Happy Friday, blog friends! It's almost time for the weekend! There is so much crafty inspiration out there for you this weekend! If you haven't had a chance to check out Rubeena's 2 Day blog hop yet, then be sure to do that this weekend. It is chalk full of inspiration and prizes - including my blog hop post + giveaway (you can get all the details you need in that link).

And today Pinkfresh Studio is collaborating with Wow! Embossing Powders for a blog hop of our own!

Today’s hop is full of inspiration from both teams combining our two wonderful products together. We can’t wait for you to see all that we have in store for you! There are also a couple of prizes to be won! I will give you all that info, along with the complete link list at the end of my post, but how about we get to my card first.

Happy Thursday, blog friends! I hope that you have had an amazing week so far! Have you had a chance to check out Rubeena's 2 Day blog hop yet? It is chalk full of inspiration and prizes - including my blog hop post + giveaway (you can get all the details you need in that link).

Today we are celebrating Lil' Inker Designs 8th birthday, and there is a fantastic sale going on! Everything with the exception of the new release products are 25% off! There is no code necessary and the savings will be reflected in your cart!

Plus there's more! Starting at a $50 purchase, you will get free items! You do need to use codes for these items, so be sure to reference the graphic.

ETA - I have added a GIVEAWAY WINNERS page to my blog. It is updated with the winner from this post! Congrats to Melissa F. Please check that page for instructions. Thank you!

Welcome to Rubeena’s Crafting Anniversary 2-Day Blog Hop! This hop is epic with more than 70 guests and over $1,000 in sponsored prizes! Not only are we celebrating four years since Rubeena first discovered cardmaking but also crafting in general. This industry is made up of wonderful individuals who are creative, inspirational, kind, and incredibly supportive! Hop along so you can learn about why we create and how much joy it brings us!

I adore Rubeena, and her beautiful, eclectic style! I love that she has organized this big, beautiful hop to celebrate cardmaking! I have been in this industry since 2002, and I just continue to love it SO much. There is just so much good in my day when it revolves around creating & papercrafting. I took an extended time away during the time that we lost our babies, and it was a needed break. But cardmaking has also helped me as I continue to grieve, and I create in honor of those two little ones who inspire me every single day. They were both such beautiful souls, and everything I create makes me think of them.

Happy Saturday, blog friends! It's been a busy week here on my blog, and I just not stopping! Today I have a card to share with you for a collaboration that has been going on between Winnie & Walter and Brutus Monroe this past week! Be sure to check out both blogs to see all the lovely creations, and ENTER HERE for your chance to win a $25 Brutus Monroe giftcard.

I've finally gotten videos up and running again on my new computer, and I am happy to say that I was able to create a process video for this card. You can view it here, or in HD on my YouTube channel!

I hope that you liked a little look into my creative process! Be sure to give the video a thumbs up if you did, and subscribe to my channel if you haven't yet. Now that I've gotten everything figured out on my new laptop, I will be posting more consistently to it!

 I know that not everyone loves to watch process videos, so I will still continue to do write-ups for all of my cards too! I've used one of my favorites from Winnie & Walter today - the Kindness stamp set and coordinating diecuts. I've combined these with a few different items from Brutus Monroe, including their detail ink in raven, embossing powder in gilded, smooth watercolor paper and their super heavyweight white cardstock....it's 130 lb, and amazing! All these items, plus everything else I used are linked at the end of this post for your convenience.

I started by stamping the cacti to a smooth watercolor panel in the raven detail ink. Because you often need to stamp twice on watercolor paper, I did use my MISTI stamping platform. Then I did the watercolor smooshing technique using my Pinkfresh Studio liquid watercolor in Emerald City and Lavender. After smooshing, I added a little more color and manipulated the water a little bit with a watercolor brush.

One of the things I love about this watercolor paper is how bright white it is, but it did warp a lot. I don't know if it is because I didn't tape it down, which really isn't possible with the smooshing technique as you need the panel to be mobile. I did end up flattening the panel by lightly misting the back with water then pressing between two heavy books. I kept it that way overnight, but that isn't necessary. Just until the water dries is fine, but I created this card over the course of two days due to my schedule...so keeping it pressed overnight just worked best for me.

I stamped & heat embossed the word Kindness to a vellum block using the gilded embossing powder. Then I cut it out with the coordinating die and added thin strips of foam tape to the back. Once the panel was dry & flattened, I mounted it to a block of foam adhesive to keep it from warping again. Then I decided that the panel needed some gold splatter, so I added them using my Gansai Tambi starry colors paints and two different sized watercolor brushes (round sizes 6 & 4). Then I let those dry, which only takes a few minutes.

Then I pulled the foam out of my MISTI, and put the entire panel into it. I used the word Kindness to line up the rest of the sentiment stamps, then stamped them to the front in the raven detail ink. The word "you" is technically "your" on the stamp, so I just masked it off with some washi tape before inking it up, then pulled it off when I was ready to stamp. Then I adhered the word kindness between to two stamped sentiments, and mounted the entire watercolor panel to a top folding A2 card made from the heavyweight white cardstock from Brutus Monroe. To finish, I accented the front with my signature jewels tucked here & there.

I hope that you liked my watercolor smooshed thank you card today...and I hope you liked the video too! I'm still learning this process, but it is super fun! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out this time.

 Happy Friday blog friends! It's new release time at SugarPea Designs, and we are going to be sharing projects with you all week long using all the new stamps & dies that are going to be released tonight in the SugarPea Designs shop!

On our final day of Sweet Peek Week, we are sharing what is probably my favorite stamp set from the release, Eucalyptus Wreath. It is honestly just stunning! We are also sharing the new Grateful Greetings stamp set (which I didn't use, but will in the very near future) and the Grateful word die. I am a wedding photographer, and Eucalyptus just makes me happy...it photographs so beautifully!

My cards for today came to be by accident, in a way. You see - I wasn't sure what color I wanted to emboss it in. So, I decided to emboss it in all three colors that were on the list, and then I was going to pick my favorite. I ended up loving all three, and how they looked together in a set! So, I chose to make three very simple cards with the focus being on the beauty of this Eucalyptus Wreath. I look forward to doing much more with this set in the future - including watercolor. So be sure to check back!

Happy Thursday blog friends! It's new release time at SugarPea Designs, and we are going to be sharing projects with you all week long using all the new stamps & dies that are going to be released on Friday evening in the SugarPea Designs shop!

 Today we are introducing a new stamp set called Birthday Balloons, that also has a coordinating die for the balloon shape. I happened to be looking through our digital movie collection, and saw Up in there. I was totally inspired by that, but couldn't really get the balloons to look right carrying the house...so I made a little adjustment and just gave a little nod to the movie instead. :)

Happy Tuesday blog friends! It's new release time at SugarPea Designs, and we are going to be sharing projects with you all week long using all the new stamps & dies that are going to be released on Friday evening in the SugarPea Designs shop!

 Today we are introducing two new stamp sets with coordinating SugarCuts called Bewitched and Darling Dragons, along with another SugarCut set called Hocus Pocus. These are super adorable Halloween themed products that you are just going to love!

Happy Tuesday blog friends! It's new release time at SugarPea Designs, and we are going to be sharing projects with you all week long using all the new stamps & dies that are going to be released on Friday evening in the SugarPea Designs shop!

Today we are introducing a new stamp set called Seeing Stars, and coordinating dies called Stacking Stars. The great thing about the dies is that although they do match the star stamps, they can absolutely be used on their own as well! These stars are great sizes, and will make a perfect addition to your cardmaking supplies!

Happy Monday, blog friends! I know it's been quiet around here...that's because I've been super busy getting ready for a very full week! It's new release time at SugarPea Designs, and we are going to be sharing projects with you all week long using all the new stamps & dies that are going to be released on Friday evening in the SugarPea Designs shop!

Today we are introducing To Infinity and Beyond stamps & dies, the Stardust die (which I didn't use today, but you will see it later this week) and Over the Moon stamp set. Over the Moon is the Sweet Incentive Product this month, so you will get it free with a $60 purchase {while supplies last}! It will not be for sale right away, so you must do some shopping if you want it right away!

Happy Sunday, blog friends! I hope that you've had a wonderful weekend! Mine has been quiet & lazy with my hubby being away...and I got a bit of crafty time in too! I've been dying to ink up this adorable mermaid, and finally got the chance! This is Samantha, she was the July Inked: Stamp of the Month at Ink Road Stamps. If you've never looked into the Inked Subscription at Ink Road Stamps, be sure to check it out!

The stamp set is always adorable, it is affordable, and you can skip the months that you don't love. I've received two, and skipped two so far. The ones I skipped were SO cute, but just not something I would likely stamp. Also, if you haven't ever tried out any Ink Road stamps before and want a little discount, use this referral link. It will give you a 50% off coupon, and give me a little reward when you use it! You win, I win! :) If you end up using a different code or take advantage of a different deal, just put my name in the notes of your order if you want. This will just let Lara know that I sent you her way. ;) 

Happy Friday, blog friends! I meant to have this post up mid-morning, but my busy day just got away from me! So, it is going up in the evening instead. :) Before I get to my card, I just wanted to share some amazing sales that are going on this weekend!

First up, the Forest Friends stamps & die that I am using on my card today are 25% off at Pinkfresh Studio this weekend! They are flying off the shelves, so head on over & grab them if you want to add these cuties to your collection! Just use the code FOREST25OFF upon checkout.

Up next, Pretty Pink Posh is having a 20% off overstock sale, and I noticed that a couple of sets that I used on my VERY favorite PPP cards are part of it! You can see those cards HERE (the Angel Friends card), and HERE (Butterfly Friends). Just use the code OVERSTOCK20!

And finally, Concord & 9th is celebrating their 3rd birthday!! Some of my FAVE cards use C9 products! See my favorite rainbow colored birthday cards HERE, and HERE. There is no code necessary, but be sure to check the promo page - because the sale has specific products included! You can peruse all of Concord & 9th items HERE.

Happy Sunday, blog friends! I just wanted to drop in and share one more card with you using the Floral Frame with a Swan diecut set that is also part of the Pinkfresh Studio weekend sale!