Stamping with Friends Blog Hop - Colouring

 Hi everyone, 

Welcome to the Stamping with Friends Blog Hop!

This weekend it's all about colouring! With Stampin' Up!s amazing selection of tools, there are so many ways to approach this. My two personal favourites are the Stampin' Blends and the Blending Brushes. This card features both.💛

For this project (and most of my Blending Brushes backgrounds) I start with a larger piece than I need. The reason for this is that pulling the colour in from your scrap paper can leave a dark ink line at the edge. The finished coloured piece is about 3 3/4" x 5" so I'd start with 4" x 5 1/4" at the minimum. I used for following ink pads: Daffodil Delight; Mango Melody; and Flirty Flamingo.

Remember to use a light hand. Within each colour section you want variations, in this case, light to dark, form the top to the bottom. If you haven't done this technique before, try it out on some scraps of Basic White cardstock before turning to your project.  

To create the sun, use a small (approx 1 1/4") Layering Circles Die on a full adhesive Post It. Place it where you want the sun to be and push it down. Once you've done all the blending/colouring, you just remove the Post It.

Have your cardstock in portrait position. Start with the lightest colour (in this case, Daffodil Delight). Tap your brush into the ink pad and then onto a piece of scrap paper to determine how juicy your ink is. If it's not super juicy, tap it on the ink pad a few times and then lightly drag it across your cardstock. Be sure to start the drag on the scrap paper. Don't put the brush directly from the ink pad onto the cardstock - it will likely leave a dark blob. This technique is best done lightly, adding more - there is no taking it back if you put too much on. Repeat this process about half way down the cardstock. Next, using your Mango Melody, repeat the process starting at about the 1/3 way down. Continue until your about 2/3's of the way down. With your Flirty Flamingo, repeat the process starting from the bare end and working your way into the Mango Melody. Once you're happy, trim off the edges on all 4 sides, bringing it down to 3 3/4" x 5" (give or take) I just measured mine and it's 1/16" less than those numbers...oops. 

Attach your coloured piece to the Basic White card front (8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored in landscape at 4 1/4") with your favourite adhesive.

On scraps of Basic White, stamp the birds, the flowers and the greeting with black Memento Ink. I prefer to cut things out before I start colouring. Gather your Stampin' Blends.The leaves were done in Old Olive, the flowers in Flirty Flamingo and the birds & branch in Crumb Cake. The bird's beaks were coloured with Dark Daffodil Delight. 

I used a die from Peach Dies to cut our my sentiment but you could absolutely just trim it down to 1/4" x 1 3/4". Everything other than the sentiment was attached with Stampin' Dimensionals. One of the things I loved about this card was the softness of it - this is why I chose not to add any embellishments. 

Libby Fens
Linda Moore
Donna Schnees
Karen Egan
Nedine Hunter-Dupree
Victoria Littlewood
Kelly Place Taranto
Tricia Butts
Xenia Stanford

Sale-a-bration ends Sept 30th. It is truly an AMAZING time to join. You'll get to choose 165 worth of incredible paper craft supplies and choose an extra bundle for FREE (from a selection of 12 in the current Mini Catalogue. After you sign up, you'll still be able to take advantage of Sale-a-bration with a 20% discount. Woo hoo! We are an incredible community of like minded people who take such joy in what we do. 💓 Let me know if you questions.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Adrienne