SSS Curvy Background

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi folks!  This week I'm going to be sharing different ways to use my Curvy Background, which is part of the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release.

This background can mimic a lot of things - wind, waves, water, woodgrain, etc.  For today's cards I'm showing two different ways to 'watercolor with emboss resist.

For this first card, I clear embossed the Curvy Background on watercolor paper.  Then I sprayed liberally with three colors of Distress Spray Stain: Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover, and Fossilized Amber until I was happy with the color mixing.

I let the panel dry, and then used an almost dry paper towel to rub any excess spray stain from the embossing, trimmed it down, and adhered the panel to my card base.

I finished the card off with the Hello sentiment that comes with the Stromanthe die, cutting the shadow piece from the excess spray stained watercolor paper, as well as a sentiment from the You Got This set that was white embossed and cut with the coordinating dies.

For the second next card, I gold embossed the background on watercolor paper, added water to the panel with my paintbrush, and then used Kuretake Gansai watercolors to color the background.

After trimming it down, the panel was adhered to my card base with foam tape.

For the sentiment, I die cut Be Patient from Matte Gold cardstock, and the shadow piece from the excess background piece that was trimmed off, and I added a secondary sentiment from the Be Patient stamp set, embossed in gold.

I'll see you back here tomorrow for some more Curvy Background inspiration.

SSS Poppy Pods

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today's cards feature my Poppy Pods die.  For my first card, I adhered several die cuts onto a panel of bright yellow cardstock to create a patterned paper background.  I added a bit of black inking around he edges to really make the center of the panel pop.  A black mat also helps to really set off the panel against the white card base.

For the sentiment, I used the Hello die that comes with the Stromanthe coordinating die.  The shadow piece was cut in black as a base, and the sentiment piece was cut from Gold Matte and black.  The black letters were then inlaid into the gold outline over the shadow piece.  The completed sentiment was then popped up with foam tape.

Next, a monochromatic card.  

To start, I stamped one of the large images from the Vintage Blossoms stamp set onto a dark gray cardstock panel several times with Versamark ink to create a patterned background.

I then die cut the Poppy Pods using Shimmer Vellum.  I can't tell you how excited I am about this vellum.  The die cut was adhered with Bearly Art glue, and t's opaque enough that you don't see the adhesive!  

The Basic Box Card Love You So Much was also die cut from teh Shimmer Vellum and adhered to a shadow piece cut from black cardstock.  These were popped up with foam adhesive.  I added a few clear sequins to finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by!

SSS Favorite Things Blog Hop, Stromanthe Die

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi all!  Today I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the Favorite Things release.  You should be arriving here from Lisa Addesa's blog, and I'll have the full hop list below for you.  As usual, Simon is giving away lots of prizes.  One commenter at each stop on the hop will win a $25 store credit, and all orders this weekend of $50 or more will automatically receive the stamp set pictured above.  

OK, on to the good stuff. I'm sharing a few cards that feature the Stromanthe dies, which coordinate with my previously released Stromanthe stencil set.  The die set includes the large die that cuts out the leaf, as well as a sentiment die set.  There's a shadow/base piece, and then the sentiment itself which cuts out the letters as well as an outline.  This allows you to easily inlay the sentiment using the shadow piece as the base, or get a bit more dimension by using the alphas only on top of the shadow piece.

For my first card, I pulled out a watercolor panel that I had previously created using Distress Spray stains in light greens and yellows.  Using the Stromanthe stencil set, I added color over top using Pearfection, Field, and Citrine for my three layers.  The leaf was then die cut.

Using the excess portion/negative space from my panel, I die cut the Hello sentiment.  This was also die cut from Matte Gold cardstock.  The shadow piece was cut from some green cardstock, and then I inlaid the Matte Gold letters into the outline piece from the panel die cut.

To create the backgorund, I clear embossed the Organic Leaves background on some green cardstock and added a bit of inking at the edges using Field ink.  The leaf, die cut sentiment, and a sentiment strip were adhered with foam tape.

Next, I created a card with some uexpected colors.  I used Rose, Amethyst, and Ocean to ink three Stromanthe leaves.

The leaves were die cut and then adhered horizontally to a black cardstock panel, and the excess was trimmed off.

For the sentiment, I pulled out the Just a Note dies, using white for the sentiment itself, and black for the shadow piece.  These were adhered together and then popped up with foam tape.

Finally, I thought it would be fun o create a card with just the Hello dies.  

These were cut from five shades of blue cardstock and once from white.  The shadow pieces were cut from blue cardstock and used as a base for inlay.  The sentiments were constructed to create an ombre effect with the outline being the next darkest shade of cardstock.

The completed sentiments were adhered to a piece of subtle grid patterned paper, and I also added a stamped sentiment from the Circle Sentiments set.

That's all for me today, but there's much more to see.  Your next step on the hop is Bibi Cameron, and the full list is below.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win $25 to spend in the store.  Enjoy the hop and good luck!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Caly Person
Suzy Plantamura
Jennifer McGuire
Debby Hughes
Emily Midgett
Lisa Addesa
Miriam Prantner
Bibi Cameron
Sandi MacIver
Kath Stewart
Betsy Green
Misty Elam
Carly Minner
Rachel Alvarado
Revati Panickar

STAMPtember is Here!

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

August is over, and STAMPtember is here!  I'm thrilled to have several new products in this release.  Today I'm showing off my new Stromanthe stencil set.  Just like the previously released Monstera stencils, there are four in this set, a solid leaf and then three detailed stencils.  

The three detailed stencils work together to create the solid leaf, but you can also use the solid leaf lightly to help line things up, or with two of the detailed stencils to complete the design, like I did for my first card.  I used Bubblegum for the solid leaf, and then Sweets and Taffy for the two detail layers.  The leaves were randomly inked on my panel to create a background paper.

For the sentiment, I stamped the large sentiment from my new Lovely set on some white cardstock with black Versa Clair, and then die cut it using the coordinating dies.  The secondary sentiments were stamped directly onto my stenciled panel, and the primary sentiment was then popped up with foam tape.

For this next card, I inked the three detailed layers using Taffy, Pucker, and Sunbeam ink, and fussy cut the leaf.

I then used the same three inks to create the background panel which was adhered to my card base.  The leaf was then added using foam tape.

I then inked another piece of cardstock using Taffy and Pucker from which I die cut the sentiment shadow piece.  The sentiment itself, Simple Thanks, was die cut from Matte Gold cardstock and then adhered to the shadow piece.

A secondary sentiment, from the Spring in My Step set, was embossed in gold on black cardstock and was also popped up with foam tape to complete the card.

That's all for me today.  I've got lots more to share this month, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, head over to Simon to check out the full release, you will not be disappointed!