Essentials by Ellen Holiday Release 2014 Blog Hop

Welcome to the Essentials by Ellen Blog Hop! We’re so excited to unveil a brand new line of high quality Clear Stamp Sets and Designer Dies, designed by Julie Ebersole exclusively for Ellen Hutson LLC.  This collection reflects an eclectic mix of images, sentiments and art styles that are sure to appeal to a wide range of tastes!  Just in time for holiday crafting, the entire release is available now at Ellen Hutson LLC.

How about a look at some of the new goodies in action?  My first card was done with the set, Autumn Acorns.  This set has the loveliest images of all things fall.  I love that Julie created open images for coloring and solid images for use alone or to fill in the open images.  For my card, I used one solid image and one open image to create this card...

To get this look, I stamped my leaves onto a vellum panel with gold embossing powder.  The panel is glued to the card front under the solid leaves and under the sentiment strip.  Then I colored in the open leaves with some Copics.  I stamped the sentiment using a mix of gold ink and deep red.  So fall-ish!

This next card uses the Twelve Days set!  Can I just say that I love Julie's style of illustrating?  It's fun and whimsical just like her;)  The images from Twelve Days are perfect for creating a chalkboard card.  Over the stamped background, I wrapped a vellum strip and added a die cut sentiment in holiday red!  The word dies are from the new dies set, Merry and Bright.

Now for something a little different:)  This release is chock full of beautiful and innovative products, and hopefully this card shows both sides.  Julie has created a new die (the Zipper Die) that cuts a perforated flap that can be opened to reveal a hidden gift card.  It's beyond awesome!  When I looked at the die, I thought how cool it would be to create a hidden shaker!  For the front of the card, I used a bunch of Distress Inks to create a winter sky.  Over the background I heat embossed the sentiment from the Brushstroke stamp set.  Now, let's talk hidden shaker...

Behind the Zipper Die flap on the card front, I created a winter scene using the Home and Hearth dies  and the sentiment from the coordinating Home and Hearth stamp set.  I went a little crazy with the glitter and sequins inside the shaker, but I can't seem to help myself, lol!  

Last but not least, I made a card using the Tis the Season stamp set.  This set is so Julie, and I love it!  Really fun images and the cheeky sentiments to match.  Speaking of cheeky, I used a combination of stamps from Tis the Season and Merry & Bright to create a bevy of ugly Christmas sweaters:)  After embellishing my sweaters (which was so much fun by the way), I fussy cut them and added them to a white panel.  

Here's a little close up look at the sweaters and that perfect sentiment.  Isn't this a fun set? 

I'm happy to say that I have one of these Tis the Season sets to give away!  Just leave a comment on my blog by October 8th, and the lucky winner will be announced on October 9th!    

On top of the giveaway on my blog, there is a GIANT prize package being given away from all the stops of the hop!  The fun begins at the CLASSroom!  Be sure to leave a comment there by October 8th.  Winners will be announced October 9th! 

The next stop on the hop is the fabulous Heather Campbell!  Here's a full list of hoppers so you don't get lost;)  

• The CLASSroom  

• Teri Anderson  

• Laurel Beard  

• JJ Bolton - You're here:)

• Heather Campbell  

• Kittie Caracciolo  

• Darlene DeVries  

• Julie Ebersole  

• Sharon Harnist  

• Amber Kemp-Gerstel 

• Cristina Kowalczyk  

• Karolyn Loncon  

• Nichol Magouirk  

• Jean Manis  

• Jennifer McGuire  

• Chari Moss  

• Paulina Nakamura  

• Jocelyn Olson 

• Catherine Pooler  

• Miriam Prantner 

• Julia Stainton  

Thanks so much to Ellen and Julie for asking me to participate in this blog hop:)  And thanks to you too for stopping in!  Enjoy and happy World Card-making Day! 

Mahalo and aloha,

jj