DeNami Design Product Spotlight March Blog Hop

DON"T FORGET!!

My giveaway for a 

Basket Weave Embossing Folder from the DeNami Design store

 ends tonight. 

Be sure to check out the details HERE to enter!!

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It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the brand-new and absolutely beautiful Cross and Vines stamp. What a gorgeous addition to the DeNami Design rubber stamp collection!

I ended up making three different cards with this lovely stamp for today's blog hop.  Let's take a look at them in order from least to most elaborate. Here's my first creation:

I stamped the cross in black ink on kraft cardstock and left it uncolored. After a little fussy cutting it was ready to shine against the watercolored background I created with my Faber-Castell Gelatos. So easy!! I only needed one other DeNami stamp for this creation, the beautifully scripted Rejoice. Finally, I added some free-form machine stitching for a border, and it was done.

Here's my second creation:

For this one, I added DeNami's He Is Risen stamp to my design, as well as the Flowers and Vines Embossing Folder. Doesn't it tie in perfectly with the Cross and Vines stamp? To help the embossed pattern stand out a little more, I inked the debossed side of the embossing folder (as opposed to the raised side of the folder) with Fresh Green Versacolor ink, which perfectly accented the Celery Cardstock that I used.

And finally, here is the most elaborate card that I made with today's Product Spotlight stamp:

Lots more layers on this one, right? I used the same embossing folder inking technique, and again I'm quite pleased with the results. I dressed up my design by drawing on some pearls with a green Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen.

You can purchase this beautiful stamp for 10% off the regular price for the next week. You also have the chance to WIN this fabulous product in today's spotlight blog hop! All you need to do is hop along to each stop in the lineup, leaving comments along the way. Here is the blog hop lineup:

DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Dana Seymour
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by today--have a super day!
Emily

My Brand-New DeNami Feature: EMBOSSED ELEMENTS + a GIVEAWAY

Hi there, everyone! I'm here today with the very first installment of my new regular monthly feature for the DeNami Design blog. With today's post I'm starting a series called Embossed Elements that highlights all of the wonderful new embossing folders being carried in the DeNami Design store. If you haven't checked these out yet, you should! You won't believe all of the variety in this collection: the DeNami store carries an amazing 142 different embossing folder designs!!

Now, I do have a confession to make. While I've been papercrafting for nearly 10 years now, I've only just acquired my very first diecutting machine (thank you, Santa!!). So for the first time ever, I'm able to dabble with embossing folders! I wasn't completely sure that embossing folders would be for me, but in the short time that I've been playing with the embossing folders that DeNami carries, I've become completely addicted to them! I love the fabulous texture that they add to my creations--everything is so crisp, and the designs are deep. They really stand out! And I can't believe how much visitors to my blog comment on the embossing I've been featuring on projects I've posted there lately. It must be really noticeable!!

So whether you are brand new to embossing folders like me, or an old pro, I'm hoping that my Embossed Elements feature will help you learn your way around DeNami's new collection of embossing folders--and maybe even give you some new ways to use or think about embossing!

Today I'm sharing with you two different projects for Valentine's Day, and both feature the very festive Layered Hearts Embossing Folder from the DeNami store. One thing I really love about this embossing folder is that, while many of the embossing folders in DeNami's collection are clearly designed for the portrait orientation, this one is perfect for the the landscape orientation. Let's take a look:

For this first project, I started with a panel of red cardstock and punched the bottom edge using the EK Success Deco Scallop border punch and then ran it through my Big Shot in the Layered Hearts Embossing Folder. I matted this embossed layer with white cardstock and then mounted the whole enchilada on a pink card base.

Next I added a pink cardstock panel that I had embossed with another Valentine gem from the DeNami embossing folder collection: the Heart Embossing Folder. I really like the look of both of these embossed patterns layered on top of one another!

I stamped the Elegant Word Plate on white cardstock with Onyx Black Versafine Ink, and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to align the pretty Sending You Love sentiment, stamped in Satin Red Versafine Ink, right smack dab in the middle. I decided to glam up my focal point just a bit with some gorgeous Ruby Red Sparklets Glitter adhered inside the loops of the word plate with a Quickie Glue Pen. A quick fussy cut was all I needed to get this ready for attaching to my card. I finished off my design with a simple red grosgrain bow.

My second card is a reminder that embossing folders are perfect for adding texture not only to rectangular panels, but also any precut shape you care to pretty up!

For this card, I started with a pink heart diecut, embossed it with the Layered Hearts Embossing Folder, and layered it on a heart-shaped card base die cut from red cardstock with a larger nested heart die.

Next I built my very own cupid's arrow embellishment with a wooden craft stick, a wooden veneer heart shape, and some bits of chipboard. I colored the wood bits red using a Faber-Castell Gelato and rubbed the color into the woodgrain with my fingertips. I trimmed angled fringe into two bits of chipboard to make the arrow's feathery fletching and colored them with a white Gelato. After gluing all the bits together to form my arrow, I outlined the heart-shaped arrowhead with dimensional dots drawn on with a white Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen. 

Finally, I stamped the Love Flourish sentiment on white cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, trimmed out the sentiment, colored in the heart-shaped O with a red Copic marker, and adhered it to the card with some foam tape. Done!

I hope that this opening installment of Embossed Elements has given you some ideas for using embossing on your Valentine cards!

How would you like the chance to win this beautiful Layered Hearts Embossing Folder? I have one up for grabs in an Embossed Elements giveaway! Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "HEART." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, January 30, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today!
Emily

DeNami Krazy for Kraft Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design Krazy for Kraft Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are featuring projects that feature--what else?--kraft products!

I am the last stop on today's hop--so, hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Paulina Nakamura's blog. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, September 9, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 
 
Let's get ready to meet today's project!  

I just HAD to use that fun RV Chickies stamp again! And, as I'm sure that every RVer will agree, DeNami's "Home Tweet Home" sentiment is a perfect match for this stamp 'cause "home" is wherever the RV is parked, right? I rounded out this card with DeNami's Small Cloud, a metallic Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen, and some Road Washi Tape.

As I said before, I'm the last stop on today's hop. Thanks so much for hopping with the whole lineup up of DeNami friends today! Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes.

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Summer Lovin'

It's time for another stamp release at Flourishes, and this time the release week challenge is called Summer Lovin'--a challenge to create with summer in mind. So how about this for summery?

I used a fun silhouette stamp set from Flourishes called Country Road, which was a birthday gift from a sweet friend. It was so much fun to ink up for the first time! I stamped the pasture scene on watercolor paper and then colored in the grass and sky with some of my new Gelatos, blending them with water and a paintbrush. I LOVE how this scene turned out! The patterned paper is from a new Dear Lizzy Neapolitan 6x6 pad that I just picked up on sale at ACMoore last week. So fun to use so many new items at once!

The last few weeks have been sooooooooooooooooo busy for me. I've spent a lot of time tackling long-overdue projects around the house, getting the house ready for company, and hosting my parents from Ohio for a visit over the weekend. Today was the first time in quite a while that I've been able to do some crafting!

Thanks for taking a peek and stopping by!
Emily

Just Because

Happy Friday! I am so excited today. My dear friend who moved far away a year and a half ago is going to be back in town today–and we are planning to spend some time together here at my house this afternoon. Yay! I also got word yesterday that career day at my daughter's middle school–the one that was cancelled because of the snowstorm last week (read about that here), bumming us both out completely--has been rescheduled for the first week in May. Yay, again! So happiness is bustin' out all over around here today. :D

I have one more card–I promise that this is the last!!!!–to share for the Colorful Creations challenge over at Flourishes (a color challenge to use shades of blue and yellow together). I have been totally obsessed with this awesome color combo! It's always been a favorite of mine. And it has been a great excuse to play with my Flourishes stamps, which is always welcome :).

Now before I get to my card, I need to explain a little something. I've had several projects published in various Northridge Publishing publications in recent months. (You can see my publication list here.) They "pay" their designers in papercrafting product, and my most recent product shipment contained a bunch of Maya Road chipboard pieces. Cool, but I've never really used them before and wasn't sure what to do with it. I also rec'd a couple of Faber-Castell Gelatos, which I've heard lots about but had never tried. I was excited to learn what I could do with them! Along the way, I discovered that Gelatos are awesome for--wait for it--coloring chipboard! Score! I couldn't wait to try that out, and as it turns out the two Gelatos I rec'd are yellow and blue. See? I was destined to play in the Flourishes challenge one more time :).

OK, thanks for bearing with me. Here's my card:

As you can see, I took a rather clean and simple approach, and used the very versatile Flourishes Inside & Out Just Because set for the sentiment. Love these!

I'm also playing along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge (CFC94) to use chipboard.

I have a new tutorial posting over on the DeNami blog later today, so this wraps things up for now.  I'll be back in a few hours. I hope you have a super weekend! Thanks for dropping by,
Emily