Your Hearts Desire Blog Hop with Laura's Loft

Hey lovelies, welcome to the Your Hearts Desire blog hop with Laura's Loft.  We have tons of awesome projects to share with you, not to mention a giveaway, a killer 35% off sale at the shop and as always, $10 off a purchase of $75 or more from the shop, from 5/5/16 to 5/15/16.  I don't know about you, but I will be taking advantage of that wicked awesome sale!! :)  More details are at the bottom of my post.  You should arrived here from the delightful Deana's blog, but if you want to start from the top, here's our fearless leaders Laura's blog.


My first project I have to share was an experiment that turned out to be just awesome.  I was quite pleasantly surprised at how well the inks worked together and LOVE the contrast they created.

Supplies:
Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock
Simon Says Stamp Blue Violet cardstock
Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set
Altenew Painted Inspirations stamp set
Altenew Shades of Purple ink set
Altenew Cool Summer Nights ink set

Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad
Post-It notes (for masking)
Scor-tape (or other adhesive)
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die set
Sizzix Inksheets in Gold
Sizzix Inksheets Transfer pad
VersaMark ink
WOW Gold Superfine EP
Stampin Up Tempting Turquoise cardstock

Peony Bouquet by Altenew is a layering stamp set.  That means that the image is built by layering each image over the previous one in a sequence.  Many come with instructions printed on the packaging, but they are all fairly simple to figure out.  You start with the lightest ink and work towards the darkest.  This card was a bit of an experiment because the gold ink I used is pigment ink and the purples are dye inks and I didn't know how the dye ink would sit over the pigment, but was pleasantly surprised as it turned out beautifully.

Start with Delicata Golden Glitz followed by Deep Iris and Midnight Violet, in that order.  Mask off the flower and stamp leaves in the following order: Ocean Waves, Dusk, and Desert Nights.  If desired, add smaller bloom off the original flower, using the same inks in the same order.  Run the piece through the die cut machine using the ink transfer sheet and pad- this allows you to use dies as if they were stamps.  I used the largest frame in the Wonky Stitches die set.  I used it once with the ink sheet and again as a die, so it gave a double stitched look, which I thought was really cool.  Then, I fussy cut along the edge of the bloom and leaves.  Set that aside for a minute while we stamp on the blue violet panel.  I added two gold outline peonies; I stamped a full one and masked it, then stamped a second one to look like it was behind the first one and underneath the white fussy cut piece.  I also added a gold leaf outline to line up with the stamped leaves on the white panel.  Before mounting them together, rub the gold ink pad over the edges of both panels and let dry for a few minutes.  The sentiment was stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with WOW Gold detail embossing powder.  I mounted the white corner piece flush with the corner of the blue panel.  Adhere to a turquoise card base and the card is complete.

This card was a lot of fun to create and gave me a chance to practice my Copic coloring.  It's a shaker in a little bit of a different style with the layered and inked vellum.  Let's get started.

Supplies:
Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock
SU Vellum
DCWV Silver Glitter cardstock
Spectrum Noir cardstock (or other Copic friendly cardstock)
Lawn Fawn Fairy Friends stamp and die sets
Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After stamp and die sets
Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Border die set
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die set (I use this set of dies constantly)
Avery Elle Stamp Pocket
WRMK 3D Gemstone Embossing Folder
WRMK Fuse Tool
Momento Tuxedo Black
Design Creative Bling sequins in Glacial Bliss and Raspberry Crush
Little Things sequin mix in Iridescent White
Simon Says Stamp inks in Hot Mama and Blue Jay
Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink
Scor-tape - 1/4 and 1/2 inch widths

First, stamp and color the images on Copic friendly cardstock using a dye-based black ink.  I used Spectrum Noir cardstock and Momento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers.  I always stamp multiples of my images just in case.  Die cut all your images after they're colored and set aside.  Cut a panel of Neenah 4.25" by 5.5".  Using the largest of the Wonky Stitches frames, run through your die cutting machine.  Place the smaller of the frames, center it in the middle of the die cut panel and run it through again.  This will create a frame.  Place the frame in the embossing folder and run it through the machine.  Using an ink blending tool and SSS Blue Jay ink, add ink to the frame using a really light hand so that you can emphasize the texture added by the embossing folder and avoid any damage to the frame.  Lightly buff some Silvery Shimmer ink over the blue and set aside to dry (mine was dry in 10 minutes or so).  Plug in the Fuse tool; it takes about 15 minutes to get hot.  Grab a stamp pocket and turn the frame over to the back.  Line up the stamp pocket seam with the outside edge of the frame and mark where to add seams with the Fuse tool using a permanent marker.  I like to leave 1/4" allowance beside the seam of plastic to add my adhesive to so that the seams won't show in the finished product. After I mark where I want the seams, I trim off the excess stamp pocket outside the seam allowance and make one seam.  Add about 1/2 teaspoon of each sequin mix to the pouch- you don't want to over fill it so that it is too thick and the shaker bits don't have room to move around.  Add the final seam and shake around to make sure everything is sealed.  The worst thing is having everything put together and having sequins and shaker bits falling out! (Ask me how I know! Haha)

On to the vellum.  Using an ink blending tool, I inked the vellum about 3" high and 5" wide using the blue ink and cut the section off using scissors.  Repeat with Hot Mama.  Die cut each inked section with one of the Puffy Cloud dies and trim edges to fit behind the frame.  Using a scrap of vellum and the banner die from the Wonky Stitches set, I stamped the sentiment in black and die cut it.  Make a top folding card base and add the Blue Jay ink around the perimeter.  Now we are ready to assemble.  I like to dry fit everything together until I like it and take a picture with my phone as a reference.  When you're considering what ink colors to use, remember that the vellum will sheer out the color; it wont absorb into the paper is it would regular cardstock.  The ink will dry quickly, but it will sit on the surface and remain sheer so choose bold colors so that they will be visible in the finished card.

Trim a piece of silver glitter paper to fit the frame; this piece will serve as a background behind the shaker pouch.  Adhere to the card base.  Add 1/4" Scor-tape to the seam allowance on both sides of the shaker pouch and adhere to the silver background.  I worked from the bottom up on my card.  I added 1/4" Scor-tape to the edges of the blue vellum and adhered it to the frame.  Followed up by the pink, adhering it higher so that it looked like layers of colored clouds.  Don't worry about seeing the edges on the front; when you add the characters, you don't see them.  Add Scor-tape to the inner and outer edges of the frame and adhere it to the card base, over the shaker pouch.  The first image I added was the castle to the bottom right corner using foam tape.  The next was the dragon to the top left corner, tucking his butt just under the pink vellum cloud, also using foam tape.  The orange fairy went to the top right corner with clear foam squares.  The blue fairy was tucked into the left edge of the frame, with her feet under the edge of the blue cloud.  I used a clear square under her torso and a bit thicker foam square behind her head to give her dimension.  For the green fairy, I used foam tape and placed her at the bottom left corner.  Before I stuck her down I tucked the left edge of the banner under her, letting it lay across the castle.  I used a clear foam square under the right end and placed a silver foil die cut heart over the foam square to disguise it.  I added a couple more foil hearts for continuity around the rest of the card.  To finish up, I added clear Wink of Stella to the fairies and dragons wings, the dragons horns and spikes and flags over the castle.  Done!

I know the other artists in this hop have awesome projects too, so don't forget to leave some love on EVERY stop so that you'll be entered to win our sweet prize pack that I picked out myself (but that's a well guarded secret, so don't tell anyone ;)  Also, just a reminder that the ENTIRE shop is 35% OFF from 5/5/16 through 5/15/16 and the coupon code is $10off75. So just in case you don't win, you can pick up all those goodies and more for cheap!


Next up is Robbie's blog and just in case you get lost or want to visit again, the complete hop list is below.
1. Laura -  http://www.lauralscott.com/your-hearts-desire/
2. Deana Benson -http://www.designcreativelybling.com/2016/05/your-hearts-desire-with-lauras-loft.html
3. Jasmine Burgess - You're here!
4. Robbie Rubala -http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/search/label/LL
5. Emma Hall - http://heartofcraft.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-hearts-desire-with-lauras-loft.html
6. Lisa - http://royalpumpkinart.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-hearts-desire-shop-hop-with-lauras.html

Much love,
Jasmine