Inspired by Jen (and a Giveaway!)

Hello. Welcome back. Today I have not one, not two, but FIVE cards to share. I’m sure many of you know Jennifer McGuire. Besides being the sweetest person on the planet, she is SO talented. Recently she shared a technique combining Distress Ink and Embossing folders. You can find it HERE. It got me out of my creative rut and inspired today’s card shares…

(I will not go into detail on the process because Jen has a fabulous tutorial video on how to create this look HERE, but I will share my color combo choices and other supplies and tips)

This card is actually my favorite from the group. I’ve had that flower embossing folder from Stampin’ Up forever and never quite knew what to do with it until now. I used Picked Raspberrries and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks. I think the key to this technique is practice to see how much water works best. I love the puddle look on the leaves the water gave. Such great texture….

Oh, that sentiment is the same one I used in yesterday’s post. I also added THESE sequins to finish the card.

The remaining four cards are all birthday themed because I am super low on my birthday inventory right now. LOL I wanted to create a color combo that was a little less feminine so I went with Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks and THIS embossing folder…

For the greeting, I used a Paper Smooches Birthday Die and cut it from the decorative panel and also from black cardstock. I did this so I could inlay the black die-cut word and have a one layer look. I finished it off with a few enamel dots and aqua thread…

The next card uses the same die set as the last card but I cut several celebrate words out of black cardstock and layered them, creating an embellishment as opposed to the inlaid technique. I used THIS embossing folder with Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberries Distress Inks…

On the top layer of the celebrate word, I used some Wink of Stella and added Glossy accents on top. I also used some of THESE sequins and added gems to the center of them to complete the card…

Instead of inking the flat side of the embossing folder, I did the raised side. It worked well because of the woodgrain, thin lines. I used Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. In the center, I die-cut a decorative panel from THIS die and several more out of blue cardstock. I adhered all of them together to make it raised.

I stamped the greeting and stars from THIS stamp set. It is a must have for birthday cards! I added some glossy accents on top of the stars for a little shine…

Okay now for the last card. I used  Picked Raspberry, Barn Door, and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks along with THIS embossing folder…

I used that same stamp set as the previous card and heat embossed it in Hero Arts Silver. I also did the same to a strip of white cardstock to run along the decorative panel of the card and to tie in with the greeting…

So that’s it. These cards did not take to long to make. Gotta love that!

Time for the giveaway! Today’s loot up for grabs is….

A pair of embossing folders so you can try out this fun technique! Just a leave a comment to this post telling me which was your favorite card by midnight of Monday, June 30th for a chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back with another project and giveaway tomorrow!…