Hello Beautiful Release Blog Hop Day 1 - "One Stamp, Five Ways" With Lavender Gardens

Today is the first day of the 2 day blog hop for Simon Says Stamp's new release called Hello Beautiful. I have much to share today, so let's get to it! I'll give you all the details of the blog hop and who to hop to next at the bottom of this post. First off, I have a new set of watercolor cards in this release called Suzy's Easter Pals. Here is an image:

There are 6 designs with 2 of each design all printed on Ranger Watercolor Paper. I'm a guest on the Simon Says Stamp blog on February 28th where I will be showing you all of the colored cards and giving you lots of tips and techniques on how I color them. Here is a sneak of the colored images:

Next, I wanted to show you a "one stamp, five ways" post I put up yesterday using the new Bunny Blessings stamp set. You can see that post here. Here is an image of my 5 cards:

And now for my "one stamp, five ways" post I am sharing TODAY using the brand new Lavender Gardens stamp set. Here are my 5 cards with directions for each and then I will give you all the details for the hop today!

CARD 1:

This card is a mini slimline card which means it is 6.25" x 3.25" so it fits inside the new SSS slimline envelopes which are 6.5" x 3.5". I first made the background using the Lumen embossing folder. The folder is for a standard card size, so I used a piece of white cardstock that was shorter than my mini slimline card. I sprayed it lightly with water. I rubbed my new Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide Ink on the inside of the embossing folder on the flat side - this was run through it after another one I did, so the ink is much softer on this one and I prefer it. I attached it to a piece of card stock that was the mini slimline size leaving a pink edge on each end. 

I stamped all of the flowers that are NOT lavender in the Lavender Gardens stamp set with MFT Natural Ink on white cardstock. I think these are peony flowers, but I'm not sure. I colored them with colored pencils. I used only one color - Light Purple Pink - Polychromo by Faber Castelle. I then used a white Prismacolor over it to blend the strokes and lighten certain areas. Because the Prismacolors are so waxy, they are great to use as a top coat blending other colors. I attached the pot and all of the flowers to the front of the card using foam tape under some to provide dimension. I then embossed a sentiment from the stamp set on black cardstock with white embossing powder. I attached that to the bottom of the pot and added some Cupcake Frosting sequin mix. 

CARD 2:

I made this card with the new Chunky A2 Scalloped Frame Dies using an idea I got from Jennifer McQuire. She had a video 2 days ago that showed some of the products from the new release and she made her card with this frame die and I loved it! You cut a piece of cardstock to be 4.25" wide x 11" tall for a top folding card. You fold it in half and make a folding line. You then send it through the die cut machine with the top edge of the scallop frame just slightly hanging over the top of the folded card so it stays attached. I ran it through twice to make sure it cut through both pieces of cardstock. That's how I made the card base. Now to how I made the card front. I rubbed Milled Lavender Distress Ink over a piece of white cardstock. I wanted the color to be very saturated, so rubbing the ink pad directly on the paper seemed like the best option! I then used my brush to apply a little bit of Shaded Lilac over the top. I flicked water over the top as well to add some splotches. Next,  I used the Detail Ringlet Plate die over it. Then I used the largest Chunky A2 Scalloped Frame die over it. Then I attached it to the top of the card I just made!

I stamped the wood box and the lavender plants with MFT Natural Ink on white cardstock. I cut them out with the matching dies. I colored them in with colored pencils. I attached them to the top of the card front. I added all of the extra plant pieces x 3 each and used foam tape behind some to make my plant more dimensional. I used the new CZ Welcome Wafer Die for the sentiment. I used white cardstock for the frame and then used the same inking method over the word to match the background. I added one of the smallest flowers to the center of the O. I attached the word over the planter box with foam tape. I used some Cloud 9 Dream Drops over the background - they are like little pearl drops and so pretty!

CARD 3:

I Stamped the wood box and the lavender plant to the front of a piece of Arches watercolor paper with MFT Natural Ink. I added all of the extra pieces as well to fill out my "bouquet". It looks dimensional, but it is all one layer. Because I used a light color of ink, I didn't worry about where the images overlapped. I painted them all in with my Karin Brushmarkers. I used water over each flower so I could move some of the color around the plant as well. I kept it very messy and impressionistic looking (meaning I didn't stay within the lines haha). But I didn't like it, so I went back and added some outlines to the flowers with a color pencil. Then I decided I liked it better without the pencil - oh well hahahaha! I ran a Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen over the flowers to move the color a little more and add some sheen. 

I used the "thank you" dies from the Slimline Chunky Scalloped Border dies. I used two layers of white and one layer of purple. I painted the purple with Violet Brocade Shimmer Powder, so it also shimmers! I used some Lilac Whisper Glitter Drops over the background. 

CARD 4:

I used the SSS Wood Plank Background Stamp with Lawn Fawn Doe Ink on Khaki cardstock. I die-cut it with the largest A2 Thin Frame Die and attached it to a white card base. I used the second smallest A2 Scalloped Frame Die with green patterned paper. I then attached that to the top of the wood piece. 

I stamped the wood box and the peony type flowers on white cardstock with black ink. I colored them in with Copic Markers and die-cut them out. I attached them over the green paper. I arranged extra pieces behind the main piece and used foam tape behind some. I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set with black ink on the wood box. I used the same Cloud 9 Dream Drops on each of the scallops. 

CARD 5:

I had a purple and silver alcohol ink background already made in my stash, so I pulled it out to use on this card. I used Ranger Amethyst alcohol ink and Piñata Silver alcohol ink. I die-cut a SSS Diamond Pattern Die from white cardstock and attached that over the purple piece. 

I stamped all of the images with black ink on white cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers. I used Silver Moondust Glitter Nuvo Drops on the line on the pot and a white uniball to add some details. I attached the pot and all of the plants as I did before, with extra pieces and lots of foam tape! I stamped a sentiment with white embossing powder on a SSS Sentiment Label using black cardstock. I added some Indigo Eclipse Nuvo Dream Drops around the flowers.

BLOG HOP DETAILS:

• See the banner at the top of this post for the details of the blog hop promotion to get the Rose Trio Stencil free with purchase. 
• Simon is giving away a $25 GC to their store on every stop of the blog hop from the comments sections; they will post the winners on the SSS Blog on Wednesday, March 3rd.
• This is a 2 day blog hop, so remember to hop along tomorrow as well starting at the Simon Says Stamp blog.
• There is a Hello Beautiful Gallery with all of the creations that have been made using these new products; don't forget to add your cards to this gallery as well. It is a great place to see all the inspiration in one place using the new products! 
• You can see the entire new Hello Beautiful release here; I have listed all of the products I've used on this blog post at the bottom.

NEXT ON THE HOP IS SIDNIE DES JARDINS.

Thank you so much for visiting today and have a happy hop! Suzy

Comments

[Meghan Kennihan]

WHAT?!?! The COLORING is amazing! I LOVE the purple ones!

[Jean B]

Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous! Your design and color choices are the Best!

[Donna Griffin]

So very pretty! That coloring is just amazing!! Thanks for sharing!

[Judith M Arri]

Oh my gosh. These flowers are beyond amazing. The colors are unbelievable. These are some of the most gorgeous floral cards I've seen. Great work.

[Tammy I]

I love them all. Thank you for bringing spring to my day!

[Sheri]

Love the cheerful spring cards!

[R Sindhu Manokaran]

so cute cards...thanks for sharing...

[Flo Swinford]

Wow just WOW

[Janet M McCurry]

I must have posted in the wrong place before! I love all your cards! I love everything you do! So talented!

[Bette Lou]

Beautiful watercoloring. The pencil colouring is awesome too!

[Carol Wehner]

Hooray! It's pastel colors time! My fave! I stopped in my tracks with your pastel lavender card - oh so gorgeous!

[Nina Houghton]

Suzy! Your coloring is exceptional. Such beautiful cards!

[Christine Kiehl]

oh my goodness! I have never wanted to buy floral stamps so much after seeing someone's work, yours! I tend to shy away from them but viewing your cards today has begun to change my mind! Truly amazing work!

[Joanne Travis]

I am a really big fan of your artwork, always so lovely! Really beautiful samples, thanks for sharing.

[JOANNA SHOEMAKER]

WOW...these are all beautiful!

[Marcy Schneider]

Beautiful floral cards! You do a fabulous coloring job! Bravo!

[Janice Hixon]

Amazing the variety you achieved with one stamp set. Gorgeous!

[Tami B]

Ahhhh, you've got my brain screaming "come on spring!" What beautiful & happy cards.

[Sheri Kempke]

Suzy, your water coloring cards are one of my favorites! Love this! I like all of your cards, but the pink flowers in the tin bucket are breath taking, gave me chills! I'm not a "pink" person, but this one is amazing. Thank you!

[Dee Earnshaw]

STUNNING coloring - thanks for the eye candy:)

[Linda C]

So pretty Suzy! I am amazed by your coloring skills!

[nancy f]

Love them all.

[Melissa SunshineHoneyBee]

Your coloring skills are wonderful & surpass mine. Like the framing of the floral creations.
Melissa
"Sunshine HoneyBee"

[Nancy K Rodeberg]

Your colors sing spring to me! They are so uplifting!

[barbara lassiter]

Beautiful cards! Your cards reflect your amazing coloring and design skills!