We have waited quite a while for another Hello Bluebird release (as I live for them haha!) and this one did not disappoint. With all of the "crazy" going on, it took a lot of time to bring this release to fruition and the dies are shipping a little after the stamps, but should be here soon. I personally fussy cut all mine out and it was so easy I might have to stop buying dies. I think I'm the only person who enjoys it though! I made four cards with the new sets, so let's get started!
CARD 1: PICKED FOR YOU
I made this card using the new Picked For You stamp set. I started by making the background with some of the stamps in the set. I used the trees/grass stamp twice for the top part of the background. I then used a piece of scrap paper to block the trees and stamped just the grass a couple of times below the tree line. I used MFT Natural Ink for all of my stamping for a no-line coloring look. I stamped the flowers and small grass stamps multiple times around the the scene. I then colored the entire background with colored pencils. I don't usually use them for large areas, but with all that grass, I decided to try it. I have a blender type pencil by Caran d' Ache that helps the pencils look smoother for large areas though that I used over the pencils. The great thing about using a light color of ink is you can cover any overlap areas with your coloring! (no need to use masking paper to not stamp over things).
I stamped all of the images from the Picked For You stamp set with the same ink and colored them in with colored pencils as well. I stamped a few of the flowers so I could use them over the background scene in addition to the ones I had already stamped on the background itself. I used some Nuvo Glitter Drops over the flowers and bow on the bunny. I added little white dots on the girl's sweater with a white Uniball gel pen.
CARD 2: PARTY ON THE FARM AND FARMLAND
For the background of this scene, I used the new Farmland cling stamp. These two stamps in this release are so brilliant and I absolutely love them. They came up with this idea because it was hard to get dies (from China) right now and they usually do scene background dies. I like this option even better because I love to color so much. I stamped this on watercolor paper with MFT Natural Ink for a no-line coloring look. I then painted it with watercolors. I then die-cut it to be slightly smaller than a card base. Once the watercolors were dry, I added some details with colored pencils. I love how the barn turned out with the pencil marks over the watercolors. I also used a brown pencil to add the details on the area in the back (what would that be called?!?!?!). I added some depth to the grass as well.
I stamped all the darling little farm animals from the Party On the Farm stamp set with MFT Natural Ink on white cardstock and colored them in with colored pencils. I added white dots to the banner with a white Uniball gel pen. I stamped Happy Birthday on the top right side with black ink.
I love this card because the stamp set is so darn cute and the colors are so me! I used the Pathway stamp set for the background. Because the dimensions don't fit on a slimline card, I stamped the full thing and then just used scrap paper to block that part and lined up the grass to continue the design across the rest of the card front. Because the stamp is taller than this card (approximately 5.5" x 5.5") I was able to move the stamp to a different spot so the grass was higher on the right side of the card. I painted the background with watercolors and then added details and shading with colored pencils again.
I stamped the clouds/flowers stamdp in the Besties stamp set and then cut the flowers off and also cut the cloud top off. I cut a slit in my grass and tucked the cloud underneath the grass to use for my sentiment. I stamped the sentiment with black ink from the stamp set (I had to cut it into two pieces to fit). I also stamped a bunch of the small flowers in the stamp set and placed them along the edge of the grass.
I stamped all of the little critters in the Besties stamp set with the same ink and colored them in with colored pencils as well. I used Nuvo Drops for their tails (how cute are those little buttox's!!!). That is not a word for some reason, but it should be. I also added Nuvo Glitter Drops to each of their shirts. I loved that I was able to use two different sets of the bunny and bear without it seeming to be the SAME bunny and bear. I just changed their colors so they looked like friends.
CARD 4: LITTLE PAINTERS AND PATHWAY
For this stamp set, I started with the Pathway background again. I had the intention of keeping my background very very light channeling a Nicky look (from the design team) since she uses such light colors so perfectly. And then I decided it look washed out, so I added a lot more color. But I did channel her yellow sky as she often uses pink or yellow for skies. Again, I prefer to have no black lines around my images/backgrounds, so i used MFT Natural Ink which is my favorite no-line stamping ink.
I stamped all of the little cute images from the Little Painters stamp set and then colored them with colored pencils. I stamped a sentiment using the HB Spring Gatherings stamp set. There are so many cute stamp sets that had sentiments that would fit perfectly for an Easter card from the past, but the new Picked For You had a sentiment that would have worked perfectly. I decided to add the little chicken on the bunnies head at the end as I wanted to fit more of the images since I had all of them painted. But I didn't glue him down before I photographed it as I didn't know if I would like him up there or not. I did like him, but I don't like that he looks "unattached". His feet are floating hahaha. Anyway, there you have it - aren't these Easter stamps so darn cute? And you get them as a free gift with purchase since Easter is this Sunday. Darn, as it is my favorite holiday to make cards for.
Did you agree with me that these are the cutest stamps ever?!?!?! I think we all need a little more Hello Bluebird in our lives right now as they bring me cheer and hope. The world is still such a beautiful place and all these little flowers and critters remind me of it. I just can't wait (as I'm sure you can't either) to get back out into it. Although I do have to say I am selfishly enjoying having my two teenage daughters locked in the house with me. One is at college, so having her home makes me so happy. the other is a senior in HS and is missing the end of her year and her graduation. I feel bad for them, but I am really enjoying sharing the house with them full time for this short time. May you all be blessed with things that make you happy during this otherwise stressful and sad time. And most importantly, may you all stay safe and well. Much love! Suzy
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