Stamping Sunday Blog Hop – Above The Clouds

Welcome to the July Stamping Sunday Blog Hop! I’m Tami Hewlett from Stockton, California, and I’m so glad you dropped by to visit my blog today. This month, we are featuring the Above The Clouds stamp set! You can find this stamp set on page 89 of the 2019 Annual Catalog, and it coordinates with the Hot Air Balloon Punch. (Purchase both in a bundle for 10% off!)

To continue through the Stamping Sunday Blog Hop, see the list of designers below. I’m sure you’ll be inspired by these talented ladies!

The theme of this blog hop is to show how to create cards for beginner, casual, and avid crafters by stepping up the difficulty level.

Beginner Crafter:

My beginner card focuses on simple stamping with a sponged background. I stamped the balloons and baskets on a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock and then punched them out with the Hot Air Balloon Punch. I stamped both balloons with Mango Melody ink, but for the lighter one, I stamped off once on scratch paper first. Then I stamped the baskets with Crumb Cake ink.

Tip for beginners: Turn the punch upside down so you can align your stamped image perfectly before punching.

To create the background, I stamped the clouds with Coastal Cabana ink on Whisper White cardstock. For some clouds, I stamped off once or even twice on scratch paper to lighten up the ink. Afterwards, I sponged Coastal Cabana ink starting at the top and fading down. Finally, I stamped the sentiment with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.

This stamp set has some really great sentiments. It’s perfect for congratulations, encouragement, and graduation cards.

Casual Crafter:

To step up my design for the Casual Crafter, I added some simple techniques, such as embossing and watercoloring. I stamped and embossed the balloons in white on Shimmery White Cardstock. This paper is my favorite, because it withstands watercoloring well, and it’s nice and smooth, which allows for easy, successful stamping.

I love watercoloring embossed images, because the slight ridges of the embossing make it very easy to stay in the lines. I like to start with a layer of clear water first, and then add ink to areas where there would be shadows. Then, I just let the water do it’s thing, blending towards the lighter sections. This time, I punched out one of the balloons and used dimensionals to pop it up, making it seem closer.

Tip for watercoloring: To gather ink, either squeeze your ink pad to pool ink in the lid, or press an acrylic block into the pad. You can also add a drop of re-inker to the lid. Then, use an Aqua Painter filled with water to paint.

I added a couple elements to this card to show movement. For example, I used the Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder to mimic swirling air, and I tilted my label up to mimic rising air.

Avid Crafter

To step up the card even further, I added a more advanced background technique and some more layers and embellishments.

If you follow my blog, you might remember that I created a bunch of backgrounds with Pigment Sprinkles a couple weeks ago. Well, this is one of those backgrounds! I realized that it looked like clouds during a sunset, so I thought it would be perfect for this card!

Because I didn’t want to cover up my beautiful background too much, I decided to create vellum balloons. Of course, this is just in my imagination, because real hot-air balloons aren’t see-through, but I thought it might be a fun effect.

Then, to add those “avid crafter” details, I embossed the entire background with the Subtle Embossing Folder and added a vellum cicle and pennant punches to my label.

I finished off the card with some Frosted Epoxy Droplets and a swooping, frayed tie of White Baker’s Twine.

Have a wonderful and creative day!

Stamping Sunday Blog Hop Participants:

Use the July Host Code YND9WTGR for all purchases at my online store to qualify to receive free exclusive tutorials and a special thank you card from me

For every $50 purchase in July at my online store, earn a $5 coupon to spend in August!

Join my team in July or August and choose $155 in products for only $99! Then, receive a $10 couple to spend in September!

Supplies used on my cards: