Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember with Pinkfresh Studio!

Hi there! STAMPtember continues, tonight featuring a collaboration with Pinkfresh Studio! This particular set, called Just Start, is extra exciting for me to work with, because I happened to have illustrated these floral images. This peony-ranunculus-berry cluster was designed to work in the corners of a slimline card, but I have two different cards with two different layouts using the same stamps. Let’s get started with the details!

For my first card, I used both clusters from Just Start in the way that I had originally intended when I illustrated them: tucked up in the corners of a slimline (or mini slimline, in this case) card. I stamped them using Intens-ified Black ink from Hero Arts onto some Copic-friendly white cardstock. I have been entranced with bright tangerine and burnt orange lately, so I did my favorite “fiesta” color combination with bright orange peonies and burnt orange ranunculus, accented by intense magenta berries and deep green foliage. I fussy cut the finished images, but there is a stamp+die bundle available, too!

For the background, I wanted to keep things relatively simple to keep the focus on the flowers, so I die cut a gold glitter frame using the Mini Slimline Scalloped Rectangle die. I backed it with a panel of white cardstock that I had die cut using the Dotted Scallops cover plate die to add some extra texture. I popped this panel and frame up on a white mini slimline card front using foam adhesive.

Next, I added the colored floral images to the corners, trimming off the small areas that spilled over the sides. I adhered them using a double layer of foam tape so that they had extra height and would really pop off the page beautifully. I added a greeting from the beautiful Brushed Sentiments Hot Foil Plate and coordinating dies, which I hot foiled using Matte Gold foil from Spellbinders. I also added a sentiment strip, heat embossed with a greeting from Just Start. The final touch was to add a few shining hot pink gems!

My second card features both of the stamps included in Just Start, as well, but this time I did a little simple masking to create one large floral cluster. I began by stamping the largest image slightly off center of my A2 Fabriano Artistico Hot Press card base using Contour Ink from Hero Arts. Using some Post-It tape, I masked off the bottom of the large flower cluster and stamped the smaller cluster, as well, creating a large floral swag that covered a large portion of the card front.

I taped down the panel to my watercolor board to minimize warping, then watercolored the finished stamped image using Karin Brushmarkers. I kept the colors intense and feminine, working with a couple of different shades of pink, purple, and coral. Karin markers work well with the Fabriano Artistico paper, and I find that I get great results with them when I use plenty of water to help keep the color moving around. If I don’t use enough water, then the color sinks into the paper and creates harsh lines. I also like to work with a ceramic palette; I scribble some color on the palette, then pick it up with my damp paintbrush. When I’m adding really intense shadows, I will put the marker itself to the paper, but very sparingly, as a little of this pigment tends to go a long way. I added lots of layers of color to get tons of depth and intensity to this floral swag.

Once I’d finished my watercoloring, I die cut the Bold Thanks die from Simon Says Stamp three times from Hero Arts’s Eggplant cardstock, adhering all three together using liquid adhesive to create a dimensional die cut. I added this die cut to the card front, then added a few purple gems for the tiniest bit of sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! The Stamptember collaboration sets frequently sell out quickly, so if you’re at all interested in Just Start, don’t wait too long to purchase! The STAMPtember sets are limited edition, so you won’t see them again once they sell out. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!