New year, new Essentials by Ellen release coming at ya! I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2023 than with a load of fresh crafty inspiration, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in this sweet release that just landed in the Ellen Hutson shop.
There’s something nostalgic to me about gumball machines. As a kid I’d beg my parents for 25 cents at the grocery store so that I could get a gumball far bigger than I could comfortably chew from the vending machine near the entrance. Do those even exist any more? In a post-pandemic world, the thought of it sounds very unsanitary! Anyways, as soon as I saw the new Essentials by Ellen release, the So Chewsy stamp and die set triggered that nostalgia and before I knew it, I was well on my way to making a gumball shaker card.
I began with the shaker element, stamping the machine in Concord & 9th Ballet Slipper ink, and its outline in Catherine Pooler Pink Champagne. For the dials, I used CP Pink Champagne with a little Pinkfresh Studio Doe, then cut out both pieces with the coordinating die set. Since the edges of the gumball machine are quite thin (thinner than my thinnest foam strips), I decided to die cut about 5 of them from white cardstock and stack them with liquid glue. This way, I knew my shaker bits wouldn’t get stuck underneath.
With an acetate window adhered to the front piece and all my stacked die cuts beneath, it was time for the best part – adding the confetti. I used a mix of Hai Supply Iced Confetti and some circles and hearts that I die cut using the small shapes in the So Chewsy die set.
After closing up the back of the gumball machine shaker piece, I moved on to the background. The Essentials by Ellen Essential Circles (and any other nesting dies, for that matter) are perfect for making your own stencils with acetate. I cut a few different sizes, then grabbed my blending brushes and Catherine Pooler inks in Whipped Honey, Orange Peel, Pink Champagne and Polished. One circle at a time, I blended to fill in the color, overlapping them slightly so that they looked like overlapping bubbles in the background. After trimming the panel down to 3.5 x 4.75″, I mounted it on a white A2 card base with foam tape, followed by the gumball shaker and a sentiment strip from the new Valentine Vibes stamp set.
There’s a whole lot more to love in this release, so be sure to check it all out here, and come on over to Instagram to participate in today’s Instagram hop. If you win, you’ll receive a gift card for the Ellen Hutson shop, and that’d be a pretty great way to start the year, don’t you think? Good luck!
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