Living My Dream: Simon Says Stamp KISSES Release - CZ Hi There Greetings Stamp Set

Today is the Simon Says Stamp Kisses Release which coordinates well with the Hugs Release in December. There will be a two day blog hop using both of these releases together (Hugs and Kisses) on January 20th and 21st. I'll be participating in day two this time, so come visit me on Saturday! The card I'm sharing today is in the banner above, so see if you can find it! I used the CZ Hi There Greetings Stamp Set which also comes with a set of matching dies - here is an image of the bundle:

Here is my one layer card with my story of how it made me crazy in the process of designing it!

I decided to create a card with just sentiments from this Hi There Greetings stamp set. I stamped many of the sentiments from the set in my "random stamping" technique I often use. I stamped them with Pawsitively Saturated Inks in 3 colors each. I stamped them in the lightest color in the Trio first. Then I applied ink to 2/3rds of the stamp and used my finger to rub off a little on the edge so it didn't look obvious that I had changed colors. Then I did the last darkest color from the Trio on the bottom of the sentiment. All of the colors I used are in the supply list at the bottom of this post. I then embossed over all of the sentiments with SSS Clear Embossing Powder. Yes, this took a while haha! I also added some of the small sentiments stamped with black ink. I think they break up the design nicely. I die-cut this piece with the largest die in the SSS A2 Thin Frame dies and attached it to a yellow card base.

Not much more to say, but this is where things got difficult. I wanted the card to have a focal point and so I die-cut the new "Hi There CZ Die" in several colors of cardstock with white letters. It fit nicely over the pink hello on the top of the card between the two black sentiments. But it just looked too busy no matter what color I used. My daughter also voted no to adding it. I have two in the photos, but I actually created the hi there in about 6 colors!!! I finally gave up and just added some Nuvo drops in Blackboard around the sentiments. The I decided I didn't like the black, so I used some Rhubarb Crumble over some of them. I wasn't happy with this card when I sent it in. Shari used it in the banner at the top of the post, so I guess she didn't mind it! Later, I realized all I had to do is stamp one of the sentiments I had on the card front and die-cut it so I could just pop one up which would have acted as a focal point!

And there you go! What is your opinion? Is it ok as it is or would you have done something else to finish it? Thanks so much for visiting today. Come back on Saturday to see some more of the cards I made with this Kisses release. Thanks so much for visiting today! Suzy