A Sunflower Celebration

 Happy Tuesday! I hope you are enjoying these fleeting summer days. They certainly are getting noticeably shorter...fall is definitely on the horizon. 

One of the best things about this time of year is sunflowers! I absolutely LOVE the gorgeous colours of these happy blooms. The Celebrate Sunflowers bundle perfectly captures the beauty of this season, so I am featuring it all week long. Check out this simple card I made...

Isn't that sunflower image just stunning?? The detail is so amazing that it really deserves all of the attention on this project. I created my background by sponging and blending three late-summer shades of ink: Bumblebee, Pumpkin Pie and Cinnamon Cider. I used a die-cut Whisper White rectangle as my foundation and sponge daubers to apply the ink. I absolutely LOVE playing with colour like this! 

I stamped the sunflower in Early Espresso ink, which brings out the amazing detail in the image and contrasts beautifully against the blended background. I added a light spatter of Champagne Mist Shimmer paint with a Water Painter. I matted the die-cut rectangle on Early Espresso card stock and then adhered it to a Very Vanilla card stock matte, embossed with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder. The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso and popped up with dimensionals. The only embellishment is a hint of Bumblebee Gingham ribbon peeking out from behind the focal image. 

On the inside of the card I simply stamped another beautiful sunflower in Early Espresso ink. I so love the simplicity of this look!

I'll be demonstrating the this card in today's Live @ Five video over on my Facebook page. There's nothing like seeing ink blending done live to make you fall in love with the technique! If you are unable to join me live you can catch the replay over on my YouTube channel shortly afterwards. 

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a great week!

Product List

Celebrate Sunflowers Cling Stamp Set (English) [152517] $33.00	Bumblebee Classic Stampin' Pad [153116] $10.25	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [147086] $10.25	Cinnamon Cider Classic Stampin' Pad [153114] $10.25
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114] $10.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $13.25	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101650] $13.25	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119686] $12.00
Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820] $48.00	Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder [152320] $13.50	Sponge Daubers [133773] $7.00	Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint [147044] $11.00
Water Painters [151298] $16.25	1/4" Bumblebee Gingham Trim [153658] $9.50

Thankful Sunflowers

Well, I survived my first day back..but boy, am I tired! It's going to be a loooonnnggg week!

Today I want to share one of the projects I designed for my September Suite of the Month class. This is available as both an in-person and a class-to-go. We are focusing on the Painted Autumn Suite this month...

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE sunflowers? The images in the Painted Harvest stamp set are so easy to stamp and get amazing results every time. Here I stamped on a piece of Wood Textures DSP using Crushed Curry ink for the base layer and Cherry Cobbler for the detailed layer. I love the way the colours blend where they overlap. Here's closer look...

I stamped the centres of the flowers and the sentiment in Early Espresso ink. The leaves are stamped in Always Artichoke and the little acorns are Crumb Cake and Soft Suede. I love the earthy colour scheme. I layered the stamped panel on a piece of Cajun Craze card stock and then on a panel of Crumb Cake which I embossed using the Pinewood Planks Dynamic TIEF. I used the Pretty Label punch to create my sentiment label and the new Leaf punch for the little accent leaves peeking out from behind the label. The only embellishment is some Linen Thread.

On the inside I added a Whisper White panel over my Crumb Cake card base and stamped more flowers and leaves...so pretty!

Now before I go, just a reminder about my new Annual & Holiday Catalogue Ribbon Share.  Now you can purchase any ribbon or twine from either catalogue by the yard or the equivalent in pre-tied bows! How easy will it be to just pop a quick, ready-made bow as the finishing touch on your project? You can read all of the details by click the image below:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Product List

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set [144783] $26.00	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $10.00	Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119684] $10.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25
Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack [144177] $12.50	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] $8.50	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966] $8.50	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173] $8.50
Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad [126972] $8.50	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $8.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $8.50	Big Shot [143263] $136.00
Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143708] $13.50	Pretty Label Punch [143715] $23.50	Leaf Punch [144667] $21.50	Linen Thread [104199] $6.25