Blossoming Happiness

Usually my cards are fairly simple… pretty but simple. I’ve seen some cards with layers upon layers of different things and can appreciate the work that goes into them. For me those designs can be a bit much sometimes. But lately I’ve been wanting to add some more layers to my cards while still keeping it simple. I think it all started with the Hues of Happiness suite. The images from the stamp set and Designer Series Paper are so pretty and the Blossoming Happiness dies lend themselves well to layering.

So in the spirit of keeping it simple I went with a neutral colour combination, Basic Black and Crumb Cake. Then I added a pop of colour with Flirty Flamingo. I stamped some leaves and one of the smaller bouquet of flowers images around the edge of the piece of Crumb Cake using Crumb Cake ink. The tone on tone stamping keeps it subtle and really helps the Flirty Flamingo stand out.

I also stamped a couple of the larger flowers on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Crumb Cake ink. Once that was dry I used one of the Blossoming Happiness dies to create a torn notebook page look. This is such a cool die! I added that to the Crumb Cake card mat on an angle with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Then for my last layer I stamped a few flowers using Tuxedo Black Memento ink on some Basic White cardstock. And here’s where the Flirty Flamingo comes in. I coloured the flowers using the Flirty Flamingo Stampin’ Blends. I just love colouring with these markers!! Then I cut them out using the coordinating dies and added them to my card. To finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels and some Wink of Stella to the centre of the coloured flowers.

Blossoming Happiness

I’m slowly easing my way into adding more layers to my cards. It’s a new kind of design, so it’ll take me a few attempts before I start to get the hang of it. But I love the Blossoming Happiness dies and know that they will definitely be a part of future layered creations!

Check out one of my other cards using the Happiness Abounds stamp set here. And you can check out the full Hues of Happiness suite in my online shop.

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

I crafted this card live on my Facebook page last night. Check out the replay here. I’ve been dying to do some colouring with Happiness Abounds! This stamp set from the new Annual catalogue is a great one. The images are perfect for colouring and the phrases are so versatile.

For this card I used Stampin’ Blends to colour. At some point I’ll use the Watercolour Pencils, but I love the depth of colour you get from these alcohol-based markers. For my colour combination I went with Pool Party and Old Olive. They really compliment each other. To start I stamped a phrase and some leaves using Old Olive ink. Then for the images I’m colouring I stamped them in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Once that was dry I could get to colouring.

When I colour with Stampin’ Blends I tend to start with the light version. Then I add the dark where I want the depth and shadows. And to finish it off I do another layer of the light Stampin’ Blends. Some people start and finish with the dark version which also looks great. It just gives a different look.

Once the coloured images dried I popped them up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. And of course I needed to add some bling… so I added two Rhinestone Basic Jewels on either side of the “congratulations”. Here it is…

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

If you want to add a little something more to this card you can always use the Stitched Rectangles dies. It’s an easy way to cut your cardstock and add another level to your design.

I can’t wait to do some more crafting and colouring with Happiness Abounds! Check out the recent card I crafted using the coordinating Designer Series Paper here.

United through Creativity

I love colouring! But I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like with a full time job and two munchkins. So this last week I decided it was time to get back to it. I’ve been meaning to get creative with Stampin’ Up!s free digital stamps, United through Creativity, and with Canada coming up (yesterday) I thought it would be the perfect time. There’s a lot of different images and phrases to choose from, but for Canada Day the maple leaf image and those coordinating phrase were ideal!

Once I printed all the maple leaves I needed I pulled out my Real Red Stampin’ Blends and got to some colouring. I wanted to make a couple of different projects so I needed to print a bunch of them. Since I wasn’t able to isolate the maple leaf image I just did some double-sided printing. I knew I only wanted the maple leaf so I didn’t mind the overlap.

The first project I had in mind was to create two treat bags for my two munchkins. Since there still aren’t any big celebrations going on I wanted to do something special. To make the treat box I just cut and scored some Real Red cardstock. Then I adhered it with some Tear & Tape adhesive. I cut out the coloured maple leaves and phrases using the Layering Circles and Stitched Rectangles dies. We had some candy leftover from the teacher gifts we had put together, so I used that and added a couple other treats to fill the bags.

United through Creativity

The other project I wanted to make was a framed home decor piece. I grab the 6×6 Shadowboxes from Michael’s whenever I get the chance so that’s the measurement I used for this. Now to keep my eyes peeled for a sale and some white ones!

I created the background with some Real Red and Basic White cardstock. And I stamped the Basic White cardstock using the ink splatter image from the Quiet Meadow stamp set and some Real Red ink. I fussy cut the rest of my coloured maple leaves. This is not something I do often, but it was a necessary evil for this project. I adhered a couple of the maple leaves right to the stamped cardstock. The others I adhered parts of the leaves directly to the cut out phrase, then adhered the phrase and other leaves to the stamped cardstock with some dimensionals.

United through Creativity

I LOVE how these turned out! And my munchkins loved their treat boxes. I’m excited to do some more colouring with the United through Creativity digital stamps. You can download yours here. And you can check out another colouring project I did here. Enjoy!