spring in my step

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I feel like I have been a little quiet lately, as I’m prepping for all of the upcoming STAMPtember fun at Simon Says Stamp as well as packing/preparing to move into my new studio space! (EEK!) My husband has been working so hard to give me a beautiful new space, and I can’t wait to share it with you. In the meantime, I have a few projects to share with you. Today’s project features a gorgeous background stamp from Simon Says Stamp that I’ve had for quite awhile and for some reason have never used: Cosmos Background. I fell in love with the beautiful details in the background, which could easily be used on it’s own to create a gorgeous pattern, but I wanted to do some coloring! (Shocker, right?) Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the Cosmos Background on Hammermill cardstock using Intens-ified Black ink. I then used OLO markers to color the cosmos flowers in brilliant shades of blue. We do not have enough blue flowers, in my opinion, especially this vivid, almost fluorescent shade of blue! To create maximum contrast between the bright blue flowers, I used a black OLO marker to fill in the background of the stamped image. I particularly like to use OLO markers for super color saturated areas like this; they’re very juicy and provide great, even coverage.

After I had finished coloring the blue flowers, I used some shimmering handmade watercolors to add some extra special sparkling highlights to the flowers. I also added some of the shimmering silver watercolors to the center of the flowers. The shine is nigh impossible to catch in a photograph, but it adds such a special detail to the card!! I trimmed down the final product to a thick strip for the center of my card front, placed it on my black card front with double sided adhesive, then added a couple of coordinating blue foil strips. The blue foil helps to add a bit of textural interest as well as create a visual barrier between the colorful patterned section and the crisp black background!

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from Spring in my Step onto some heavyweight vellum using sparkling embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I also heat embossed a greeting strip from the same stamp set onto a strip of black cardstock using silver embossing powder. I popped both of the sentiment pieces up on the colorful floral background, then searched my stash for some coordinating gems. The black base with shimmering blue coating over the top of the Midnight Blue crystals from Studio Katia worked exceptionally well with this moody blue card!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Do you have any stamps that you just had to have but haven’t used yet? I encourage you to take a look at your stash and see which sets need a little love! It’s so satisfying to finally put your crafty purchases to use! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Hi friends! I’m super excited to be a part of the Simon Says Stamp Be Creative Blog Hop on Day 2! You can check out Day 1 HERE. You should have arrived here from Heather Ruwe, and your next stop is Lea Lawson. You can also head back to the Simon Says Stamp Blog to see the full hop list. This month’s Be Creative release is full of a huge variety of fun new products, and I have two projects to share with you featuring the new goodies, so let’s get started with the details.

My first card features a clean and simple design created with the new Vitamin Sea stamp set (I have a more involved card that I shared earlier this week HERE on my blog). I stamped the mermaid lounging on a rock from Vitamin Sea using some Intens-ified Black ink from Hero Arts, then used my Copic markers to add color to the images. I used the coordinating dies to cut the images out, trimming off the water around the rock to simplify the look.

I wanted to create a window behind my pensive mermaid with a colorful sky background, so I die cut a circle from an A2 sized card panel using the Thin Frames dies. On a second piece of A2 cardstock, I lined up the two panels and then used a pencil to lightly trace the window opening so that I would know where to do do my ink blending. I then used blending brushes with the Horizon stencil to blend Taffy, Iris, and Galaxy inks and create a luscious sunset background. I used some of the bird stamps in the Vitamin Sea stamp set to add some flying birds onto the cloudy background. I then adhered the A2 circle frame with some foam tape and the thin frame (left over from die cutting the large frame) with some liquid adhesive.

I popped up the mermaid with a double layer of foam tape to help her pop from the background, then stamped a greeting from Vitamin Sea using black ink and used the coordinating dies to cut it out, popping it up with another double layer of foam tape. I love the extra dimension that the foam tape adds to the different layers! Keeps this relatively simple card from looking boring, in my opinion.

My second card is an homage to Lisa Frank! Remember the Lisa Frank trapper keepers, pencils, notebooks, stickers, etc that we were obsessed with as kids? Well, I couldn’t resist using the Animal Print stencils with several of my favorite Paws-itively Saturated inks to create a fun, colorful Lisa Frank-inspired background to go with the new Simply Fabulous sentiment die! I started by blending Rose, Amethyst, Iris, Cadette, and Lucky inks on the diagonal on an A2 panel of cardstock.

Next, I placed the blended panel in the center of the new Stamp & Stencil Mat and used the sticky area around the mat on the edges of the panel to place the Animal Print stencil and keep it perfectly in place while I blended black ink over the top of the stencil, creating my rainbow leopard print background! Having the adhesive all the way around the edge kept my stencil nice and snug against my blended background, helping to create a super crisp stenciled background!

I used black glitter foam from Spellbinders to die cut the outline background from the new Simply Fabulous die, then die cut the detail layer from some silver holographic cardstock. The foam base layer helps to add a bit of height to the sentiment without any extra effort! I added some sentiment strips from the previously-released Spring in my Step, heat embossed in silver on some thin strips of black cardstock. Before I adhered the sentiment pieces, I die cut a black frame using the A2 Thin Frames and adhered it in the corner of the blended card front with liquid adhesive at a jaunty angle. I adhered the sentiment pieces with liquid and foam adhesive, then added a few iridescent gems that matched the rainbow feel of the card!

Well, that’s all for my projects for today! Now, to celebrate the Be Creative release, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 shopping spree to one commenter on each of the hop stops! Simply leave a comment on each hop stop, then check the winners announcement on February 22 to claim your prize.

Simon Says Stamp is also offering a super cute freebie with purchase! Simply enter code ART4U at checkout to receive the Handcrafted With Love stamp set for free.

Your next stop on the hop is Lea Lawson. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!