Three In the Nest Creations: Leaf Love Dies

Monday, October 19, 2015

Coffee Inspired!

If you don't know me yet, one thing you should know is that I pretty much run on coffee. I hobble to my Nespresso machine every morning and walk away with the amazing elixir which means happiness for me and everyone around me. ;) I have cold brew coffee in the fridge because I feel better drinking coffee in the afternoon if it is iced and you will NEVER see me pass up a Starbucks or Caribou Coffee without getting something. That's just wrong!

Starbucks' e-mails receive VIP treatment in my inbox so when I saw that there was a new drink in town, I knew I'd be packing up and heading to get my toasted graham latte as soon as my children were awake and dressed. What I didn't count on was falling madly in love with the cup my latte came in. I had just received my Lil' Inker Designs goodies for the October release from Laura and the Leaf Love Dies already had hearts in my eyes. So, when I saw the amazingness that is the autumn Starbucks cup, I knew it was destiny. It killed me to keep this card to myself but I couldn't possibly show it off before the release. So, now I can. Woo hoo!!! Here's the cup that was my inspiration:

Here's what I created:

I cut my Leaf Love Dies from watercolor paper and drew lines with a Copic pen to emulate my inspiration. I then used watercolors to highlight areas of my leaves. I layered my leaves on a black rectangle cut using Stitched Mats: Long & Skinny Rectangles Dies. I stamped and embossed a sentiment from Nuts About You Stamps in white on my rectangle. Then, I wrapped these layers in twine and got ready to add it to my card front. The card front was textured with Cover Up Die: Stitched Woodgrain. I LOVE this cover up die!! I bet you couldn't tell. ;) I needed something to bring in the green from the cup so I used this star paper cut with Embossed Dots Rectangles Dies. Once I had everything attached, I cut some extra leaves using Acorn Dies and added those. I think it totally captures the cup and I just love it!

Thanks SO much for listening to my ramblings about coffee. Ha ha! I hope you enjoyed my card and will check out the awesome products I used here:

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/leaf-love-dies/#_a_clarson

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/stitched-mats-long-skinny-rectangles/#_a_clarson

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/nuts-about-you-stamps/#_a_clarson

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/cover-up-die-stitched-woodgrain/#_a_clarson

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/embossed-dots-rectangles-dies/#_a_clarson

http://www.lilinkerdesigns.com/acorn-dies/#_a_clarson

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Lil' Inker Designs October Release Blog Hop Day 1!

Hi, you guys! It's day one of the Lil' Inker Designs New Release Blog Hop and I'm super excited to share all the Christmas fun with you! I'm in desperate need of Christmas inspiration this time of year. I always have a TON of Christmas cards and gifts to make and I just love getting new and inspiring products to make them with? I can't wait to show off all the new release goodies and, lucky for you, they are available right now at the Lil' Inker Store! We have an amazing blog hop for you today so, hopefully, you are coming from Maureen's blog and if not, you won't want to miss her amazing creations or anyone's for that matter! So make sure you didn't miss anyone and start at the Lil' Inker Blog. Now for the fun!

First up, did I say Christmas? Ha ha! Well, I have a little left of autumn to show off and it is the most AMAZING leaf set you have ever seen. Here's what I made using Leaf Love Dies and Leafy Greetings Stamps:

I started this card with a shiny rectangle cut using the Dual Stitched Rectangles die. You really can't beat that die set and I layered a piece of black and white triangle patterned paper on top to help make my leaf that I cut using the new Leaf Love Dies from black really pop. To say I love these leaves is an understatement. They are FABULOUS! Just the right stitching to make them totally versatile and so many fun leaf shapes. They are a great addition to anyone's collection. To make them even better, you can combine them with Leafy Greetings Stamps like I did here by embossing my sentiment (that fits on my leaf perfectly, by the way) in gold. The combo is just gorgeous and with a little twine, the card is finished. Simple, clean, and perfect.

Now, it's time for some Christmas fun! You know how much I love the Boxed Up Birthday Greeting Die well, now I get to rave about the new Merry & Bright Holiday Greeting Die.

I combined this new die with a Dual Stitched Square Die to make my focal boxed sentiment. The Merry & Bright Holiday Greeting Die is super cool because it doesn't cut out a box with the sentiment, it cuts out the negative space around the sentiment leaving the sentiment and some stitching behind. So it's great for cutting a ton of different ways! I chose to make a frame with is and then layer it on my card front with is decked out with the Center Point Chevron Die. I stuck to a simple red and kraft color scheme to keep the card looking modern and fresh but still festive.

I hope you enjoyed my creations and will join the rest of the team on the hop. You'll want to leave comments along the way because Laura gives out a $15 Lil' Inker Designs store credit to a lucky commenter each day of the hop. It could be you. I'm sure I'll see you on the hop and tomorrow for another fun day of release projects. See you then!