The One with the #spreadjoynotgerms Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the #spreadjoynotgerms Blog Hop! A number of fabulous companies have banded together to inspire us to spread joy with our crafting. I want to thank the wonderful ladies Catherine Pooler Designs and Alexandra Stapleton-Smith for organizing this hop for us. This hop is HUGE so if you get lost along the way visit The Hedgehog Hollow for a complete list of participants and more information. 

There are tons of prizes to be won, thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors. To win, just comment along the blog hop to enter. You do not have to comment on every blog to win but the more you comment, the greater your chances are of winning. So- comment!!!! The deadline to enter for prizes is April 24. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 27 on Catherine and Alexandra’s blogs.

Today I’m using Heffy Doodle’s Happily Ever Crafter Stamp and a few other goodies to create a magical Birthday card. If you want to know more, just keep reading. 

Background: 

The background was created using a piece of Neenah 110 lb. Solar White Classic Crest cardstock cut to 3 1/2 by 4 3/4. 

I wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted to pull off the card idea that I had when I started, so I began playing with the products and settled on the Heffy Doodle Circle Masquerade Stencil to create a sky in my background in the shape of a circle. I later decided to add another layer to the card which really made this step unnecessary, but I did it, so I’m explaining it. You can see at the top of the circle aperture in the finished photos of the card that you can see that the background stops. This could have been avoided if I had not used the stencil. 

With the stencil in place, I used several Distress Oxide inks to ink blend some color on the paper. I used an ink blending tool from Simon Says Stamp to apply my color. I used one tool for all of the colors blended on, which were Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Salty Ocean, and Blueprint Sketch. I started with the lightest colors in the palette, blending them on first before adding a little something extra in background. I cut a mask of a castle using the die from the Happily Ever Crafter coordinating die set, and cut it from Avery Reposistionable label sheet. I added the mask to position the castle to appear to be off in the distance behind my focal images. Masking the castle after adding some of the highest colors allows it to appear to be a haze off in the distance. If you add the mask right away, your castle will be stark white and the effect will be lost. You could also do this by adding the mask first but after taking it off reapplying some of the lightest colors of ink to color the castle. 

Once the castle mask was added I then moved onto some of the darker colors in the blue palette that I chose, building up the color until I felt that it was the color and look I was happy with. I then removed the castle mask and placed the entire piece into my splat box. 

I wanted the background to look magical and to me the equals shimmer. I applied several layers of shimmer spritz from three different products all linked below. You do not need to use this much, I have an addiction to shimmer spray. But it looks fabulous. 

While the ink blended piece was drying I cut another piece of Neenah to the same dimensions. This time I took the Heffy Doodle Imperial Stitched Circle dies and picked one that aligned with the size of aperture I wanted the card to have. I cut the circle from the same spot that I lined up my stencil to allow it to line up better in the end. This piece will be popped up onto the ink blended panel using foam tape. 

I then cut several of the greenery pieces from the Heffy Doodle Blooming Marvelous stamp set. I stamped them with Distress Oxide ink in Peeled Paint onto Papertrey Ink’s Simply Chartruse Cardstock and used their coordinating dies to cut them out. I used liquid adhesive to adhere some of the vines flat to the background while using glue dots on other to stick them to the popped up panel. This gives them a little more dimension. 

Images:

The images from the Heffy Doodle Happily Ever Crafter stamp set were stamped using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink and colored with my Copic Alcohol Markers. I have a Copic Color Map to list all the markers I used. I also used my Goldfaber 273 Colored Pencil to add a little shading. The sparkles on the dress were added using Gelly Roll White Gel Pen in size 05.  I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and to take it a step further, I used an exacto knife to cut out the heart shaped doors in the pumpkin carriage.  If you notice that my princess is sporting a headband that is not part of the original design, that is because I drew it in. First I made some marks with my pencil before added permanent lines with a Copic Multiliner 0.3. The images were popped up using foam tape. 

Sentiment:

The sub sentiments “have a” and “birthday” were stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. I used the Heffy Doodle “magical” Heffy cuts word die to finish it off. I cut it four times and layered them together using liquid adhesive. I didn’t notice that it was a bit off until I saw a giant version of the card photo being edited on my computer screen. Oh well. It still looks great to me. 

I added the completed panel to a Simon Says Stamp Fog card base cut to size A2 and scored in a top folding portrait orientation. 

I hope that I’ve inspired you to share a little joy today. Don’t forget to comment for your chance to win one of the several giveaways donated by our generous sponsors. 

Next in the hop is …. Ingrid Blackburn (CLICK HERE!)

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, 

Koren