Living My Dream: Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop - New Release Sending Sunshine

Today is the SSS Blog hop for their new release called Sending Sunshine. Woot woot - this is a good one friends! I love summer products (maybe because I live by the beach and I can never get enough of it) - so bring on the summer goods! Today I have a new set of watercolor cards to share with you - all colored and dressed up to send out. When I was trying to come up with a theme for this month's cards, I was on a diet. I actually have been for about 5 months and I've lost 30 plus lbs - pretty excited about that. So I decided to do SWEET TREATS. Doing my research on ideas about killed me. All I wanted was desserts. And then drawing them was difficult. But the hardest part was the coloring which brings them to life. The chocolate chip cookies and the cinnamon rolls are the two that really made me crave sweets. I would love to hear which ones make you crazy!

Here is an image of the set uncolored - remember that they are all printed on Ranger Watercolor paper which is thick and pure white with texture on one side and is smooth on the other side. They print them on the smooth side. You can use ANY coloring medium on these - don't restrict yourself to watercolors. Or you can use them ALL at once like I do! I think I used watercolors, colored pencils, AND Copics on all of these. Oh and Tonic Nuvo Drops. Of course!

And now for the colored versions made into cards ... I'll give you some tips for each as we go. I have close ups of the images that need to be seen close up as they have texture on them.

sweet treats 9 close up

I used Tonic Nuvo Blue Lagoon Glitter Drops on the letters and the cone. I used a sparkly gray watercolor paint on the background. I put Sherbet Shimmer Glitter drops on the hearts and dots on the cotton candy. I also used a White Uniball marker and Glossy White drops on the cotton candy. I painted the cotton candy, but then used colored pencils to add shading. I used a colored pencil for the shadows behind the letters and then I went over the letters with a black fine tip marker so they stood out more.

sweet treats 8

sweet treats 8 close up

This one was probably the most time consuming to color and the last one I drew. I used Glossy White drops in the centers of the blueberries. I used a White Uniball for the strawberry spots. I used a green glitter pen for the lines on the grapes from the Kasier Craft glitter pen set. I used Silver dos on the platter. You can see the texture on the plate stand from the colored pencils over the watercolor paper. I used Key Lime drops over the letters - they are translucent, so they add a nice gloss to them.

sweet treats 10

This one is mostly painted with watercolors. I used a silver colored pencil for the platter. I used an N2 Copic marker behind the letters for shadows. I used white Glossy Nuvo Drops on the background and some of the cupcakes. I used Yellow Nuvo Drops on the yellow cupcakes for spots. I used Sherbet Shimmer Glitter drops on the heart and the pink cupcake frosting. I also used Yellow drops on the letters in little spots.

sweet treats 11

sweet treats 11 close up

You can't do Sweet Treats without a donut, right? YUMMMY! I used Tonic Nuvo Drops on all of the decorations on the donut. I also used ORANGE Marmalade on the letters to give them texture and sheen. I used Blue Lagoon Glitter drops on the background. Notice how the gray shadows add so much depth to the letters.

sweet treats 12

The main tip on this one is to use two colors of Tonic Nuvo Drops on the letters. I used one color on the bottoms and another on the tops. As long as you apply both while they are still wet they blend into each other in the center. Love love that look! The background is just a very messy wet on wet wash of watercolors with lots of splatters to blend all the colors. I used Glossy White Drops and a white uniball on all of the popsicles.

sweet treats 7

To create depth in the waffle cone, really shade the inside pieces and make them darker with colored pencils. Again, shadows on the letters add a lot of depth. I used Blue Lagoon glitter drops on the decorations. I used Sherbet Shimmer Glitter Drops on the background. If you were only going to buy two Nuvo Drops, these would be the two I would buy and the ones I use the most! (Well, except white - definitely need white).

sweet treats 5

I used a photo of real chocolate chip cookies to get my shading to look right on these. I tried to make them as realistic as possible which is WHY they tempt me so. I must make some cookies soon. I used watercolors on them and then blended and shaded them with colored pencils. I used Copic markers on the chocolate chips (why? no idea - more opaque?). I used Night Sky Glitter Drops on the letters after I painted them blue.

sweet treats 6

sweet treats 6 close up

Ok, seriously - does this NOT make your mouth water? Maybe because cinnamon rolls are my most favorite treat in the world. I used Golden Sunset Glitter drops over the frosting to look like the cinnamon popping through the frosting. I added some black and red drops to the background. I used a white Uniball for the strawberry spots and used a black marker to add depth behind them. The background is a very messy wet on wet wash of gray/black watercolor.

sweet treats 4

I used Pink Nuvo Drops on the spots on the cake and yellow nuvo drops on the cake and both on the background. I thickened the letters in Loving You and I don't like how thick I made them - so leave yours alone! ha I just used a little bit of silver paint around the cake for the background.

sweet treats 3

sweet treats 3 close up

This one has got to be my favorite of the 12. I mean it certainly encapsulates the theme, right? I used Sherbet Shimmer drops over the letters to give them lots of glitter. I used white ones on the ice cream. Don't forget to use your Tonic Nuvo Drops to decorate everything! (constant reminders here - you would think I work for them, but nope - not a paid announcement!). Just PURE LOVE. Oh, I also used white ones on the white lines on the lollipop so they have dimension.

sweet treats 2

sweet treats 2 close up

I wanted the glass to appear clear, so I watercolored the same colors in the ice cream sundae inside the glass very lightly. I wanted them to appear as they would through a glass. Then I added some clear Morning Dew Tonic Nuvo Drops over the glass. It crackles when it covers large spaces. The first time was a happy accident. Now I love the look of the crackles! I used Chocolate Fondue glitter drops on the chocolate and Golden Sunset glitter drops on the cookie and the caramel topping. Ok, seriously I'm dying over here. I'm about to go to bed and I need sweets! Warning: DO not buy this set if you want to stay on a sugar free diet!!!

sweet treats 1

sweet treats 1 close up

Again, the secret to this one is Tonic Nuvo Drops. I used the White Blizzard clear glitter drops over the glass cover so it would look really shimmery. It takes along time to dry and makes your paper warp, so I used adhesive all over the backside when attaching to a card base and it flattened perfectly. I used Blue Lagoon drops on the letters.

Whew. I wonder if reading these posts is as laborious as typing them! I get slap happy by the end and start cracking stupid jokes - ha! Ok, next on the blog hop is:

Anna Kossakovskaya

Two important things to remember! SSS Is giving away a $25 gift certificate on each stop of the blog hop - so leave comments to be eligible. you can just say BOO if you don't like my cards haha. They will announce the winners on Wednesday on their blog. Also, they have a special promotion for you blog hoppers - use the code SUNSHINE on your order and you will get a free gift with your purchase through 5/20 at 11:59 est. And last, make sure to add your projects to the Sharing Sunshine Gallery to inspire others. And if you check it today, all the projects from the blog hop will be on there to help you make your purchasing decisions! Happy hopping friends! Thanks for visiting as always, Suzy

PS: I forgot to mention that I posted a day or two ago with two cards using the new release. You can visit that post HERE for details on the cards, directions, and supplies I used. Here is a sneak of each:

thanks friend close up