I hope you are enjoying the SU NC Demos February blog hop.  There certainly are a lot of talented artists in our group.  This is the first blog hop that I have ever participated in, and I’m really excited to show you a simply elegant card that features the Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits Dies.  The finished card is shown below.

The Bloomin’ Heart Thinklits dies are part of the Love Blossoms suite in the SU! Occasions catalog.  It is a wonderful die set to use for Valentine’s Day cards.  But, there are so many more options for this die set.  This birthday card is a great example.

Here are some of the steps that I followed to make this card.

• The background was made using the larger brush stroke stamp from the Work of Art stamp set.  To create a very similar background, you could also sponge color onto your white cardstock, use the direct to paper technique with your ink pad, or even create faux brush strokes using ink daubers.  As you can see in the pictures below, I experimented with different ink colors and patterns.

• Use white cardstock to die cut the hearts.  Then, put the heart die cuts on the stamped backgrounds.  This will help you determine which colors you like for the background and also if you have enough paint strokes stamped for the background.

• The “Happy Birthday” stamp from the Rose Wonder stamp set was my choice for the sentiment on this card.  Lately, I have been really drawn to script sentiment stamps.  In my opinion, they add a simple and elegant touch.  I decided to stamp my sentiment in Watermelon Wonder before adhering the die cut heart to the front of the card.  I also chose Watermelon Wonder as the color for the base for my card.

• The Bloomin’ Hearts Thinlits Dies also include two flower dies.  When you combine the flower dies and Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper, you get pure, sparkling elegance!  Use the fine-tip glue pen to adhere the flowers to the die.

• I like to use reverse tweezers when I glue the heart to the front of the card.  The fine-tip glue pen definitely does the trick here since it allows glue to be placed just where you need it.

• When I use dimensionals to attached a front to a card, I always put at least one dimensional in the middle of the piece of paper.  This prevents sagging in the middle of the card.  Don’t waste the outside edges of the dimensional sheets.  You can cut them into pieces and use them!

• I will confess to you that I am truly surprised that my die cutting machine hasn’t broken recently.  I have made several cards using the heart die featured in this card.  Since I was using it so much, I decided to get a stash of pre-die cut flowers for future use.

Please let me share a few more ideas with you that use the Bloomin’ Hearts Thinlits Dies and the tips highlighted above.  You’re going to notice that I used some current stamps and some retired stamps.  I bet you’ll have stamps in your collection that will work wonderfully with this die set!

I hope you have found some inspiration today!  Below are some of the products used in the featured card.  Be sure to continue the SU NC Demos blog hop.  All participants are listed below.

Happy Stamping!

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Product List