A Mighty Dino-Mite Release

Welcome to the last stop (or maybe mid-way depending on where you began) of the Essentials by Ellen September 2019 release hop! I’m still reeling from all of the INCREDIBLE inspiration from everyone participating, but I am so excited to share more with you.

We have so many fun sets releasing this month, but I’m going to move through the seasons to share some of the ways I’ve been putting each of these stamps and dies to work so far.

One thing I don’t ever hide is my love for Autumn. Give me all the cool evenings and colorful leaves any day! Because of this love, it’s no surprise that my newest contribution to the Mondo marvelousness that is Ellen’s collection, is a giant oak leaf and acorn. This set is so fun to paint with all that glorious space, and by stamping and embossing the leaf first, it’s even easier to play with color, but keep things simple.

While paint miiiiight be my favorite way to play with this set, I pulled out my Copic markers, too, and I LOVE the look as well. I am still new to many techniques, so my first trials are simple, but I’ve been amazed by how others are already playing with this one.

If it’s Autumn, it also means that for many of us, it’s Halloween! Ellen has her own Queen of Halloween on the team (hellllooooo, Heather!), so I’ve felt some of these spooky sets brewing (get it, brewing?) for a while. Dress up was already part of the discussion because how can you have so many Leading Ladies, a Leading Gentleman, and littles of both, and not have a great dress-up bin for them to pull from for both Halloween, and more?

I made three Halloween themed cards right away using the Crafty Lady, Party Lady, and the littles, but now my head is swimming with ideas for how I can dress up even more of my favorite Leading friends for other occasions.

I mean, how cute would this magical fairy be for a birthday?

Okay, okay, there’s more to share, and the season isn’t over, so i just have to say, while it’s fun to dress up our leading friends, you know what’s also fun? DRESSING UP DINOSAURS! Who knew?

So okay, sure, there’s actually two sets of dinos and their accessories, but what I love is that they working together, and with the Dress-Up set SO, SO WELL. Friends, I like to get the most life out of my sets that I can.

And while we’re here, can we just take a moment to giggle at “Squad Ghouls”? I mean.

Halloween or Christmas, birthdays, or really, everyday, dress up a dinosaur and let the fun begin.

And now that we’re talking about Christmas, let’s take a break from dress-up, but stroll down memory lane. Who remembers those bowls or ribbon and cut candy at your family’s house (or, if you’re me, still at your house, maybe even today, when it’s only September)? Still with me? Who remembers Dolly Parton crooning about tough times during the holidays, and how she’d be fine and dandy anyhow? And lastly, who dreams of beautiful glass apothecary jars full of treats? If you’ve answered “Me!” to any of these, my Hard Candy Christmas set is for you. I had so much fun playing with this set, and I have been thrilled to share it.

I played with watercolor and opaque white embossing, as well as stamping on transparency and making a “glass” effect. Here’s what I know - this set is going to be much more than a Christmas set for me. The combination of what you put in the jar is really endless. I keep thinking about some of those fun accessories from previous Leading Lady kits, or OH!, a best and eggs from Backyard Birds.

Spoiler alert, playing with this set WILL make you want to stop and have a candy snack, though.

Last, but not least, we’ve made it through Autumn, and the Halloween season, to Christmas, and now we can rocket right out of here with the last set I want to share: Space Out.

I knew right away that all of the amazing creators using this set would put all the bits and pieces to use in incredible ways, so I went clean and simple with my cards, and I am so glad I did. I loved seeing the ways that this set can be used, from full-color detailed scenarios, to bold, simple ones like these. I used a marbled paper I had in my stash from a local shop, but you could use alcohol inks to create your own, or one of the awesome marble background stamps from Ellen’s shop. For the other background I used the AMAZEBALLS new constellation die, and I’m in heaven. Look at those details!

Love. Those. Details.

Want to win prizes? Of course you do! We've got super fun prizes!!! One random & lucky commenter will win $25 to the Ellen Huston shop and one will win the whole September Essentials by Ellen release!!! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along the hop! Comment before Sunday, September 15th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email.

If you’ve made it this far, it’s time to head back to the start and visit the lovely Ardyth, or head to get your shopping done in the shop!