Simon Says Stamp Diecember Release Blog Hop (VIDEO + GIVEAWAYS!)

Good morning!  Today I’m hopping along to celebrate the Diecember release from Simon Says Stamp!!  I shared my first Diecember card yesterday and today I’m sharing eight cards along with a video!  I know, I know…I never make this many cards at once…but you’ll see how easy it is and you’ll make a ton, too! 😉

You can watch the video below or in HD at my Youtube channel:

Alcohol inks are making a comeback in a BIG way these days and I wanted to try using them as I see alcohol ink artists use them on big canvases on instagram!  I’m not a fan of using the felt blending pads…they never really seem to give me the effect I want and all the colors blend together too much for my liking.  I follow several alcohol ink artists on instagram and I love the way they put droplets on a canvas, blow them around, and then add more colors.  It seems like a very free-flowing organic process and I figured there’s no reason I can’t do something similar for a card, right?  So basically I used that concept but on a much smaller surface, a 9×12 piece of yupo paper.  I used alcohol inks in indigo, denim, turquoise, amethyst, pool, and sailboat blue.  Off camera I used those colors with pitch black alcohol ink on one piece of paper and then on camera I used those colors with silver mixative for a brighter, sparkly look. After the inks dried I splattered the yupo paper with copic opaque white paint to create the look of snow across a wintery night sky.  I let that dry as well and then cut up the 9×12 paper to create a variety of cards!

For the first two cards I simply cut 4″ by 5.25″ inch panels of the alcohol ink background and adhered them to a white card base.  Then I die-cut the Bliss, Joy, and Felicity snowflakes using the new glitter paper from Simon Says Stamp and adhered them to the panels.  Finally I die-cut the sentiments from older SSS releases and adhered them over the snowflakes.  I used two layers of white cardstock on the lighter card and a layer of blue glitter over a layer of white cardstock on the darker card.

I mention this in the video but either of these backgrounds could be used for galaxy cards or underwater scenes!  Lots of ways to use these fun backgrounds for a variety of cards! 😉

For this card I die-cut the Sensational Snowflakes from white cardstock and reserved the snowflakes.  Then I adhered the alcohol inked background behind the white cardstock and adhered two white snowflakes on top.  Finally I added a die-cut sentiment using the silver glitter paper!

My next card uses the pretty Picture Book Tree die!  Again I die-cut it from a white card panel, adhered the alcohol inked background behind it and finished it with a glittery sentiment!

This card uses the same Sensational Snowflakes Collage die I used on my card yesterday but this time it’s backed by the alcohol inked panel.  I stamped the sentiment from Christmas Essentials with versamark, heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder, and then popped it up with foam mounting tape.

The rest of my cards follow a similar layout just using different sections of the alcohol inked background.  I love how unique all the cards look even though they’re using the same panel!  I hope these cards give you some ideas for how to incorporate alcohol inked backgrounds into your card designs.  And if you don’t have alcohol inks…you could easily create a similar look with a watercolored background, color burst sprinkled background, or a distress ink blended background…or even by using patterned paper or glitter paper!  I used only a small portion of the amazing dies that Simon Says Stamp just released for Diecember so make sure to head over and check out the full release!  What’s your favorite one?

And what’s a hop without a giveaway, right?  Simon Says Stamp has generously offered a $25 gift card to EVERY stop on the hop!!  All you need to do is visit and leave a comment on each blog.  The winners will be randomly selected from each blog and announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog!   There’s also a second blog hop tomorrow with even more inspiration and giveaways so don’t forget to check that out!  In case you encounter a broken link here is the full hop list for today:

• Simon Says Stamp Blog
• Jennifer McGuire
• Kristina Werner
• Debby Hughes
• Amanda Korotkova
• Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!
• Kathy Racoosin
• Bibi Cameron
• Heather Hoffman
• Barb Engler
• Sarah Moerman
• Anna Kossakovskaya

Good luck!  If this is your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come back again!  You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right or find me on Instagram and Youtube.  Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous day!  Happy Hopping!

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 through my links help keep my blog running with no additional cost to you and I thank you so much for the support!

Simon Says Stamp Big BLISS SNOWFLAKE [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Big JOY SNOWFLAKE [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Big Huge FELICITY… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp PICTURE BOOK TREE… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp SENSATIONAL… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp EVERGREEN CIRCLE [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp SENSATIONAL SNOWFLAKES [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp BELIEVE [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp FA LA LA [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock SILVER… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock WHITE… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock ASSORTMENT… [ SSS ] Simon Says Clear Stamps ADVENT… [ SSS ] Simon Says Clear Stamps CHRISTMAS… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink POOL [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink TURQUOISE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink SAIL BOAT BLUE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink AMETHYST [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink DENIM [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink INDIGO [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink PITCH BLACK [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink SILVER Metallic… [ SSS ] Yupo WHITE WATERCOLOR 5×7 144lb Paper… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Adirondack WHITE ALCOHOL… [ SSS ] Copic OPAQUE WHITE WITH BRUSH… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Ranger ALCOHOL BLENDING… [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ] Inkadinkado EMBOSSING MAGIC Powder Bag [ SSS ] Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Premium Ink Pad… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER… [ SSS ] Wagner Precision Heat Gun [ SSS ] Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS [ SSS ] 3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE… [ SSS ] 3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE [ SSS ] Sizzix BIG SHOT PLUS MACHINE [ SSS ] Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT… [ SSS ]