I'm Guest Designing Today!

I am so excited to be guest designing for Sweet Stamp Shop over on their blog today!  I was thrilled when Nicole emailed me offering me the chance to guest design and I am looking forward to sharing my creations with you!


I was given the Kiss Me set to work with:

How cute is that?!  When I first saw it, my head instantly filled with so many different ways to use this set.  You've seen a few of my cards over on the SSS blog today, but I'll show them again...and a few more!  Plus, I'll even be showing you how I made one of them, so be sure to stick around!  :)

Here are the cards that are featured over on the SSS blog:

Even though this set wasn't specifically designed to be used for chalkboard art, as one of the other SSS new releases was, I thought I would make a cute chalkboard card with these.  I stamped the kissing couple and heart with Versamark and sprinkled them with white embossing powder.  The result is much more bold than if I had just used a white ink by itself.

I thought the kissing couple would go perfectly with this paper from Echo Park's Everyday Ecclectic collection.  I tried to make it seem like these two were caught on camera sneaking some smooches at the fair.  :)

This was the very first card I came up with when I saw the set.  I will show you how I made it after I show off a couple more cards I made for your viewing pleasure...

Another chalkboard art creation that I think turned out so pretty!  I used a doily-esque edge punch and frilly seam binding to class it up, then added the push pins to finish it off.  The love heart sentiment is popped up with dimensional adhesive.  

I decided to attempt a new technique (you know, since I'm still claiming to be a "novice") for this card.  I stamped the kissing sentiment with versamark, then covered the images with clear embossing powder.  I then sprayed a sheet of waxed paper with three different colors of mist.  I added a few sprays of water, then placed the cardstock face down in the puddle.  This is how it turned out.  I love how the color isn't even.  The chevron patterned strip I used seems to echo that multi-toned look.  

Let's jump back to this card, shall we?

I used two stamps for this card:  The you+me hearts and the kissing couple silhouette.  I knew I wanted to attempt to try and make an *actual* kissing couple to fit my idea of them kissing in front of a carved tree better. 

 First, I lightly stamped the image onto a piece of scrap paper.  I didn't even try to cover the stamp completely with ink.  I just needed to be able to see the edges so I could cut them out. 

After I cut the silhouette out, I traced it lightly onto white cardstock.   

After I erased the lines minimally, I used my colored pencils to draw my interpretation of what they boy and girl would look like.  Keep in mind, I am NOT an artist.  I kind of surprised myself at how well the girl's hair turned out.  :)  After I finished coloring them in, I cut them out and put them aside. 

 

I created the tree trunk by dry embossing some dark kraft cardstock, but before I did so, I stamped some brown chalk ink onto one side of the embossing plate, so the texture of the tree would show up better.  Then I stamped the sentiment on light cardstock.  I paper pieced the background and grass and used my cloud punch to create big bushy leaves for the tree. 

Here it is again.  I have to admit that I'm surprised that my two dimensional brain came up with this one, but I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out! 

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by today!  I had so much fun creating these cards for you all to enjoy.  Thank you to Nicole for giving me the opportunity to showcase her amazing stamps!

Until next time...