Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday!
With life being so busy and so hectic, it’s quite easy for the little things to pass us by. Those fleeting moments can hold such meaning, but sometimes it’s not so easy to remember to stop and appreciate them.
This is one of the reasons why I love the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Though we don’t celebrate it in the UK, it seems like a wonderful way to come together and remember to give thanks for all those things that we should hold a little dearer.
Plus those feasts look pretty amazing to me. Personally I’m all about the pecan pie. Yum.
Thanksgiving conjures in my mind images of Autumn, which in turn reminds me of falling leaves. So it’s just as well that Catherine Pooler thinks the same way as me and has come up with a Stamp of Approval Collection that’s all in the spirit of thanks and counting your blessings, and Autumnal leafy awesomeness.
If you’ve not heard of Catherine Pooler’s Stamp of Approval then you are in for a treat. It is a completely curated box of exclusive supplies delivered right to your doorstep! Amidst the gorgeous box and hidden in that pretty wrapping is an *awesome* collection of not-yet-on-the-market stamps, dies, and maybe even a couple of other surprise goodies too – all expertly designed and selected for each box to match, coordinate and amaze. The products in each box are only available as an entire collection and won’t be offered for individual sale until several months from the Collection’s release date, so they’ve got that whole exclusivity thing going on. AND just like that Christmas Morning/surprise gift, the first time you see the entire contents of the box is when you unwrap it for yourself! How fun is that?!
Oh, and one more thing. These babies sell like hot cakes. Fresh from the oven. That’s right. If you want to be the first to the cake aisle then I recommend subscribing to the Waiting List at Catherine Pooler’s Stamp of Approval site so that you’re notified when the collections go on sale, and so you won’t be left staring at empty cake shelves. No-one wants that.
And now I want cake. Well, maybe pecan pie instead.
The latest Stamp of Approval Collection is being released in just a couple of days and it’s called the Counting Blessings Collection. It’s possibly my favourite collection yet (well, apart from the peacock one before)! Catherine has been sneaking peeks of the contents of The Counting Blessings Collection on her blog over the last few days, and the past couple of days have seen the amazing Design Team (and some special guests!) show off just what some of the items in the collection can do! I’m helping to bring up the rear for Day 3 of 3 Blog Hops to show off this *truly* amazing box of goodies with a couple of cards, and of course there’s a fantastic giveaway as well where you can win a box of your own too!
Let’s get to the cards.
For this beauty I really went to town with the Autumnal look, thanks to the Leaf Motifs stamp set!
I stamped several of the leaves and heat embossed them with copper embossing powder, then I had loads of fun pouncing circles of colour from my Catherine Pooler inks onto the panel using my ink blending tool! Once I had enough coloured circles I blended over them with Tiara and Icing On The Cake inks, then splattered on some water and lifted up the colour! I have to confess, I really wasn’t loving this card when I made it. I totally thought I’d ruined it a couple of times – but I’m really glad I persevered with it as it turned out just as I wanted!
I was going for a soft focus colour bokeh look, and then thought to include some ‘shaped bokeh’ using one of the flower cluster stamps from the Bloomin’ Bouquet set! I stamped it with white ink and then blended the ink slightly in places using a piece of tissue. I really think it adds to the overall effect!
Gotta love that Thankful die – I die cut it twice from white cardstock, adhered the die cuts together, then adhered it to my card using dimensional glue gel. I love the finished card!
For my second card, I went with a completely different look:
Told you it was different! This card really makes my modern-loving heart skip a beat!
To create the ombre look to the leaves I inked up the stamps with three different colours of ink each time. All That Jazz (which was an inkpad in the last Stamp of Approval Collection!), Grass Skirt and Lime Rickey on the left and right leaves, Something Borrowed, All That Jazz and Fiesta Blue for the centre leaf. The little flower from Bloomin’ Bouquet using Tutti Frutti ink really gives the design a pop!
I stamped the sentiments from Autumn Blessings onto black cardtock and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I stamped the ‘O’ for each word twice, overlapping them slightly so the overall sentiments looked like they had solid Os. I love this quirky look and will be trying it again in future!
Giveaway!
So I bet you’d like to win one of these amazing collections for yourself, right? Read on!
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave me a comment – and then make sure you visit the other hop destinations too to check out the amazing inspiration and increase your chances of winning by commenting there too!
Here’s your Hop line-up for today!
Catherine Pooler
Taheerah Atchia
Lydia Evans
Ingrid Blackburn
Kimberly Wiener
Jill Dewey Hawkins
As I mentioned, this is the third of three Blog Hops – and each day’s Hop has a box to give away! That’s three boxes up for grabs for three very lucky winners – and the more you comment the better your chances, so be sure to comment on every single stop of every single hop! And if you’ve already bought a box, you’ll win a $100 gift certificate instead! You can head back to Catherine’s blog to get the list for the other two days!
You have until 9am EST on Thursday 17th August to enter. Good luck!
And don’t forget that The Counting Blessings Stamp of Approval Collection goes on general sale on Thursday! In fact, I’ll be back with another post then to remind you!
Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies
Thankful Leaves Card
For You Modern Leaves Card
work of watercolor love!
Two completely different cards and both beautiful! xxx
These two completely different looks inspire me- love the copper embossed leaves and the feeling of movement (the leaves falling into a pile)…great lay-out! And the sweet and cheerful simplicity of the bright leaves on the white background…love that one too! I can’t wait to get busy with this collection 🙂 TY
I have really fallen for all the leaves in this collection. I’m loving the 2 completely different looks you shared. Both of your cards are a work of art.
Love that you have shown two very different looks. I like both cards equally. I will definitely use some copper leaves on projects!
Fantastic fall themed cards, Taheerah. Love your backgrounds. Thank you for the inspirations.
Those are beautiful. This is my first box purchase from Catherine. I’m excited to get it. I hope some kind of inspiration hits me. I have zero creative bones in my body but want to learn it all. Thank you for helping with that.
What a great couple of fall cards. I adore that Leaf Motifs stamp set. Great job
Great job on your cards. The first one is my favorite. Love the background!
Such beautiful cards! I love the simple one with the blue/green leaves. So pretty!!
I love your cards! Specially the fall one! Great technique and use of the SOA collection! Great job!
I absolutely love that thankful die
Next to rose gold embossing powder, copper is one of my favorites! I love the way your falling leaves card turned out. In stark contrast, I love the simplicity of the second card you created! Both show the versatility of the stamps in this collection!
Thank you for highlighting a couple of the many ways to use these products from the SOA box. The cards are beautiful.
I’m loving the effect on your first card!
Thank you for sharing, they are beautiful cards!
Your cards are very striking! They really remind me of fall.
Love the layering on your first card and the simplicity of the second one.
Love the ombré leaves! Gorgeous inspiration!
Absolutely love the color of the thankful card. I will be making that card for sure. Great cards!
Both cards are wonderful Taheerah! I love the copper embossing powder on the first and modern. Fun feel of the last.
Wow.. Such gorgeous beauties.. your cas cards are my favorite! Why haven’t I followed you yet?
Both cards are lovely and completely different! You really showed off the versatility of the leaf stamp set. It’s always fun to read your blog posts, too. Now, go have some cake (or pie).
These are gorgeous. I love the clean and simple white with leaves!
Awesome cards!!
Beautiful cards.
Wow!! These cards are beautiful!! My fave is the 1st one! Love the copper embossing! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
LOVE the first card!! ?
Interesting choice of colors and they totally work!!!
I like the muted fall bokeh card and the KISS card…both are so pretty.
I’m glad you persevered – that card turned out beautiful!
I like your first card with the bokah effect. It is one of my favorites of the hops so far!
Love both of your cards!
Great cards. I need to get me some copper embossing powder, it makes your card even more beautiful!
Your fall cards are just amazing and so adorable..
Wow beautiful cards! I love the copper on the first one and the gradient color on the second. thank you for the inspiration;)
love the colors you used! Beautiful cards!
The leaves in this kit are my fav!
Beautiful background on the first card -so glad you stuck with it!
Glad you kept going on your first card! It turned out beautiful! Love the color mix on the second card too!
Your first card really does bring the whole essence of fall. Love that! And the copper tone is perfect. Thanks for sharing your talent and making this collection hard to resist!
You definately didn’t ruin your autumn card–I actually think it’s my fave card of the entire blog hop! Just lovely.
Love your cards! Glad you kept going on the first card, it is beautiful!
Thankyou for sharing Taheerah! I love your cards!
Such a clever idea to make the “O” look solid, looks like an old fashioned typewriter that had a defect!
I’m loving the copper embossing. Awesome cards.
Love the background on the first card. The copper leaves make the card.
Love your cards! Fabulous collection.
I love the simplicity of your second card.
Ooh! I love these cards! The leaves are so gorgeous! I can’t wait to order this collection!