After playing around with adding deeper colors to the shimmery Glow of Harvest Specialty paper, I looked through past bundles for some silhouette dies that would work well with the botanicals featured in the paper’s design. I hit the jackpot with the Nature’s Harvest dies which I used on these first 3 cards.
The gingham (Gingham Gallery DSP) is always a fresh addition.
Some subtle texture with the Softly Woven embossing folder and then a little perkiness with the scalloped circle (Scalloped Blooms) accent the die, image and greeting from Nature’s Harvest.
a card from the 2021 archives: can you make blue coneflowers because you like the simple, pretty background papers? Yes, yes you can!
…and another, this time with more realistic, summery coneflowers.
Designer Series Specialty Paper (DSSP)- August Product of the Month
Photos don’t easily show the lovely shimmer of this paper. I learned last year with the Gathering Together specialty paper that magic happens when you add color to the white coated background.
These first three cards make use of the Nature’s Harvest Bundle from the Stampin’ Up!’s 2021 August – December Mini Catalog.
I added just enough Golden Glow ink to make sure the DSSP blended nicely with the Gingham Gallery DSP.
The third of this Nature’s Harvest trio also uses a few of the stamped images along with another of the silhouette type dies. I thought it mimicked the paper well. I also used the Softly Woven embossing folder and a Scalloped Blooms die.
Another use of the Softly Woven embossing folder, plus the Boutique Blossom leaflets. I used the sweetly Sentimental Hot foil dies with Early Espresso ink rather than foil for the greeting. I also used a few Blends and pencils to bring out the color of the bouquet that was fussy cut from the DSSP.
Yet another use of the Softly Woven folder, this time with the DSSP itself. I brushed a little Early Espresso and Pecan Pie ink around the edges. I also added color to the white pumpkins with Blends and watercolor pencils that were used dry.
Several of the papers from Brushed with Beauty also blend beautifully with fussy cut images from Glow of Harvest.
One of the other things that attracted me to this set is that I thought the images would look good with simply embossing and that coloring could be optional. A class I recently took on Botanical Art and Colored Pencils meant that I was tempted to color in everything though. (The fiddle leaf fig drawing was inspired by some of the leaves I recently removed from an out of control tree in our living room.)
This is the only one to become a complete card so far. I started by coloring everything but the bear in white – to make the other colors come across as brighter. I used a Balmy Blue pencil on the bear because I was attempting to create a blue sheen to his coat.
This post features cards made with the Cute as a Bug Suite. As I have more I will add them to this post. I don’t always add that many details but feel free to ask a question and I can elaborate in a separate post.
Featuring the Cute as a Bug Suite
This one has a little more detail than I usually use on the front of tunnel cards. If you look closely you will see that I was experimenting with blending ink behind the circles both on the front and inside. the 4″x6″ scenery pieces in designer series paper packs like this one work well inside the circle.
Fragrant Layers image, colored with Blends. The greeting and gold leaves are from the Words & Wishes Bundle. The background is a gel print from my stash, embossed with Traces of Yesterday folder (Altenew)
Garden Silhouette is one of the hot foil dies released in Stampin Up!’s first Hot Foil release earlier this summer.
In real life, I think the light pink foil looks best with Fresh Freesia though I also like it with Bubble Bath. I used a Fresh Freesia Card base and retired FF seam binding. The Two Tone cardstock works particularly well with hot foiling because it is smoother than traditional cardstock. Since it was initially developed for scrapbooking with its light weight it also makes for a lighter weight card, though a less sturdy card base. one side is lighter and it has a white core. In this card I hot foiled the lighter side of Basic Gray and used the darker side as a mat and for the greeting. The greeting is from the Sweet Sentiment hot foil bundle and is foiled onto the darker side.
I got a little playful with this one. Silver Foil on Secret Sea cardstock. After using colored pencils on three of the blooms I layered onto a Perennial Postage die cut. When using colored pencils on a such a dark color it really helps to put down white as a base color.
I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the shiny pattern in large amounts so I cut out a little window using a Nested Essential die. This is layered on an embossed piece of white in my stash and takes it’s greeting, once again, from Sweet Sentiments.
…and here’s what I did with the frame the previous card left behind. I wasn’t sure it would look right to use embossing with foiling but, as you see, it works! This is a retired greeting from So Sentimental.
I think this one is my favorite so far! You would think that adding more colors would make it busier but I think the overall contrast is reduced so it pleases my eye a bit more.
Silver foil on white. I used blending brushes to add Berry Burst, Cloud Cover and Lost Lagoon. I think it was the first time I used this trio and it won’t be the last. The greeting uses the Scalloped Blooms bundle along with a die cut circle from the Spotlight on Nature dies. I do like those circle dies on the scallops!
I recently had a question about a card I used with a similar sketch and after looking back at my Splitcoaststampers Gallery found that I’ve used this numerous times. It is, in fact, one of my favorite ways to feature some rich and lovely designer series papers (DSP) that I’m afraid would overwhelm a card.
I often also use vellum with it since it gives a nice, ethereal look under a richly colored frame.
This card features the recently retired Perennial Lavender DSP along with the Extraordinary Flora Bundle. If you are familiar with my work, this is a lot of DSP for me though most of it is the neutral Crumb Cake gingham. As I said earlier, I prefer to use the richer colors is smaller amounts.
I used the floral stamp with white craft ink on the vellum. I don’t remember that it took too much time to dry. The greeting and floral stamp were also stamped with white and embossed with white on Crumb Cake. Coloring was done with a bit of Blender Pen and finished up with Watercolor Pencils.
It was fun to roll back one corner of the check to give another peek at the back.
The nested arch dies are perfect for making a nice skinny frame though I’ve used rectangles to make other versions of this sketch. I’ll have to collect the other cards I’ve done with this into another gallery.
I bet you have some papers in your stash that would work with this sketch! Go ahead and give it a try!
For Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge; Blending Brush, Exposed Brick Embossing Folder, Sanding Block, Gears & Textures Dies, Lifetime of Love Bundle, Silver Embossing Powder; Pecan Pie Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Silver Metallic papers, True Blue Florals DSP
From Chris Smith's Ink Pad 