Hi friends! I’m so pleased to welcome special guest Wendy Ramlakhan of SugarPea Designs to our blog today as a first time guest in STAMPtember®! Sugarpea Designs is a newer brand to our store and we are so pleased to offer them in our selection! The designs are high quality and adorable! If you’re new to the brand now is a great time to try out a set or two! For a limited time we will be extending 15% off for the entire brand with code sugarpstmp! Shop early for the best selection!

Wendy made some super cute inspiration to get you inspired on how to create scenes with SugarPea Designs stamps! Enjoy!

I’m absolutely thrilled and honored to a part of Simon Says Stamps STAMPtember event!

For my card I played with the newly released, Fall Fox stamp set along with a few of my favorite, SugarCut dies. I started by selecting one of the patterned papers from Countryside Charm paper pad, which I then layered with SugarPuff Foam before adhering it to an olive green card base cut with the SugarCuts – Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles.

I stamped the fox along with the pumpkins and leaves using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I colored everything with Copic markers and die cut them using the coordinating SugarCuts – Fall Fox die set. I then cut a coffee cup using SugarCuts – Coffee To Go Cup and created a fun cup sleeve with the plaid patterned paper design from Countryside Charm. I stamped the sentiment onto the sleeve and the cup with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Finally, I adhered the leaves and fox to the card using foam tape to create a little depth and dimension.

Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me!

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Thanks so much for reading today, and thanks to Wendy for this great inspiration!!

Blog Candy Alert!! Follow our blog via email and comment on this post for a chance to win a special blog candy!

Hi friends!  Today is our STAMPtember® feature for Art Impressions. Art Impressions is a rubber stamp manufacturer based in Salem, OR since 1987. The company began as our sole designer, Bonnie Krebs, created and sold educational stamps at craft fairs around the Northwest. Soon, Bonnie was drawing whimsical images for crafting and her talent has grown over the past 30 years to become one of the major stamp illustrators in the industry today.

I have had the honor of meeting Bonnie at industry trade shows throughout the years. Last year I spent some time with her at the STAMPAWAY show in Cincinnati Ohio.  WOW!  It was the first stamping tradeshow I ever worked where we had our own booth and Bonnie’s booth was right behind ours.  She was so helpful and a huge ray of sunshine helping us get through our first show!  I was SUPER nervous and I could just tell, Bonnie is a pro. Her cheerful smile and encouraging words really helped our Simon team get set up and get over our nerves.

Bonnie is a self-taught, whimsical artist who loves to create innovative stamp styles. She often develops new stamping techniques and interactive card making ideas, revolutionizing the stamp industry with each new release. She has drawn over 8,000 images – from cute characters and animals, to artistic watercolor stamping techniques. She continues to inspire through traveling and teaching at craft events and trade shows around the United States. Bonnie is a mother to three and a proud new grandmother to two.

It is very special to me that Bonnie drew a stamp set based on our mascot, Simon.  In fact, she showed the STAMPtember exclusive design to me this year when we revisited the Stampaway Tradeshow and I literally choked up with emotion when I saw it. Isn’t this such a fun stamp set!? She totally captured the joy of our short legged friends! It’s an exclusive design for STAMPtember and is only available while supplies last!

Don’t forget about our Dream Craft Room Giveaway!  It’s not too late to sign up to win. Just click on the banner below:

Thank you for joining in the STAMPtember festivities today as we celebrate Art Impressions!

Hi friends! Happy Sunday! We’re honored to have the fabulous and talented Jill Foster on our blog today as a guest! We are spotlighting Penny Black today, a brand that we not only admire greatly, but also have carried in our store for a VERY long time! If you have never used Penny Black products or not we encourage you to get crafty with their products!

Use code pennybstmp to take 15% off any Penny Black branded product you purchase from now until 9/6 at 11:59 PM EST. Shop early for the best selection and enjoy!

Now onto some inspiration…. read on!

Hi everyone! Jill Foster here and I’m thrilled to be joining you today featuring Penny Black stamps from their newest collection Magic of the Season 2016.

It may be STAMPtember, but it’s also beginning to look a lot like Christmas…ho, ho, ho! Some of my favorite of Penny Black’s newest holiday collection are the elegant brushstroke stamps including 40-491 Flambeau, 40-492 Berry Kissed, 40-495 Cones & Berries, 40-494 Scarlet Majesty, and 40-493 Perfect Pear.  My cards today will feature watercolor techniques with both 40-494 Scarlet Majesty and 40-493 Perfect Pear.

As I created this card, I took some photos as I got inky.  With this style of stamp, creating the look of a watercolor painting is quite easy. I began be working on small sections of the stamp, starting with the leaves. I colored directly onto the stamp with Tombow Dual Brush Pens and stamped onto Canson watercolor paper using the MISTI.

Without removing the paper or stamp from the MISTI, I blended the stamped areas using a paintbrush and water.

I followed the same process for the petals.

Still keeping the project within the MISTI, I added shading by coloring onto the stamp using a darker color, only coloring a portion of the image.

I then blended these new colors with water and a paintbrush.

Even darker colors were added and then blended with water.

Finally, I removed the piece from the MISTI and added additional shading using Sakura Koi field sketch box watercolors.

I then trimmed my piece, rounded the corners, and painted the background with the Sakura Koi watercolors.  Lots of splatters were also added.  I even splattered it with watered down Gesso for a hint of “snow.”

To finish things off, I inked the background with Gathered Twigs and Crushed Olive Distress Inks using an ink blending tool and foam pads.  An elegant sentiment from Penny Black’s transparent set, 30-382 Yuletide Wishes, was stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

After finishing with this pretty poinsettia, I was having so much fun I couldn’t stop. Heehee! So following the same process, I made one more card.

I just love this Christmas pear… such a unique image and a joy to stamp and paint.

Thanks again for joining me today and to SSS for the opportunity to share my cards with you… it’s truly an honor.

Hugs and Happy Stamping,
Jill

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