Simon Says Stamp "New Somethings"

I am so excited to be the Designer in the Spotlight for the month of January over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog. Each Wednesday Morning this month (January 2017), I will be joining the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Design Team on their blog featuring products available in the Simon Says Stamp Store.  This is the first week of the month, so we will be featuring Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Products.  

For my "New Year's" Card, I used Simon Says Stamp Snowflake Border Die, Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Lots of Snowflakes Stamp Set, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies, Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue Ink and Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue Cardstock. 

Starting with 2 pieces of 4.25 x 5.5 inch watercolor paper, and the Snowflake Border Die I ran both through my die cutting machine with an embossing sandwich rather than a cutting sandwich. I have a Cuttlebug Embossing Pad and a Spellbinders Embossing Pad.  The Spellbinders is a bit thicker so I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Pad for this. This will make an impression on both pieces of the watercolor paper so that I can keep them lined up the same. Then putting the die back into the impression, I ran one panel through again, this time with a cutting sandwich so that it would give me two pieces.  The impression also creates a place for the die cut to rest in when I adhere it.  I also cut three of the snowflake borders from thick white cardstock, gluing them together with spray adhesive to make a nice thick embellishment.  I covered the thick embellishment with an all over layer of spray adhesive and sprinkled Elizabeth Craft Designs Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter all over it.  I used my Teflon Bone Folder to burnish the glitter into the paper and set it aside to dry completely while I worked on the other parts of my card.  

Using a Mini Round Ink Blending Tool, I ink blended all along the embossed area of the whole piece with Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue Ink.  Then taking just the wave panel from the other piece, I did a heavier concentration of color all along the edge to help it pop. I let that dry for several minutes and then stamped and embossed my greeting on the left side panel using Versamark with Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder. The greeting is from an older stamp set that I had gotten a few years ago, way before I ever started making or even thinking about making cards but it's also the only one I have for New Year's.

I attached that wave piece to the whole piece with temporary adhesive so that I could again, run both layers through the die cutting machine with the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies in the largest size.  It doesn't usually cut through both layers, but it makes enough of an impression on the bottom layer to be able to re-align the one that didn't cut the first time perfectly into the die and run it through again.  I was very careful to make sure everything was lined up before I ran it through my cutting sandwich.  I'm using the die to help me get exact placement for both cuts. You could of course, make a single layer card, but I wanted to add that bit of dimension to my card.

Next I glued the glittered embellishment to that bottom layer that is still in one piece using Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I snipped off the ends of the border to be even with the Stitched Rectangle Panel, and attached that to my card base made from Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue Cardstock using my ATG Gun Then I attached the wavy piece with the sentiment to the whole piece. The panel to the left of the snowflake border is popped up on Thin 3D Foam Squares.  You could use any kind of foam tape or a piece of fun foam cut to size.  Some spritzes with Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz to the whole front of the card finishes it off nicely. This is the reason I'm called the "Twinkling Paper Studio".

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I always really appreciate your kind and encouraging comments. Be sure to enter your project in the link up at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50.00 Gift Voucher to shop at Simon Says Stamp!  There will be so many beautiful projects to see at the link up as well.  All of the supplies are linked at the Simon Says Stamp Store or there is a link in the side bar of this blog that takes you to the store.