Hi guys! Welcome to the Waffle Flower February 2022 Release Blog Hop! I’m happy to be hopping with the folks from Waffle Flower to show you all the fun new stuff awaiting you on the Waffle Flower website! Be sure to check out each stop in today’s blog hop for fun, inspiration, and chances to win some of these new release goodies!
This month the release is all about card design! Waffle Flower was founded by a cardmaker and has designers that started as cardmakers (like me!). A lot of thought goes into each release and Waffle Flower products are always developed from a cardmaker’s perspective. So this month, we’re looking at the elements of card design with focal points, backgrounds, and sentiments. As you stop along the blog hop and throughout the month, the DT will be sharing personal tips and tricks for cardmaking. Hope you enjoy the tips and find them useful!
My first two cards today uses the new Abstract Stencil Quad. The first card above uses the stencil in the traditional way with all 4 layers. The stencil is 6″ X 6″, so you can get cards with different looks just with the same stencils by cutting down your panel. The stencil design gives me fun 80’s ESPRIT and Benetton vibes (remember them?), so I went with this color combo. So much fun to make!
The card below uses parts of the stencils to make a custom background. Still feeling those 80’s vibes but this time with pastel colors. In both cases, I used the new Vertical Sentiments Stamp and Die sets. I collect sentiment stamps, but I realized that I don’t have too many that are aligned vertically! Plus with the dies, there’s so many new ways to add a sentiment.
This last card today uses the new Layered Flower Die set and the Cutlines Die set. The Layered Flower set is small but really packs a punch. I’ve used them here in a metallic rose gold cardstock and I’m in love! I added a couple branches from the previously-released Sprigs set and that’s all I needed for a high impact floral spray!
For the background I used the Tiny Dot Foil Plate to deboss the cute design. Then I used the large curved dies from the Cutlines set to make an arc cutout. When you see the Cutlines dies, it may not click right away how you can use them. When you get a chance to play around with them you can see they make awesome backgrounds and really cool design effects.
My design tip today is about sentiments. I think sentiment placement can be one of the trickiest things to do. When I was putting the card below together, my first thought was to use a sentiment strip (which is a technique I still love). But I wanted a little different look, so I nested the sentiment in the panel cutout. The reverse cut out works especially well when you have a textured background that is hard to stamp or for very decorative panels. In the example below, the recessed cutout highlights both the sentiment and the flower focal point with 3 different layers.
That’s it for me today! I know that the rest of the DT has amazing cards to share, so don’t miss any of them!
The next stop on the hop is the wonderful and talented Arjita. Here’s the full list if you want to hop around: Waffle Flower Blog ~ Galina Filippenko ~ JJ Bolton (you are here!) ~ Arjita Singh ~ Channin Pelletier ~ Dilay Nacar ~ Jeanne Jachna ~ Rachel Arribas ~ Rebecca Keppel
For today’s hop, Waffle Flower is giving away $25 gift certificate to THREE lucky winners. You can leave a comment on this blog and along the hop by 11:59 pm EDT on Monday February 21, 2022 for your chances to win. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the posts in this blog hop and will be announced on the Waffle Flower Blog on 2/23/2022.
From now till Thursday February 17th, 2022, all orders placed at waffleflower.com will receive a mysterious gift (No code required!).
Aloha, jj
