Hello there! I have some tropical greetings to share with you today that also have my favorite color of the summer: GOLD! I have a feeling I’ll be using gold on my Christmas cards this year too. I also have a nifty trick you can do with stencils. So, read on! :)

I started out by stamping this flower from the Hero Arts Hello Flowers set with Versamark ink, then heat embossing it in white. Then I broke out my peerless watercolors and went to town!

I first used these last summer while on vacation in Quebec. I just love them to take with me while traveling — they pack up so well! And the colors are so vibrant. LOVE.

Next I stamped a bunch of leaves in lime and field greens and cut them out with the matching die cuts. I am not very patient when it comes to fussy cutting, so I love having matching dies! :)

Now for my stencil trick! I placed the confetti dot stencil on some white cardstock and misted it with gold, but I didn’t think the design was strong enough to go with the bold flowers. Then it hit me to use the stencil as a stamp!

I just picked it up carefully and placed it on a piece of cardstock trimmed to 4.25×5.5″. Then I covered it with scratch paper and pressed all over it really well. It doesn’t come out quite as well as a true stamp would, but it gives a nice shimmer.

Then I decided to use the stencil to emboss it, too! This really makes the dots pop. :)

To do this, just place a piece of felt under the paper and the stencil on top in your sandwich and run it through the machine as you would for a die cut.

Next I partially assembled the card, adding a strip of this skinny Amy Tangerine washi tape. Yes, I am still addicted to washi tape. :)

Before I adhered the flowers with pop dots I stamped the message in black.

Then after the card was assembled I splattered some more gold mist over everything. Because you can never have enough gold!

Oh and I wanted to add that I added some Hero Arts black decor to the centers of the flowers and here and there on the card. I like how the black really stands out with the vibrant watercoloring, yet doesn’t take anything away from it.

Thanks so much joining me today, and thanks to Simon Says Stamp for having me! Hope your summer is golden. xo

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