Support Ukraine Blog Hop
Hi friends! We are reposting this gorgeous card by very special guest Yana Smakula in honor of a special blog hop put on by our friends at Studio Katia! If you want to start at the beginning head over to Studio Katia’s blog HERE. Read on to learn more about their special funding efforts for Ukraine:
From now until May 2022 100% Of net profits from the Sunflower Of Hope and All products In the Hope Collection will be donated to Save the Children Organization for their efforts in Ukraine.
There will be no prizes for the hop as it is purely to raise awareness and funds for the awful crisis.
Hello, crafters, this is Yana Smakula for Simon Says Stamp!
As you may or may not know, I am Ukrainian and I am currently located in western Ukraine. You might think this is not the time for me to be making cards and filming videos, but card making has always been my therapy and it is even more so now. I will continue to create cards and film videos for as long as I can. And I thank you for your support.
Instagram is booming with blue and yellow cards these days. There are so many amazingly inspiring projects featuring the two colors of the Ukrainian flag – blue, for clear blue sky, and yellow, for fields of wheat or fields of sunflowers which is a national flower of Ukraine.
I was inspired by all your projects, I wanted to create a sunflower card myself. Simon Says Stamp has several amazing stamp sets that feature sunflowers, either alone or in combination with other flowers. I picked the Sunflower Garden stamp set.
I love all things abstract and I also love to experiment with my Copic markers. This led me to a different way to color which I like to call Copic Blend Free coloring. I say Copic because I use Copic markers for this technique, but other alcohol markers work just as well.
The finished image has a modern graphic colored look to it, and the best part about it is you don’t need alcohol markers that blend well together, in fact, the greater difference in color or shade of your markers, the better it is for this technique.
I stamped the image in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink, I didn’t want to use black, as I opted for softer colors. You can also try stamping in the type and color of ink you use for no-line Coloring, and use this coloring technique for a no-line colored result. I imagine that would look quite beautiful. I’m hoping to try it one day.
My stamping was done on Simon’s 130lb cardstock as I love this paper for coloring with Copic markers. I used my heat tool and heat set the ink as the type of ink I used is not Copic markers friendly and it bleeds when it comes in contact with alcohol.
I trimmed my panel to 3 1/2 x 4 3/4” and began coloring. The idea is not to do any blending. To achieve this, you need to let the ink you’ve applied dry before you apply the next color on top.
You can use this coloring method with many different images and I’ve demonstrated the technique in the past featuring both small and large images. It works not only for flowers but other types of images too.
The darker you go, the less of an area you cover. Remember not to blend anything, just apply a solid layer of color. It is up to you how many marker colors to use to color your image in this way. I would say use 3 markers, a light, a medium, and a dark. If you have a big marker collection you can add a 4th or even a 5th color to add greater color variation to the flowers, especially if you are coloring a larger image.
I love this coloring method and the final result. It looks very different from the blended coloring. I know this is not for everyone, but ever so often I like to color this way. If you struggle with blending using your alcohol markers, this might be a very easy way for you to color.
Next, I stamped a sentiment for my card – I selected one that reads Have Faith. We all need to have faith these days and believe in a peaceful tomorrow. Here I used Versafine Onyx Black ink to add more contrast to the sentiment.
To add detail to the flower centers I used my 0.5 Sakura Gel Roll pen and added white dots in small clusters onto the brown centers. They helped create the highlights for the seeds.
I foam mounted this panel onto a light blue card base and added a “things will work out” sub sentiment cut out from one of Simon’s pre-printed sentiment strips. I also embellished my card with the Four Leaf Clover sequins from Simon.
Thank you for spending time with me today. Thank you for your encouraging comments, emails, and DMs. I have faith and I hope peace will be here soon.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks again to Yana for being our guest! If you are looking for even more ways that you can help support Ukraine, please visit Yana’s post HERE.
Hello, Gorgeous Blog Hop WINNERS!
Hello, friends! Our Simon Says Stamp exclusive Hello, Gorgeous product lineup is full of lots of products that are sure to get you excited about spring, Easter, and Mother’s Day! Spring flowers and birds, garden boots, sacred Easter products, and sentiments for mom and mum alike abound in this cheerful springtime release! Also included are gorgeous cling stamps and amazing stencils that will make you want to run to your craft area STAT! No matter your style, you’re sure to find an item or ten that need to be in your craft arsenal. There are some wonderful new products from CZ Design, of course! We are so excited for you to play with all of these awesome new products!
To celebrate this phenomenal release, we hosted two amazing blog hops! The hops featured many talented designers and each one created wonderful projects to inspire you. If you missed either of the hops, you can find the direct links here: DAY ONE and DAY TWO.
A BIG thank you to all of YOU who joined us for the hops! We enjoy hearing from each of you, and your words of encouragement and appreciation to each of the designers mean so much to us here at Simon and to them. It’s our tradition to give away gift certificates to random commenters on each blog stop, and today we are revealing all of the winners! So without further ado, I present to you our winners!
DAY ONE HOP WINNERS:
from Simon Says Stamp’s blog: Colleen Jo Howell!
from Nina-Marie Trapani’s blog: JoAnn Girimonte!
from Caly Person’s blog: Linda Kunsman!
from Nichol Spohr’s blog: Lauri Olson!
from Jennifer McGuire’s blog: GloriaMandery!
from Kristina Werner’s blog: Jennifer VG!
from Cathy Zielske’s blog: Tiffany O’Grady!
from Suzy Plantamura’s blog: Linda Fillds!
from Sidnie Des Jardins’s blog: Teresa Doyle!
from Lisa Addesa’s blog: D.L. Walls!
from Keisha Charles’s blog: helenfinlay!
from Heather Ruwe’s blog: Ana G!
from Mindy Eggen’s blog: Heike Carlson!
from Barb Engler’s blog: Amy See!
from Cheiron Brandon’s blog: BJ Clark!
from Norine Borys’s blog: Glenda Thorne!
from Yoonsun Hur’s blog: Sandra Baggarly!
from Anna-Karin Evaldsson’s blog: Monika/Buzsy!
DAY TWO HOP WINNERS:
from Simon Says Stamp’s blog: Yasmine!
from Laura Bassen’s blog: Tamala Priebe!
from Debby Hughes’s blog: Anna Sigga!
from Amanda Korotkova’s blog: RobiW!
from Amy Rysavy’s blog: Lisa Manderachia!
from Miriam Prantner’s blog: Patty!
from Bibi Cameron’s blog: alison s neet!
from Barbara Tarayao’s blog: cmoch!
from Alberto Gava’s blog: Gayle Chrvala!
from Vicky Papaioannou’s blog: Monica Linerode!
from Heather Hoffman’s blog: Hannah Marie!
from Lea Lawson’s blog: June Stengel!
from Tina Smith’s blog: Alexandra Y!
from Emily Midgett’s blog: Marisela Delgado!
from Jennifer Kotas’s blog: Deborrah Cannizzaro!
from Seeka’s blog: Mitzi!
If you see your name listed above, CONGRATULATIONS! Please email [email protected] and let him know that you are one of our Hello, Gorgeous Blog Hop winners! You’ll receive a $25 Gift Card. ???
Thanks again for hopping along with us! We hope you enjoy our fantastic Hello, Gorgeous release and that it gives you creative enjoyment for months to come!
Winning ROCKS, and so do you!
Want to see this release and more LIVE? Join us on YouTube Thursday, April 7 at noon EDT for a super cool inside look at the Hello, Gorgeous release with special guest Laura Bassen!
We hope you will join us on Instagram on Friday, April 1, for an Instagram Hop featuring even more inspiration from our Hello, Gorgeous release! We are excited to share awesome ideas from several creative minds using these fantastic products.
You’ll love browsing our Hello, Gorgeous gallery on our blog for loads of additional inspiration, and you can add your projects to these galleries as well!
Tiny Die Cuts From Patterned Paper
Hi friends!! Happy Wednesday! Please join me in welcoming special guest Nichol Spohr to showcase two NEW card ideas using components of our April 2022 card kit of the month, Life is a Party, along with the cutest little Mini Flowers and Leaves dies! Be sure to watch the video for all the details, and enjoy!
WATCH THE VIDEO:
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Nichol for being our guest!
