This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!
Hi friends! It’s officially a new year, and with it comes a sense of renewal and freshness. I have been slowly putting the holiday crafting goodies away (amidst sighs of sadness, because I could craft with Christmas product all. year. long.) and trying to refresh my brain into something outside of holiday imagery and dramatic glitz. I thought a good holiday “palate cleanser” would be some fresh florals in a more muted color palette than the vibrant jewel tones and icy metallics that inspire me so much during the holiday crafting season. I haven’t used any of the floral stamps that I’ve illustrated for Simon Says Stamp in a few months, so I thought I would pull out the pretty Sunflower Dreams background stamp and settle in to do some detailed coloring. Let’s get started with the details!
*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*
I began my project by stamping the large Sunflower Dreams background stamp on the top 3/4 of an A2 card front using no-line coloring ink. I kept the bottom 1/4 of the panel clean so that I could add a sentiment without interference from the bold pattern on the background. I then gave myself time to do some detailed coloring with my OLO Markers. I wanted to do something besides a typical yellow sunflower, and so reached for some pretty peachy shades, trying to invoke those lovely pastels of springtime. I used the alcohol markers first, then selected some deeper shades from my colored pencils to do some light shading, deepening the contrast between the petals towards the back of the sunflower and adding highlights to those petals on the top layer. I added a smattering of dots using a gold paint pen and a white gel pen to indicate the “seeds” in the center of the flowers. I love how those little extra details after the initial layer of alcohol marker makes the images pop so beautifully!
For the greeting, I stamped a gorgeous “thanks” sentiment and sentiment strip from With Thanks onto some white cardstock with embossing ink, then melted some Brass embossing powder to create a subtly luxe metallic greeting. I think the warmth of the Brass embossing powder works beautifully with the warmth of the peach sunflowers! I used the detailed coordinating die to die cut the larger sentiment and cut the smaller strip with my trimmer.
Before I adhered the sentiment pieces to the card front, I used my trimmer to cut some strips of champagne glitter and peach colored cardstocks upon which I could ground the sentiment pieces. I adhered the strips with liquid adhesive, then popped up the greeting with Thin Foam Squares. The strips help to draw the eye towards the sentiment amongst the vibrant and busy floral background! Finally, I accented the sentiment with some sparkling Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. These gems are a bit more neutral than just plain gold; they work well with gold, champagne, and bronze metallic accents.
Well, that’s all for my project today! Are you ready for a springtime palate cleanse? I’m not sure if I am, but the world seems to be moving on from Christmas whether we’re ready or not! I can’t promise that there will not be the odd snowy project here and there, but bright colors, dainty springtime florals, and bold patterns are definitely up on the docket! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and cheers to a lovely 2026!
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