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

SUPPLIES:

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

Hi friends! Welcome back! Today we are hosting a blog hop with designers around the world who have created projects to share with you.  I’m excited for you to see Simon’s STAMPtember® releases in action and am confident that you are going to see something fresh, fun and exciting at every stop on the hop.  Thanks for joining us today.  I hope this hop leaves you incredibly inspired on this beautiful weekend!

Simon Says Stamp Blog   <<<  You are Here!
Kristina Werner
Jennifer McGuire
Shari Carroll 
Nina-Marie Trapani
Laura Bassen 
Debby Hughes
Yoonsun Hur 
Wanda Guess
Suzy Plantamura 
Yana Smakula
Amy Rysavy
Lorraine Aquilina 
Kathy Racoosin
Kelly Latevola  
Sarah Moerman
Heather Ruwe
Heather Hoffman 
Nichol Spohrs

Would you like to win a Dream Craft Room valued at approximately $5,000!?  Click on the banner for more details :)

If you like knowing what’s ahead on the STAMPtember calendar, we can tell you that tomorrow we will be having a Penny Black Feature and Penny Black Sale and Monday we will be revealing an exclusive and featuring Art Impressions (a super cute stamp set that is especially close to my heart ;)

Thanks again for joining us today!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)