Good morning! I'm thrilled this morning to be part of Day 2 of a 2 day Blog Hop to celebrate the
Fabulous NEW Sunny Days Ahead from Simon Says Stamp!!! Not only is a new release exciting - but Simon Says Stamp is finally able to begin shipping again after being part of a state wide stay at home order. Yesterday I received a couple orders I had placed with new item pre-orders in February - and it was so fun to receive some of the goodies I had totally forgotten about! Make sure and check out all the inspiration with this new release AND link up your creations as you receive your orders
HERE in the Gallery created just for this release! And check out the
graphic below to receive the versatile Intense Black Ink Pad for FREE with any order using coupon code SSSINK through Sunday, January 12, 2019 as well - while supplies last (code expires at 11:59 PM EST)!!!

Today I'm sharing two cards using the same background and sentiment stamp sets - but in two different ways! I love being able to use my supplies in different ways to get more uses out of them!
For this first card, I decided to watercolor in the image in some of my favorite tulip tones with the lovely new
Tulip Background Stamp!
I started off by heat embossing it it in gold on
Arches watercolor paper. I used my MISTI to stamp a couple times for a clear impression - it'snot perfect on the texture of the watercolor paper, but I am okay with imperfection! I then used some bright and bold
Pinkfresh Liquid Watercolors to color in the image. These colors are so fun to mix and blend together!
I added a sentiment from the new
Lucky and Hugs stamp set. I stamped the larger portion in black on white cardstock and carefully cut it out close to the image, then heat embossed the second part, trimmed it into a banner shape, and added it underneath - both on foam adhesive.
For the next one, I went with a far more abstract approach!
For this, I stamped and heat embossed as above, but this time I used clear embossing powder. I taped it down on a board, sprinkled some
Nuvo Shimmer Powder in Violet Brocade over the entire panel, and then misted it generously with water. The best effect from this come from letting it sit and slowly dry - the shimmer powders pool up within the heat embossed areas and look so pretty when they finish drying. Hard to be patient, but so worth it!
Once it dried (for a very long time! Or overnight I suppose...) I added the sentiments and sequins the same way as the above card.
Can you see how shimmery and pretty this technique is?!?!? I love the fine glitter in the shimmer mist!
Which technique do you like best? One takes very little time, but lots of patience, the other more time to color, but when you are done it is finished pretty quickly!
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Simon Says will be giving a $25 gift certificate to their online store at each stop along the hop - so make sure and leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win! Winners will be announced next Wednesday on the
Simon Says Stamp Blog.
Here is the entire blog hop line up in case you get lost along the way:
These ladies are also part of the hop, but are featuring previously released products - so make sure and hop along to them as well:
Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means that if you use one of the links below, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my blog, and stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!