Simon Says Stamp New Beginnings Blog Hop (+GIVEAWAYS!)

Good morning!  I am thrilled to be joining some super talented ladies to celebrate the New Beginnings release from Simon Says Stamp!  Have you checked out the release yet?  Go ahead…I’ll wait! 😉

So I fell hard for the More Spring Flowers set as soon as I saw it.  You can find my first card using it here.  Today I wanted to go for a set of CAS cards using a pop of color to make a statement!  For the first card I stamped the sentiment from Hand Lettered Encouragement with Simon Says Stamp copic-friendly Intense Black ink.  Then I stamped the crocus flowers and foliage around the sentiment using the same black ink.  In case you’re wondering, I intentionally left the flowers disconnected from the foliage…I tried it both ways and preferred them like this. 😉 Then I used copic markers to color the crocuses but left the foliage black and white so the flowers would really pop.

For my second card I did a very similar design but I used white embossing on kraft cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment and florals with versamark and heat-embossed it with white embossing powder.

After the image was heat-embossed I decided to try coloring the flowers using the exact same copic markers. It resulted in a totally different but pretty look!  I don’t think I’ve ever tried using copics on kraft cardstock…but I might have to try it again in the future! 😉

I hope you enjoyed my cards and I’d love to know if you prefer one look over the other! 🙂

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!   In case you encounter a broken link here is the full hop list:

• Simon Says Stamp Blog
• Kristina Werner
• Laura Bassen
• Yana Smakula
• Debby Hughes
• Nichol Spohr
• Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!
• Heather Hoffman
• Amy Rysavy
• Heather Ruwe
• Nina Marie Trapani
• Suzy Plantamura
• Kathy Racoosin
• Barb Engler
• Shari Carroll

I also have an instagram giveaway running this weekend for the full set of Simon Says Stamp inks that were released as part of the New Beginnings collection!  You can visit my instagram and look for the ink pad photo to enter!

Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous day!  If this is your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come back!  You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right or find me on Instagram and Youtube.  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 help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!)