Hello, crafty friends!! I hope your weekend is going well and you are staying cool!! It is HOT here in the midwest!! That makes it easy to stay inside and craft, right? The Seaside Blooms Collection from Hero Arts released today and I had the pleasure of working with the Layered Hydrangea Die Set!! I’ll have a couple more cards to share with this collection in the next couple of days, as well!! I absolutely LOVE this die set!!

I started by die-cutting the blooms for the hydrangea from Windy cardstock. I added shading and color variations with Villainous Potion and Salty Ocean Ocean Distress Inks on the bottom layers. Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac and Broken China Distress Inks were added to the centers of the single blooms with Mini Blending Brushes. The leaves and stems were die-cut from Fern and Rainforest cardstock. Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink was used to add subtle shading to the leaves. The bottom layers were adhered together and the single blooms were piled on top and adhered with liquid glue.

For the background, I simply trimmed a panel of Cosmic Sky cardstock slightly smaller than A2 and notched each corner with the .75 corner of the 3-in-1 Notched Corner Punch. It was adhered to a white A2 card base, then the hydrangea and leaves were adhered using liquid glue. I chose to let some of the die-cuts hang over the edge. I’ll mail it in a larger envelope, but you could trim them flush with the edge (I did trim the stems).

The sentiment is from the Summer Bouquet Stamp & Cut Set (which I also adore…stay tuned for a card featuring this set). It was stamped onto white cardstock with purple dye ink and cut out with the coordinating die. I also die-cut three more layers from heavyweight white cardstock and adhered them behind the stamped one, then adhered it in the bottom, left of background. I added a drop of White Opal Liquid Pearls to the centers of each bloom and a trio of opal gems from the Crystal Mix Color Essential Gems in opposite corners to finish off the card.

That’s it for me today!! Stay tuned for two more cards featuring the Summer Blooms Collection!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!