A Good Day

#stampinup  I received the "Happy Home" stamp set at last fall's OnStage Local event in Baltimore. It's not a set that I would choose myself. It requires some coloring and I don't like to color and I'm not very good at coloring. But this set has some cute images and I love the scrolly script on the sentiments, so I've been thinking and thinking for a while about how I could use this set.

Eventually, I got the idea to use a watercolor/color block technique that would add color without me having to actually color. Here's how I did it. 

I started with a piece of Shimmery White Card Stock cut to the same size as a D block (2-1/2" x 2-3/4"). I stamped the image in Basic Black Archival ink. Easy enough so far. Then, I put the clear acrylic block on top of the stamped image so I could see where the sky and land should be. I took a Pool Party stamp pad and stamped right onto the block. Then I took a Wild Wasabi block and stamped onto the block in the space I'd left for the grass. I gave the block a couple of squirts with water from a Stampin' Spritzer (PRO TIP: If you use alcohol, you'll get the same effect and it will dry faster) and stamped the block onto my already stamped image. I was really pleased with the mottled look of the colors.

I actually did a tiny bit of coloring. I used a Blender Pen to color the kid's (is that a boy or girl?) shirt and the kite in Calypso Coral and the shorts in Night of Navy. I colored the animal (I guess that's a dog because my cats would not be jumping for joy at a flying kit...I'm just sayin') in Soft Suede.

Once this piece was dry, I adhered it to a Basic Black mat. I used Fast Fuse Adhesive for this because the water had warped the paper a bit and I wanted it to lie flat, naturally!

I was momentarily stymied by the sentiment. I wanted to use "it's a good day," but the words are stacked vertically and I wanted a horizontal sentiment. Well, I hit a flash of inspiration to get a horizontal effect with a vertically stacked sentiment. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black Archival Ink onto a Whisper White scrap and punched it out with the Note Tag Punch. I tucked the tag under the image so that it just peeks out from the side.

I embossed a Soft Sky panel with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. I added a Basic Black mat because I thought the Soft Sky Card Stock looked too washed out on the Wild Wasabi card base. I tied a length of Basic Black Stitched Satin Ribbon around the Soft Sky/Basic Black mat before adhering these to the card base.

Finally, I added the stamped image to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I'm really pleased with how the card turned out--even thought it took almost 5 months to come up with the design!

tams# 6662

Product List

Happy Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140503] $18.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] $6.50	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad [126959] $6.50
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983] $6.50	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] $6.50	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $6.50	Wild Wasabi 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [108641] $7.00
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $7.00	Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131203] $7.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $8.50	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $8.00
Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [133520] $7.50	Note Tag Punch [135860] $18.00	Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon [138430] $9.00	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] $10.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Clear Block D [118485] $8.50	Stampin' Spritzer [126185] $3.00	Blender Pens [102845] $10.00