Hi guys! I made a pretty blue and black New Years card, with plenty of sparkle, using Waffle Flowers’ Swag background hot foil plate and coloring stencil. And of course, a swag background needed an elegant flower, die cut from a sheet of black velvet specialty paper (Michaels craft store), I used their Layered Abstract Flowers die set.

After I hot foiled with an opaque black foil, from Spellbinders Glimmer collection, I cut it down to a 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 panel, I almost always foil with a full sheet of paper (8 1/2 X 11) that’s been cut in half. I like to start out with it a little too big in case I don’t get everything laid down precisely. Now it’s time to color!

I pulled out Waffle Flowers’ new Rectangle Ink Pad Holder. WF offered it and asked if I would use it and give my opinion. Happy to do so! This ink pad holder might be able to help me keep my craft table in order! I’ll have to pick up a couple more because I like to color and often end up with loads of pads haphazardly strewn across the table.

I appreciated the low profile, how it clung to the glass table top and the ink pads don’t budge. When I was done I stored it away with the neat zippered bag it came in and stored it in a nearby drawer. Thumbs up!

I used my Pinkfresh Studio inks in the Starry Night collection of blues and concentrated color right around where it looks like the “swag” bunches up. When I was done coloring I set the foiled panel aside and I die cut my flower pieces from the black velvet paper as well as some glitter paper. After I glued the velvet pieces to the rough glitter paper, I placed the pieces under a heavy book for a while, it’s tricky adhering anything to glitter paper. I usually use glue dots, but I’m all out!

By the time the layered flower was ready, I had dry embossed the Swag Background hot foil plate with another panel of that same blue and taped it down to a cardstock cardbase. I cut down the hot foiled panel and centered it on the card, but before I glued it down, using foam tape, of course, I slid a 2 1/4 X 5 1/4 piece of black cardstock, slightly offset, onto the cardbase. I liked the balance that it brought to the design.

I added a couple of sparkly silver stick thingys… I’m not sure what to call them, I picked them up in the artificial flower section of my craft store right around Christmas last year. The matte silver bow was made with a bow die from Waffle Flowers Layered Ornament die, and the sentiment is from their Labelmaker Holiday Sentiments and Labelmaker Holiday Matching die.

Only after all of those pieces were arranged on the card and stuck down, did I place those beautiful midnight blue Stargazer jewels on the foiled panel.

I hope that you have been inspired to make something new today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Anne