Blog Hop with the Simply Stylish Stampers!

Thank you for hopping over to my blog. 

This is my first time joining in with a 'Blog Hop' and i'm delighted to be doing it with the other ladies from the 'Simply Stylish Stampers'.

After being given a card making kit as a gift a few years back i found i really enjoyed creating projects. Later on i discovered Stampin Up and my love for papercraft has grown into what you might say is an obsession!

My card today uses the fabulous NEW stamp set 'Wise Men From Afar' which is coming soon in the Autumn / Winter brochure.

'Star Of Light' and the coordinating thinlits dies also feature. 

Taking a sheet of 'Night of Navy' cardstock i trimmed it down to 11 1/2 x 5 3/4. Then scored in half along the long side.

'Whisper White' cardstock measuring 5 x 5 inches. To create the night sky effect i used a combination of blue inks - 'Night of Navy', 'Tempting Turquoise' and 'Pacific Point'. You of course can mix and match any blues you like. 

I used a piece of paper handcut with a wavy edge to use as a guide along the bottom part of my card so it wouldn't layer this edge with any blue ink.

Starting with the Lighter shade first i swirled the ink around the 'Whisper White' card in the rough are where i knew i wanted my star to be. I kept my 'swirling' very rough as i didn't want it to have a perfect blend finish when complete. If you're not keen on this look then keep on blending until you have the desired effect you prefer.

Taking the next shade gradually make your way out away from the star area finishing with your darkest shade around the edges and bottom.

From the 'Wise Men From Afar' stamp set i used the little sand image. Taking some 'Sahara Sand' ink i randomly stamped this image along the bottom of the card, i kept stamping until all the ink was off the stamp before reloading it again with more ink. Thus helps give you a more natural finish.

Next taking the wise men stamp i inked it all over in 'Versa Mark before placing it onto my sand dunes. Sprinkling on 'Gold Embossing' powder i then heated the image up to give the gold shimmer effect. Depending how quick you are, if your sand dunes haven't fully dried the emboss powder will stick a little to that too, i wasn't quite quick enough so didn't get as much of a shine in the sand as i would have liked. Next time i will not faff so much!

'Basic Black' ink was used to create the palm trees, i stamped off each time first before adding to the project so the trees would be more of a subtle feature.

Taking the 'Star of Light' stamp set and matching dies i cut out this beautiful star in 'Gold Glimmer Paper'. The sparkle is fabulous from the glimmer paper, you need to see it in person to get the full wow effect.

Mounted onto the card using a 'mini dimensional' i added a little 'Metallic shape' over the center to hide the dimensional below.

Lastly to put it together i layered the design onto some more gold 'Glimmer Paper' before mounting it onto the 'Night of Navy' base.

I've really enjoyed taking part in my first blog hop, I'm not an 'artsy' kind of person and could not draw a picture to save my life but with the amazing products from Stampin' Up it allows me to create some lovely projects.

If you would like any more information please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can email  me direct rachhome@msn.com

In the meantime please keep on hopping to the next lady Jill from Paper Daisy Crafting and her wonderful project. If you have joined the blog hop at my project you can also hop back to the fabulous Sam from Pootles by clicking below