Stamping Sunday Blog Hop — Favorite Retiring Products

Welcome to the Stamping Sunday Blog Hop and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!!! I’m Tami Hewlett, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator from California, USA, and I’m so glad you could drop by.

This month, the theme of the blog hop is favorite retiring products. While it’s hard to let go, I’m excited to have another chance to play with these awesome products!!!

My projects feature two retiring stamp sets: Crafting Forever and Royal Peacock, as well as the following retiring beauties: Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper, Tropical Oasis Trinkets, Tropical Oasis Memories & More Cards, and the Tropical Dies. I love all things tropical, and the two stamps sets worked perfectly for the projects I had in mind.

For this blog hop, the designers have the choice of creating 1) three different versions of a card for Beginner, Casual, and Avid Crafters, or 2) a card and a 3D project. I “loosely” chose the first option. (Sorry, I’m not so good at following the rules…)

My daughter just graduated from college!!! In fact, her virtual ceremony was yesterday. (They will eventually have a real ceremony, once all this craziness is over.) So, I needed to make graduation cards and tags, not only for her, but for lots of her friends. I chose the Royal Peacock stamp set, because it includes some great sentiments, and the Crafting Forever stamp set, because my daughter majored in Screenwriting, and I thought the pens were perfect!

Beginner Crafter:

My beginner tag features stamping (including stamping off), simple coloring with Watercolor Pencils, and sponging … all easy, fun techniques for beginners.

I started by cutting a strip of Whisper White card stock 2″ wide and punching the top with the Delightful Tag Topper Punch. Then, I randomly stamped the “so very proud of you” stamp numerous times in four colors: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, and Real Red. For a variety, I inked the stamp, and then stamped off on scrap paper once, twice, and even three times to lighten the color. Then, I used a Sponge Dauber to apply Daffodil Delight ink in an ombre pattern, using small circular motions.

I stamped the pen and “You Did It” sentiment on scraps of Whisper White with Memento ink and colored the pen slightly with black and gray Watercolor Pencils. After cutting them out and adhering, I layered the whole tag on a second one cut from Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper.

Since my daughter lives in Southern California, I thought she’d appreciate the tropical theme.

Casual Crafter:

For my next project, I stepped up the difficulty a little by adding some die cutting. I absolutely LOVE the Tropical Dies … they are the one retiring product I’m probably going to miss the most.

To create the background for this card, I cut numerous Tropical Dies from Whisper White card stock to create faux embossing.

The rest of the card is fairly simple, I cut out flowers from Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper to layer and stamped the sentiment on one of the Tropical Oasis Memories and More stickers. Then, I cut the layers using the Stitched Rectangle Dies.

On the inside, I used a Memories and More card to stamp the sentiment.

Avid Crafter:

For my last card, I stepped up the difficulty even more by using more advanced coloring techniques.

I LOVE how this card turned out!! It’s so fun to be able to create customize cards like this. I think the embossed words in the background and beautiful pens are just perfect for my daughter.

I stamped all the pens with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Whisper White card stock, and then colored them with Real Red, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Shaded Spruce, Smoky Slate, and Basic Black Stampin’ Blends Markers. Afterwards, I used a Color Lifter to add highlights and make the pens appear 3D.

The used Shimmery White card stock for the main panel to watercolor with Real Red, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, and Old Olive ink. I painted each one of the colors separately and used a Heat Tool to dry them and create watermarks before moving on to the next color. Afterwards, I stamped the sentiment. (Memento ink is water soluble, so it would have bled if I stamped it first before watercoloring.)

I used a similar technique to watercolor the inside.

Tip: An alternative method would be to use Stazon ink to stamp the sentiments first. Stazon is permanent and would not bleed when watercolored.

Hope I’ve inspired you a bit. Be sure to use the links below to continue on through the Stamping Sunday Blog Hop. I guarantee, you’re going to love it!!!

Take care and best wishes!!!

Stamping Sunday Blog Hop Designers:

Use the May Host Code ZQ7EGSNM for purchases at my online store to qualify to receive free exclusive tutorials and a special thank you card from me. This month’s PDF includes great techniques and super creative ideas. You’re going to LOVE them!!!

Product List