"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS Summer Flowers

Hello stamping friends! Today's "one stamp, five ways" post uses an older floral set by Simon Says Stamp called Summer Flowers. You can purchase it alone, with the matching dies, or as a bundle. I've always wanted to use it and since they didn't have an August release, it was the perfect time to pull it out. (Note: but watch out for Stamptember coming to a theater near you soon!). If you visit regularly, I've talked a lot about my colored pencil obsession/preferences recently. I have always used Prismacolor, but I just bought a set of Faber Castelle. I'll do a review of both on an upcoming blog post for those interested - but the short message is I love both sets for different reasons and enjoy having both! I've used them on most of the cards I'm sharing today.

Here is the stamp set and my 5 cards:

There are no salutations in this stamp set, so I used a lot of the SSS stand-alone word dies on these cards. I also used a stamp set called Messages for Everyday (for sub-titles). Ok, let's get started!

CARD 1:

I'm more of a summer person than a fall person - at least from a color perspective. I LOVE the hues of summer and this card really shows them off, right? haha I love that this stamp set has sunflowers leading to a more fall look, but also hydrangeas perfect for summer cards. On this shaker card, I only used the hydrangea stamp and die. Here are some tips/directions on how I made this card:

• I used the Geometric Pattern cling stamp by SSS for this background. I stamped it with MFT Natural Ink on white cardstock and colored it with colored pencils. 
• I also stamped the flower and leaves with natural ink and colored with colored pencils - I love being able to add outlines that match the colors I'm using with the pencils
• Add shading with your colored pencils by adding a darker color over the lighter color (as I did with the pinks) or leave just one color (like I did with the yellow) - captain obvious here
• This die has a circle in the center - I die-cut out the circle using the SSS Circle dies and then added the stitched one to the inside for the shaker card (it fits perfectly with this cling stamp circle)
• I've mentioned before that I love the Ranger Wendy Vecchi embossing powders - this Leaf Green is so perfect to match leaves; I used an older SSS Stamp Set called Brush Stroke Messages for the greeting
• I mixed several different sets of sequins in the center including Butterfly Kisses and Sunshine Mix

CARD 2:

This card definitely shows the more fall approach to this stamp set which must be why it is my least favorite! I struggled with how to arrange the flowers on this one - I think it took about an hour just to figure that part out and I'm still not sure I like it! Here are some tips/directions for this one:

• I used the Diamond Pattern background die die-cut from watercolor paper and then watercolored it with a wash of paints with lots of gold flicks; I applied adhesive all over the card front so the little pieces would stay put - a few popped out so I had to put them back in which is a pain!
• I also watercolored a piece of paper with oranges and reds to match which I used to die-cut the Hello word die
• I wanted to have a pop of black on this one as it was just all blending together and needed a focal point so I embossed the sub-greeting (haha) with white embossing powder; I also added some black Tonic Nuvo Drops to tie in the black
• These are colored with colored pencils after stamping with MFT Natural Ink on white cardstock; I added the stitching with a darker color of pencil first before I colored over the soft lines; I used a brown glitter pen for the circles on the sunflower
• I also added some flat sequins to match from the Hawaiian Sunset mix

 CARD 3:

I'm back to my favorite bright colors and summer hydrangeas on this one! I had this background made forever ago and was just waiting for the right card to use it on. I thought it made a nice canvas for this bright flowers. Tips/Instructions:

• I die-cut a stitched rectangle from Ranger watercolor paper (only pure white watercolor paper I'm aware of); I watercolored little circles all over it with Opera Pink watercolor (my favorite color of all time); I then outlined the circles with a black fine tip marker
• I watercolored a paper with both Daniel Smith Opera Pink and Rose of Ultramarine which i used to die-cut the words Happy Birthday; I like using watercolored paper for die-cut words instead of solid color cardstock
• I put the salutation and some sequins on a stitched rectangle as the base (vase?!?!?!) for the flowers

CARD 4:

I wanted that big flower to NOT be a sunflower (can you tell that sunflowers are not my favorite!?!) so I painted it with pinks and I think it works! Jury is still out so let me know if you agree! I went for a spring color palette on this one - gotta represent all the seasons! Here are some tips/instructions:

• I die-cut the word Thanks from a piece of watercolored paper (see, having a bunch of these ready to go is so helpful)
• The background is an ink blending I did a while back for another card that went wrong. It was supposed to be a sunset and it didn't turn out right so I put it in my future card background box and out it came for this one! (Note: never throw mistakes out!)
• I actually used black ink for these stamped images - I don't know why I have grown to not like black lines! I used colored pencils to color them again.
• I added some Tonic Nuvo Drops and sequins mixed together for the final touch - I used the flat Hawaiin Sunset set by SSS and then some PPP mint sequins; I used Rose Water Nuvo Drops - isn't that the most beautiful color???

 CARD 5:

Another VERY time-consuming background here peeps. I'm taking my daughter to school (insert horrid face here) this week - off to BYU. I"m sooooo very sad. We had a bunch of doctor apts to prepare before she left, so I would take colored pencils and pre-stamped backgrounds with me. It made it a bit more fun... I also had to take my 16 year old to the DMV to get her license - another 4 hours of wasted time. We BOTH colored during that stress filled wait (and don't ask me if she passed) (let's just say I'll have another 4 hours to color in 2 weeks!). Here are some tips/instructions:

• I die-cut the words friends from a piece of watercolor paper and this time I actually painted it AFTER I die-cut it! I used shades of paint to match the colors I used in the background
• When picking color schemes for cards, look on-line or all around you for ideas! While we were clothes shopping in Madewell, I took pics of some shirts that had great color schemes to try out! I colored this background with colored pencils - they work well for these detailed backgrounds but make sure you have an electric pencil sharpener as they need to stay sharp (and the little ones just break the lead); I used the cling stamp called Kaleidoscope Background for this card
• I stamped these images with black ink as well so I used a black banner and some black Tonic Nuvo drops on this one as well; the sub-title (smaller salutation) is from the Messages For Everyday stamp set

Thanks for visiting today. Because I am leaving for a week, I have 35 cards all ready to blog! That sounds crazy, right? I actually made that many cards in a week. I have two sets of watercolor cards coming out in September I wanted to have ready to go and I have another "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you using the Lotus Sketch Flowers - that will be up in a few days - blogging from the road! Have a great week and give me words of wisdom for dealing with a child leaving you for school - so mean of her, huh!?!? At least I have one more so I"m not an empty nester yet. Happy stamping! Suzy 

Comments

[Mary Koby]

Love the geometric background and the hibiscus over pink polka dots. Your watercolored happy birthday is a favorite die cut trick of mine too!