Spread Joy not Germs Blog Hop & The Monarch: Brutus Monroe Die of the Month

Hi Everyone! If you are new to my blog, WELCOME!! I hope you are all doing ok and having a great time hopping along. In case, you lose yourself along the hop, you can start over at Catherine Pooler or at Hedgehog Hollow. There you will find a complete list of hoppers!

I am so excited to be part of this special blog hop. This cannot be more timely as we are on several weeks of lockdown. I am hoping, in my little way, to inspire you to create something and spread some joy!

Brutus Monroe’s inspiration for this month is all about spring, and what more represents a new beginning but butterflies! I am sharing with you three projects I created using the Brutus Monroe Die of the Month aptly called Monarch.

Inspiration #1:

For my first inspiration, I used the Monarch die as a backdrop to the Happy Rose stamp.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to watercolor your stamp images, I have a quick tutorial for you. For this technique I used the Sparkle Aqua Pigment paints. A little drop of this goes a looong way.

I heat embossed the Happy Rose image on watercolor cardstock with Penny Embossing powder. Then added drops of the Sparkle Aqua Pigment to the image – Red (for the inner part of the rose), Yellow and Orange for the outer part. I also added drops of Blue & Green on the leaves.

Then I spray generously with water. I also used a brush to move the color around and a paper towel to sop up the excess water bleeding into each other. I then set aside to dry.

To add more depth to the image, I just used the brush and dabbed more concentrated color on the inner parts of the flower and leaves.

I then fussy cut the image. For the backdrop, I die-cut the Monarch on Copper Glitterstock and mounted it on a watercolored background using the same method I did with the rose.

I chose this sentiment “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations” from the Conservatory of Quotes stamp set because I felt that we all needed to to hear these encouraging words from time to time specially in times of difficulty.

Inspiration #2:

For my second card inspiration, I layered the die-cuts, first die-cutting it from one of the papers in the Watercolor Galaxy 6″ X 6″ paper pad collection. Then I layered it on top of a coordinating pink colored cardstock but turned upside down. I then mounted it on top of Pink Watermelon Glitterstock.

I placed a vellum strip over the botton half of the card and glued the sentiment on top. The sentiment “Do What Makes You Happy” is from the stamp set in the April Blooming Bicycles Inspiration Box. I thought this was the perfect sentiment for the theme of this blog hop. Too often I hear about people stressing out over what is happening around them – this is just a reminder to take the time to do something that brings joy to your life – whatever it may be. Handmade cards are a great way to spread inspiration!

Inspiration #3:

For my third card inspiration, I used the die in a slightly different way. I wanted to give several options on how to use this beautiful die.

I first used the April Stencil of the Month and ink blended it over a piece of 5.5″ X 5.5″ piece of plain white cardstock, masking off each section with a different color. Then I used the Monarch die and centered it on the ink blended panel and then die-cut it.

Using a square die, I cut out a window in the middle.

Then, using coordinating plain butter yellow cardstock, I cut out frames for the rectangular piece. I did the same for the square window then glued them all together.

I embossed the sentiment using Alabaster White Embossing powder positioned in the middle of a blue Sapphire glitterstock card panel. Then proceeded to glue the frame down. I finished off the card with jewels in matching tones.

The sentiment ” I Can’t Thank You Enough” is from the Tree of Thanks stamp set. This stamp set is loaded with gratitude sentiments.

My daughters and I already made several cards and have given them out to the doctors, nurses and hospital staff. I plan to make more of these cards because it seems there are never enough words to express our gratitude for the brave souls keeping us safe.

I hope you were inspired by what I have created. We have a lot of your favorite crafty companies sponsoring this hop and several great prizes to be won! Brutus Monroe is sponsoring a $50 Gift Certificate to their wonderful online store.

Deadline to enter is on the 24th of April and the winner will be chosen on April 27. All you have to do is comment below and let me know how you plan to do what you love or how you plan to spread some joy. I would really love to hear from you!

Thank you so so much for dropping by. I hope to see you again soon! Your next stop on the hop is the uber talented Andrea Shell.

Stay safe!

‘Til next time!

❤️

Anna

Thank you for visiting my blog. I truly appreciate it! You can also find me on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook.

Sponsors List & Prizes:

Catherine Pooler Designs – $20 Gift Certificate on each of the Brand Ambassadors’ blogs
Hedgehog Hollow – one month free sub to the box with free us shipping
CAS-ual Fridays – Win the new release – over $80 value
Heffy Doodle – £35 voucher for the store
Whimsy Stamps – $15 GC on each of their Creative Team team blogs
Sassy and Crafty Stamps – $35 Gift Certificate
The Ton – $20 Gift Certificate (stamps, dies, ink or sequins)
Ellen Hutson – $35 Gift Certificate
Polka Dot Orchard- $20 Gift Certificate
Ink on 3 – $35 Gift Certificate
Brutus Monroe – $50 GC
STAMPlorations – $25 gift code on the STAMPlorations blog + $10 gift code on each designer blogs.
Unity – two $25 Gift Certificates
Pink and Main – $25 Gift Certificate
Taylored Expressions – $50
Trinity Stamps-$25 Gift Certificate
WOW! Embossing Powder – two gift vouchers 1 x £30 and 1 x $30 that covers the USA, UK and Europe Greeting Farm -$25 Gift Certificate
Miss Ink Stamps -$25 Gift Certificate
Pear Blossom Press -$25 gift certificate
Trinity Stamps -$25 Gift Certificate
Paper Sweeties – $50 Gift Certificate
Xyron – Mega Runner, Refill & 1.5 inch sticker maker, refill
Dress My Craft – $35 gift certificate
Beacon – Product gift bag
Artesprix – Getting Started Kit