SSS Wednesday Challenge: Best Mom Ever

Hey y'all!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend!  Its Monday, and time to get some projects that I've had in the works finished up...what have you got planned for the week??  I thought I'd start out with a few Mother's Day cards that I've been working on, and it just so happens that the challenge this week over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is A Hint of Pink!  How perfect for some Mother's Day cards!

I'm a sucker for a good technique, so when I started these cards, I had every intention of doing the same technique for each one, just with a slightly different color palette.  Well....things went as they normally do in my life and I got distracted!  I ended up with two techniques, but equally lovely results!

In these first two cards, I chose to use a combination of distress inks blended through stencils.  These two Tim Holtz stencils are some of my favorite because they can be so versatile!

The inspiration for the pink, aqua, lavender color scheme came from this past week's Color Throwdown challenge and I'm always up for a good monochromatic card, so I decided to use blues on the other.  I wanted these to be ultra feminine, so I applied Delicata ink in White Shimmer (still through the stencil) once the distress ink had dried. 

As with many shimmery and glittered effects, its hard to see in the photos, but the sheen is so pretty in person!  For the glittered pieces, I adhered some of my favorite glitter washi tapes over white cardstock before running the pieces through my die cutting machine.  Its a simple trick that I use all the time and I'm never disappointed with the results.  

For the next two cards, I stamped a background stamp from Simon Says Stamp onto watercolor cardstock and heat embossed the image so that I wouldn't have to worry about my water coloring running together.

Using this technique is a real time saver!  To color the images, I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a water brush.  I LOVE the results that you can get using this technique! 

For the pink and gold card, I used the same washi tape die cut technique as in the first two cards.  For the black, white and bright card, I die cut the "mom" from black cardstock and used a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Onyx Black to add some sparkle.  I will be entering this particular one in the Lawn Fawnatics challenge #4.   

Add some sequins to all 4 of them (because you can never have too much sparkle for mom!) and call it a day!

I hope you've found a bit of inspiration from today's post, and I hope that you'll experiment with these techniques on your own.  They are so much fun and the results are almost fail safe!  A complete list of supplies can be found below.  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,



Products used:  Scripty Mom die by Lawn Fawn; Mom + Me clear stamp set by Lawn Fawn; Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Gothic and Doily; Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac; Delicata White Shimmer Ink pad; Bristol Smooth Cardstock; 110 lb. black cardstock; 120 lb. white cardstock; Vellum; VersaMark Ink; Opaque Bright White embossing powder by WOW!; Ultra Fine Gold embossing powder by Simon Says Stamp; Liquid Platinum embossing powder by Ranger; Circle Doodle background stamp by Simon Says Stamp; Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers; MISTI stamping tool; Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Onyx Black; Glitter Washi Tapes by Scotch Expressions - Gold, Silver, White; Sparkling Clear Sequin Mix by Pretty Pink Posh; Sweet 16 sequin mix by Simon Says Stamp; Zig 2 Way Glue pen.

SSS April Card Kit featuring Lawn Fawn Rainbow Plaid Papers

Hi and Happy Saturday! The moment I opened my April kit from Simon Says Stamp, I was in love! This kit was definitely my favorite so far! I mean, who doesn't love rainbow colors and cute cuddly wild animals?!?! Here is a quick peek at the kit contents:

Doesn't it just look like a bucket full of fun??? The kit sold out VERY quickly, but you can always order the items individually.  That's one thing that I really appreciate about SSS kits.   

It took me a few days to crank out these cards (its Spring Break so the kiddos are all home!), but I had such a great time! Plus, since the kiddos were home, they got to help! I will list all of the additional products used at the end of this post.  Let's get to it!

The little penguin in the stamp set was a sure fire place to start for me.  And what can be better than penguin lovebirds!? I fussy cut the eyes on a third image and pasted them on to my boy penguin so that they could be looking at one another...then of course my girl needed some eyelashes!

This was the trickiest card of the bunch.  I stamped the images on the inside of my card base and then die cut the circles on the outer cover after attaching the plaid panel.  To get the alignment just right, I used a transparency and traced the circles so that I could line it up before running through the big shot.  Here's a look at the inside of the card.

This little guy is the only one on a wobble! I meant to use more wobbles but really, I just forgot!

I found that these patterned papers go perfectly with distress inked backgrounds! This card is made using up some leftovers from all of the papers I'd cut into.  Waste not want not! Lol...  

This one was a total experiment.  I wanted to see how the critters would look if embossed with clear EP and then water colored.  I'm not crazy about the result, but couldn't bear to throw him away!

These penguins really crack me up!  I did the same thing with the eyes on this one...each ones eyes are slightly different, but the look on the one in front is hysterical! :D

I tried to think of different ways to use the tags in the kit, so this one got another Distress Ink application, but with the smooshing and water spritzing technique! Love how this tag turned out.  And, this little elephant is just the sweetest thing ever! He reminds me of Dumbo...one of my Disney favorites to this day! Here's a closer look...

Another great use for scraps! Make balloons! The sentiment comes from a previous SSS card kit - September 2016, I believe. 

Rather than Distress Inks, this tag was blended using the inks that came in the kit. They blend so nicely! The background is also stamped with the inks from the kit.

Last, but not least, I had to try some no line coloring with pencils on this kraft tag.  I found that the pencils don't blend as smoothly on this kraft as they do on Nina's kraft cardstock, but its still a nice effect, don't ya think? I love the feel of the soft colors, and who doesn't love a blue-eyed baby elephant!?

Thank you so very much for stopping by today! I hope you were able to find some inspiration! Now, go get your craft on... :D

Hugs,

Additional Supplies: SSS Scallop Stitches, MFT Pierced Heart Stax, SSS Stitched Rectangles, SSS Stitched Circles, MFT Concentric Circle Grid stencil, SSS Ring Frame, SSS Tiny Dots and Hearts background stamp, MFT Abstract Art stamp set, SSS It's No Secret stamp set, Lawn Fawn Put A Bow On It, Lawn Fawn Stitched Slopes, Hero Arts Birthday background stamp, Distress Inks, SSS Clear Ink, enamel dots, glossy accents, white embossing powder, Copic Markers, Prismacolor pencils, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, twine, ribbon, and some card bases in Fog Gray and Nina Desert Storm

**I will be entering some cards featured in this post to the Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenges**