"One Stamp, Five Ways" - Simon Says Stamp Hydrangea Blooms

One of my favorite flowers are hydrangeas so I love the new Simon Says Stamp Hydrangea Blooms stamp set! And you all know flower stamps are my favorite too! So today's "one stamp, five ways" post is using this stamp set and die set designed by my card making superstar friend Yoonsun Hur.

This stamp set is very detailed and is really fun to color and watercolor with lots of shading possibilities. The blooms have outline stamps as well as flat stamps for two step stamping if you don't enjoy coloring or want a more simple approach using just ink. The leaves are flat stamps only, but you can color or paint over the ink if you like that look better. For each of my five designs, I used a different technique for stamping and coloring the images to give you some different ideas on how to use it. So here we go!

This is my favorite card today. I have never liked purple. I never used it in my scrapbooking and I never wore it on my body or dressed my kids in it. It was up there with brown in least used colors in my life. But recently, I have started to really LIKE purple! I think it is because of watercolors. If I mix my two favorite colors - blues and pinks, I get the most gorgeous shades of purple. So for this card, I used two colors of watercolors by Daniel Smith - Opera Pink and Electric Blue - using them alone and mixing them together to paint these blooms. I haven't been able to find a purple watercolor I like as much as the purple I get from these two colors mixed.

This coloring technique I used for this card is emboss the flowers with white embossing powder and then watercolor inside the images. Here are the steps I took to make it:

1. Die cut a large stitched rectangle (size of a card front) using Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle dies out of Ranger white watercolor paper with the smooth side up.
2. Stamp the flowers on the rectangle using Versamark Ink and emboss with Ranger extra fine white embossing powder (this one works best for fine lines and details). 
3. Paint the images with watercolors. The colors I used are listed above. Mix blues and pinks so you have shades of both and then the mix of purples. Wet the entire background and add some of your colors with the wet on wet technique so they spread and mix yet stay light. If you get too much color, just dab it up.
4. Die cut a small stitched rectangle (I used the Pretty Pink Posh rectangle from inside their Storybook 5 die) from white cardstock; stamp the sentiment with Versamark Ink and emboss with Wow Royal Crush embossing powder.
5. Attach this to the bottom center of the card. Add some Simon Says Stamp lavender sequins.

For this card, my coloring technique for the blooms was to stamp them with the flat stamp first using a second generation stamping method (meaning stamp it on scrap paper first so the ink color is lighter). I used Lawn Fawn Plastic Flamingo ink which is a bright pink. Then I stamped the outline stamp with full strength ink. Next, I used my Copic markers to add some shading over the ink (you could keep it more simple and just leave it as is, but I never keep things simple - haha). The leaves are stamped with ink as well and then shaded with Copic markers. 

Here are the steps I used to make this card:

1. Die cut a stitched rectangle one size smaller than a card base - I used the MFT Blueprints 13 dynamics set - out of Ranger watercolor paper with the smooth side up.
2. Paint this with stripes of watercolor. I used a large flat brush for the blue stripes with lots of water and a small round brush for the pink color with less water so they are brighter. Let dry and attach to a white card base.
3. Stamp and die cut the flat stamp blooms on Neenah white cardstock using second generation stamping (stamp first on scrap paper so the color is lighter when you stamp the second time); stamp the outlines with the same color full strength - I used Lawn Fawn Plastic Flamingo ink. Note: if you stamp the outlines first, it is harder to line them up perfectly.
4. Shade the bloom with Copic markers. Add a darker color than the ink in between blooms and in the center of blooms to add more color contrast. 
5. Stamp and die-cut the leaves on the same paper - I used Lawn Fawn Celery Stick Ink. Add shading with Copic markers. 
6. Arrange the blooms, leaves and stems on the background and attach. 
7. Die cut a banner from white cardstock and stamp the sentiment using the same pink ink as you used for the flower.
8. Add some Pretty Pink Posh 6mm green sequins to each side of the banner.

This card is a watercolored image. I first stamped the blooms with light colors of Distress Inks (listed below). Then I stamped the leaves with xxx Distress Ink. Next, I watercolored inside the lines for no line stamping. I shaded the leaves with watercolors as well and added a wash of paint around the images.

Here are the steps:

1. Die-cut a stitched rectangle the size of a card front from watercolor paper (I used a good quality Fabriano cold pressed watercolor paper for this card) using Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle dies. 
2. Stamp the blooms using light Distress Inks - I used Victorian Velvet for the purple flower and Tattered Rose for the pink flowers. Cover up the flowers with scrap paper (or make masks if you aren't as lazy as I am) and stamp the leaves with Twisted Citron Distress Ink.
3. Watercolor in the images with pinks and purples. Watercolor the leaves as well adding shading over the stamped images. 
4. Wet the background and drop in the same colors you used to appear like the background is more plants that are out of focus. Note: I only used one purple and one pink and one green for this painting in different intensities.
5. Die-cut a stitched banner (I used MFT Blueprints 20) out of watercolor paper and paint with the same purple you used for the flower. Stamp the sentiment with Versamark ink and emboss with green embossing powder (I used American Crafts ZING Cricket embossing powder). Attach to the bottom left side of card.
6. Attach this piece to the front of a green card base.

For this card, I stamped the outlines with black ink (I love that they are so thin) and then colored them with Copic markers. I used the same technique for the leaves - stamped with green ink and shaded with Copics. 

Steps:

1. Die-cut a stitched rectangle (MFT Blueprints 13) out of Mixed Media paper or watercolor paper.
2. Paint stripes on it using blue and purple watercolors letting the colors blend together. I used a  1/2" flat brush. I didn't wet the paper first, so the stripes are not running into the white areas.
3. Attach this to a lavender card base.
4. Stamp the flowers on Neenah white cardstock using black ink. Color with Copic markers.
5. Stamp the leaves on white cardstock with Lawn Fawn Celery Stick ink and shade with Copic markers.
6. Attach all of the stamped images to the card front including some of the stand alone flowers.
7. Die-cut a stitched banner (I used the inside of Pretty Pink Posh Storybook 1 die) out of white cardstock. Stamp the sentiment with Versamark Ink and emboss with WOW Royal Crush embossing powder.
8. Attach the rectangle below the flowers and add some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.  

This tag uses the same technique for coloring - I had an extra bloom colored, so I used it for a tag. I just used a yellow green Copic to make the middle of the flowers contrast with the outsides since many Hydrangea blooms look this way. For the salutation, I cut the other two apart so I had the words LOVE YOU. This gave me three choices for words with this stamp set instead of two. I think this tag would be so beautiful attached to an actual Hydrangea plant as a gift.

Here are the steps:

1. Die cut a tag using the Simon Says Stamp Large Tags die set from white cardstock.
2. Stamp the flower outlines on white cardstock using black ink. Color with Copic markers using yellow greens in the centers and pinks on the outsides.
3. Stamp the leaves with green ink and shade with Copic markers.
4. Stamp the sentiment by cutting the words love and you off the two sentiments in the set using green ink (I used Lawn Fawn Celery Stick ink) on the bottom of the tag.
5. Attach the flowers above the sentiment.
6. Tie some twine in the top of the tag. 

So that's it for today! It seems I'm only getting one post done a week lately, but I have so many sets to show you - I just need to work quicker. With my daughter's diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes this summer, I am spending WAY more time in the kitchen than I used to. Balance my friends - it's all about balance. And I suck at balance as I am all in whenever I do something. So consider my one post a week as a way I am trying to balance my life between things I need to do and things I love to do! And the more I cook, the more I am learning to love it too!

Have a great weekend! Thank you SO VERY MUCH for visiting my blog! You can subscribe at the top left side if you are interested and you will be alerted to my posts. xoxo Suzy 

PS: I wanted to link you to my all time favorite set of Holbein Gouache paints that I talked about in THIS BLOG POST. Gouache is a more opaque watercolor paint that I use a lot when coloring my images. 

InLinkz.com

Comments

[G]

Love, love that first card and I don't even like purple! Once again you rocked it my friend!:)

[Yoonsun Hur]

Suzy, I truly, truly, truly love your cards!! All of them, I love! And I am super happy to call you my dear friend! I am so blessed!!!

[Jeanne]

That first card is spectacular! What lovely shades of color you are able to achieve when you mix them. Wow! Your shading is stunning. Looks like I could just pluck the flowers off the card. Your talents are amazing. I am forever awed by the amount of time you must spend creating all these showstoppers. I am so appreciative that you share what you have done to create the cards, too. You are amazing. I wish I could receive notifications for when you post via the link above. It simply doesn't work for me. I never get any confirmation email. :( Ah well, I will keep checking in from time to time to see what you have been up to. Happy Friday my friend and keep up the awesome work!! Big hugs!

[Vania]

Hello Suzy! All pretty cards so fresh and feminine. May i ask you, about the giveaway in the later post, if you already announce a winner?

[Elizabeth McGregor]

These are beautiful! I love seeing all the different ways to use this stamp set!