WELCOME TO THE ENCOURAGEMENT HOP! :)

Hello blogging friends!  How is your week going?  Thank goodness it's Thursday, one more day of work left for me!  It's also August 1st...and just how that happened so quickly, I have NO IDEA!  It seems like just yesterday it was July 31st.  HAHA!

I'm posting today as a participant in an Encouragement Blog Hop, hosted by the fabulous Courtney Kreeber, Jenn Bena (Scrapbena Creations), and Mary Polanco.  They did a live YouTube a couple of months ago where the idea for this hop was born.  And this isn't just a blog hop.  It's a hop where, if you wanted to join in, whether you have  your own YouTube channel, a blog, or just like making cards, you were more than welcome.  Absolutely anyone could join in this hop!  I think Courtney said there are over 100 people that have joined in, so sit back, relax, and enjoy!

So the theme for this hop is to make an encouragement card.  I was going to go the same route I always go...find a cute image and color it with alcohol markers.  But then I thought this would be a great opportunity to try something I have been wanting to do for some time; embossed resist with Distress Oxides and blender brushes.  So here is the final result:

I think this is pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself!  Why did I wait so long to try it??  I checked out some YouTube videos first (Kristina Werner especially), where I rewatched her last Distress Oxide blend video.  I thought that the Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Seedless Preserves combo was sooooo pretty, I just had to try that one!  Instead of using the regular blending tools, I wanted to use the Taylored Expressions blender brushes that are sitting so prettily on my desk.   They really are so nice to work with!  The background stamp is Flora Background from Simon Says Stamp.  The "you are" comes from the Honey Bee Stamps "Happiness" set, and the "Awesome" is from Neat and Tangled.  This is the first time I have used that die set too!  I managed to find a colored cardstock in my stash that matched the Wild Honey ink pretty well, so I used that to frame my image panel, and to cut out "Awesome."

I can't wait to send this to a friend who may just need a little reminder of how AWESOME he/she really is!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today, and I hope you will carve out some time to check out the rest of the hop. I'm sure it will be absolutely fabulous!

Your next stop in the hop is Tracy Shultz, so just click right here!

Take care, and God Bless!

~Marie~