Lil’ Inker Designs May Mini Release and Blog Hop (+GIVEAWAYS!)

Lots happening on the blog today!  For the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #4 Black/White & Bright please scroll down or click here!  For the Hero Arts May My Monthly Hero Blog Hop and giveaway (after 1pm) please click here!

Good morning and welcome to the May mini release of Lil’ Inker Designs!  We’re releasing 2 stand alone stamp sets, one stamp set with a matching die set, and a pretty cover up die!  I love that Laura doesn’t make you wait to shop the new release so I totally understand if you want to go shop now, but make sure you come back and comment for a chance to win one of the new release items! Giveaway details are at the bottom of my post!

My first card was quite the labor of love but I am so happy with how it turned out!!  I started by stamping the large sentiment with antique linen distress ink on watercolor paper.  Then I smooshed distress ink onto my craft mat and slowly painted over the stamp in rainbow order.  Here’s an in-progress shot:

It took me about an hour to paint over all of the stamp.  After I was done painting I decided to outline the tiny line accents with a black pen instead of continuing with rainbow colors.  I really think it helps the colors pop!  After it was totally dry I stamped over it with versamark and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I trimmed it down and matted it on a black cardstock frame.  It’s not a conventional card size but I didn’t want it to detract from the stamp in any way.

My second card is quite easy to make with a few unconventional tools but packs quite the colorful punch!

To create this card I stamped the sentiment onto white cardstock with intense black ink.  I used my MISTI and stamped it a few times to make sure the coverage was really solid.  Then I copied it with my laser printer onto black cardstock.  This technique will only work with a laser printer.  Next I laid a sheet of foil over the stamped image and ran it through a super hot laminator.  I peeled off the foil sheet and the foil stuck only to the toner from the laser printer leaving that gorgeous shiny design!  I die-cut the image with the Silly Stitched Square die and then adhered it to a white cardstock base.  Unfortunately it’s tricky to capture the foil on camera but you can see a quick video on my instagram account here.  Originally I thought about adding sequins or enamel dots to the card front but I really think the sentiment can shine all by itself! 🙂

My last card was a little tough to create.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you know that my family recently said goodbye to our beloved sheltie, Merlin.  I am so very thankful for the beautiful sympathy cards that my friends have sent over the last month.  While it was difficult to think about creating a pet sympathy card I realized that I do (unfortunately) need to keep a few of these types of cards in my stash so that I can send a supportive card to a friend who might be grieving the loss of a furry friend.  Thankfully the Angel Pets set has some beautiful sentiments and images for these types of cards.

It was a little tricky to photograph the silver embossing powder on this card but in case you can’t read it the sentiment says “sometimes our lives are touched by gentle friends who stay only for a while…but remain in our hearts forever”.  Yes, I teared up just reading the stamp set for the first time but I think the card is really meaningful.  I started by die-cutting part of an A2 panel with the Stitched Clouds Cover Up plate.  I left about 3/4 of an inch for my sentiment.  Then I stamped the sentiment from Angel Pets and heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder.  I also die-cut a couple clouds from the Rainbow and Clouds die set.  Next I decided to just die-cut the Angel Pets cat using light grey cardstock.  I decided to keep it simple and skipped stamping the cat image on the stamp.  Then I covered her with spectrum noir clear sparkle and tucked her into the clouds.  You could easily do this with the dog die as well and just trim the bandanna off of the die.  And of course you could also stamp any of the pet images and die-cut them for a similar card.

I used a mixture of regular adhesive and foam mounting tape to adhere my cat and clouds onto the background panel and then adhered it to a card base.  To finish the card I adhered a few heart die cuts that I colored with copic marker RV21, brushed with spectrum noir clear sparkle, and added a layer of glossy accents for a little more sparkle and shine.  I think the soft touch of color really makes this card special.

Today is also a little different because we’re hopping along with a fabulous group of special ladies!  You should have arrived from Shay and the amazing Tracey is your next stop.  If you get lost you can find the full hop list on the Lil’ Inker Designs blog!  Leave a comment for a chance to win one of three giveaways!  One lucky commenter will win the Angel Pet stamps and dies and the Stitched Cloud cover up die and two commenters will each win one of the large sentiment stamps!  Good luck and happy hopping!!

Thanks so much for visiting and have a fabulous day!

Interested in the products I used?  To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!!