Living My Dream: SSS Believe In You Release Blog Hop

Today is the first day of a 2 day blog hop showcasing the new SSS release called Believe In You. I have a new set of watercolor cards in this release called Suzy's Succulents. Here is an image:

Today I'll be showing you all 12 of these cards all colored and made into cards (like I do on every new product blog post!). I also had two stamp sets that are part of this release - the new Seahorse Background stamp and the Never Quit Swimming stamp set. I have made 10 cards with this stamp as I did a "one stamp, five ways" post for the SSS blog that will be posted on the 31st and I also did a "one stamp, five ways" post on my blog posted yesterday. Here is a link to that post and here are photos of the 10 cards I made with these new stamp sets! (visit the post for directions and supplies on the second picture here).

And now I will post my 12 watercolor cards and with two images each, that is 24 photos for you to scroll through. I hope these are helpful for you to return and look at when you are painting your own set! These are printed on Ranger Watercolor Paper and I use all coloring mediums on them at the same time! I'll list some tips at the end of these photos that I use to color these.

TIPS/IDEAS for coloring these watercolor cards:

Mix coloring mediums on the cards - use the NO rules apply method. I use Copics, colored pencils and watercolors on most of them and then I cover them with Nuvo Drops!
Use a wet on wet watercolor technique for backgrounds by applying lots of water and dropping your color in close to the subject matter so the color blends outward, but doesn't cover the entire card.
Die-cut the cards with rectangle dies before mounting on a card base. I like some of the card base to show so it frames it. I also like applying actual die-cut frames to the outside of the cards. I tried one in pink and black on these images.
Use Nuvo Drops to add texture and dimension. I particularly like the glitter drops especially on these plants!
Add drop shadows to the words/letters so they stand out more. I usually use a gray colored pencil, but I like how the pink looked on the last one.
Apply Glossy Accents or clear Nuvo Drops over glass items so they look dimensional and shiny (I did this on the hanging planters).
Use a white Uniball over your coloring medium to add shading or "light" on the leaves. I used it often on the tips of the leaves. This pen is pure magic and if you touch it while it is still slightly wet, you get a lighter version (as some wipes off!) which is nice too!
Cut some of the items out of the cards and mount them on patterned paper. I just bought a Color Fresh 6x6 pad by Heidi Swapp and it has the best designs for card backgrounds in it. I used it on the "it's your day" card above. I also used a SSS die-cut for the pot on the plant as the greeting on this card.
I purposely left greetings off some of these cards so you can add your own. Simon has so many cute stand alone word dies that work and they also just came out with a stamp set called Greetings Mix 1 that has a nice variety of everyday salutations such as they than you I used on the card above. They fit well on the Sentiment Banners by Simon.
I like using "dots" to decorate; see the llama card where I added little black dots around the letters and white dots on the large succulent on the right side; I also used dots on all the pots on the Happy Birthday card. Can't get enough dots and that Uniball adds them nicely over all colors!

BLOG HOP DETAILS:

There is a Believe in You Gallery here. You can visit the gallery to see all of the projects the design team has created to share on this blog hop. And please share any projects YOU create in this gallery as well for all to enjoy! It is full of inspiration using all the products in this amazing release all in one place!
Tim Holtz is the Brand of the Month and there is a free gift with any purchase of his products. No code is required - the gift will just be added to your order. It ends when supplies run out or on 7/31/19. The gift is the Distress Spray and I love it as you can spray it on your paper before adding inks and it will block those areas from ink and leave them white. It works like a dream!
This is day one of our two-day blog hop extravaganza, so be sure to come back for day two on Saturday
SSS is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from your blog comment section. Winners will be chosen over the weekend and will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, the 31st of July. You can then email us Simon to claim your prize.
Don’t miss the Facebook Live on August 6 at noon EDT showing off this new release and projects made with each product!
You can see the entire Believe In You release HERE in the SSS store.

BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS: (Next on the hop is Lisa Addesa)

Whew you made it through my always LONG blog post and you get to continue hopping along! I hope you are enjoying this wonderful Believe in You release. All of the products I used in my post are listed below with links to the SSS store. Thank you so much for visiting today and for all the love you leave me on these hops (makes my little heart happy so it becomes a BIG heart!). Suzy