed media heavy stock and four frames. Place any leftover circles to one side for another day.

Ink the edges of the Kraft circle with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then layer the frames over one another to form a raised edge to the circle.

Add colour to the remaining solid mixed media heavystock circle, using the same Distress Stray Stains as used on the background. Once dry, attach the solid circle to the centre of the frame.

To create more of a vintage feel to the gold metallic frame, I lightly sanded the surface and then used Crackling Campfire, Antiqued Bronze Distress Paints and a light touch of Black Soot Distress Paints. Apply these in layers directly onto the metallic surface, building up the colour to create the rusty look to the frame.

Attach the circle to the card front with foam pads.

FLORAL CENTREPIECE

The flowers and stems are die cut from Distress Watercolour Card using the Jaunty Stem Die Set.

I used two layers for each flower and then coloured the petals and stems with Distress Inks in the following colours:

Flowers: Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed and Saltwater Taffy

Stems: Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage and Rustic Wilderness

Once all my die cuts were watercolored, I layered the pieces to create double petals, added the centres and completed each flower with some white pen work. I then attached all the die cuts to my circle, arranging them to fill the circle and using foam pads to add height and dimension.

FINISHING DETAILS

We're nearly there and all that's left is those finishing details....

Using the Mom set of EZ Strips, I cut the "To the best mom ever', which I matted onto Kraft card and 'I love you" from the sheets.

I attached the first sentiment across the bottom of my circle of flowers.

With the other sentiment, I placed this into a die cut label frame. The label is cut from metallic cardstock using the dies from the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Specimen Die Set and I attached a screw head to either side of the frame. I then altered the surface using the same technique as I used on the circle.

The label frame is attached to the centre of the velvet ribbon strip using Matte collage Medium to secure it into place.

Finally, I added some Cello Sticker Tape pieces around the edges of the card...

...pinned a Mini Pin to the corner of the background layer, which I folded back, and completed the card by placing a Snippets Ephemera Piece, '5 For' to the top right hand corner.

So, that's my card finished and I hope you love what I've created and enjoyed the techniques I've used.

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the blog hop from the blog comment section! So, this means you can leave a comment here and on every stop along the way to increase your chances. Winners will be notified and they will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, 25th March and all winners will need to contact/email Simon Says Stamp to claim their prize. 

Also, don't forget that you will have the not yet released Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Day 3x4 stamp automatically added to your card that contains any purchase from the In My Heart Collection. The gift with purchase will expire on the 22nd March at 11;59pm EDT or whilst stocks last.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and don't forget to go and check out Day 2 of the hop tomorrow!!!

See you soon, love Emma x

HOP ORDER:

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Barbara Tarayao

Suzy Plantamura

Cathy Zielske

Nicky Meek

Heather Ruwe

Tina Smith

Lisa Addesa

Mindy Eggen

Miriam Prantner

Emma Williams <<<you are here

Kim Hamilton

Dana Joy

Rosemary Dennis

Carol Hintermeier

Amy Tsuruta

CLICK HERE to shop all products used to make this card

Simon Says Stamp: Basic Circles Die Set, Stitched Circles, Jaunty Stem, EZ Strips Mom Set

Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Intertwined Embossing Folder, Specimen

AALL & Create: Quirky Post Dies

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Dots and Floral

Distress Spray Stains: Pumice Stone, Speckled Egg, Bundled Sage

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Saltwater Taffy, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage and Rustic Wilderness

Tim Holtz Distress Paints: Black Soot, Crackling Campfire and Antiqued Bronze

Mediums and Adhesive: SSS Foam Squares, SSS Tape Runner, Black Pen, Matte Collage Medium

Surfaces: Kraft Card, Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Distress Watercolour Card

Tim Holtz idea-ology: Mini Pins, Kraft Stock Stack Cool, Hardware Heads, Cello Sticker Tape, Snippets Ephemera, Tiny Clips

Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat

Sizzix Big Shot

Now, it's time to hop to the next stop...

Kim Hamilton