Hi, hello friends! Today is another hop, but it’s not a blog hop! This time I’m participating in an Instagram Hop with Altenew and many other talented artists, and I hope you’ll check it out over there! I made a few different cards today, using the May Mini Delight: Birthday Love Stamp and Die set. A couple are stamped, colored/painted and die cut and a third is stenciled. For such a tiny stamp/die set, it packs a punch!
Here’s what the mini stamp and die bundle look like. Seems pretty basic, right? But it’s so versatile and perfect for using so many different ways! I didn’t even use the solid image stamp for filling in the outline (if you’d rather stamp than color), but it opens up a whole other bunch of possibilities!
My first two cards feature subtly colored backgrounds with a bundle of heart balloons on each and black cardstock strip sentiments.
I began by stamping a piece of watercolor cardstock with the Pattern Play; Circles stamp set and heat embossing with white embossing powder. Once heat set, I painted the background very lightly with Deep Blue Sea water color paint from the Artist Watercolor 24 Pan paint set and let it dry.
I next stamped the heart balloon shapes onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock and colored them in with Watercolor markers, blending with a wet brush then die cutting them with the coordinating die.
I stamped the sentiment in the stamp set with embossing ink onto black cardstock and heat set with white embossing powder. I cut the word strip and popped it up with some foam tape on the back.
The second card differs from the first in very minor ways. First, the stamped background is the same – Pattern Play: Circles Stamp set, embossing ink, white embossing powder. But this time, rather than painting in the background, I ink blended with a blending brush, using Sea Breeze ink.
The balloon color choices are different from the first card as well, but the technique is the same. I just colored a thin line of watercolor ink along the left side and used a wet paint brush to blend the color out. For both cards, I added the balloon strings by adhering some thin crochet cotton thread to the back of each balloon, then stretching it downwards, tucking them to the backside of the card panel and taping them in place.
I stamped the sentiment once again on a strip of black cardstock, this time letting it span the width of the card. I trimmed the card panel a little on each side so you can see more of the colorful striped paper matting the card front and added a few matching heart-shaped enamel dots!
Finally, my last card is composed entirely of stenciled/ink blended balloons. I die cut the heart shape from masking paper 4 times to avoid “sharing” the ink from one color to the next.
I ink-blended a sky-full of balloons using Sea Glass, Warm Sunshine, Coral Bliss and Hydrangea inks. When finished, I drew the strings and bows with a thin Copic Liner pen, extending the tails right to the bottom.
I finished the card with a black sentiment strip overlapping the edge of the card panel and a piece of nicely coordinating patterned paper (from a paper pack that is running out and I will sorely miss when it’s gone). A few coordinating enamel dots complete this card.
Here is where I’d usually share the list of hoppers and send you off to the next one, along with the info about leaving a comment to possibly win a giveaway, but that’s all over on Instagram, so head over there and see all the pretty ways you can use this small but mighty stamp and die set! Don’t forget to subscribe to get these Mini Delight sets automatically sent to you every month.
Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!
