Inspiration Week: Introducing Polar Playmates & Playful Polar Bears

Hello there!  Welcome to Day four of our Winter Release Sneak Peeks!  We're only a couple more days from getting to ship these fun sets out to you!  Are you getting excited?  Today I have several happy sets for Winter that mix and match with each other beautifully! 

Card No. 1:  Up first I have a a fun red, white and blue card using our Playful Polar Bears.  For my background I started by stamping it with our Snow Flurries mini stamps using white pigment ink (without any embossing powder).  When it was dry, I inked on Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot distress inks.  When that layer was dry, I then stamped the new Frosty Flurries and heat embossed them with white embossing powder.  As a final detail I used out new mini complimentary snowflake die that will be coming in all orders that ship out on Friday (including pre-orders)--More details coming on Friday.  ;)

The dies for these stamps are cool because they cut out the hands of the standing and sitting bears so they can hold the candy cane, mug, present or stocking (or endless other items from our other sets).  I completed my card by cutting a window with a circle die and heat embossing a sentiment from our Bundled Up stamps.

Card No. 2:  For my next card I used the darling walrus and seal from Polar Playmates Stamps, together with the penguin from Bundled Up.  The dies for this set are also unique in that the fishing hole doesn't cut the outside edge like a normal die, but was designed to have you stamp the image directly onto your card panel and then use the coordinating die to cut the inside edge to slip in critters, fish and fishing poles.  :)  

Card No. 3:  For this card I stared by stamping the Snow Flurries stamps on a piece of red cardstock and heat embossed them with white embossing powder.  These affordable background stamps are sized 2.75" wide which is exactly half the width of an A2 card.  The patterns have been created to quickly and easily repeat for perfect placement every time.  I know I created them, but I must say I've really fallen in love!  ;)

For my little scene I borrowed a fish for the stocking from the Polar Playmates set and the ice block from Snow Kissed.  For the sentiment I borrowed the "Merry Christmas" portion for Jolly Gingerbread set which I'll be sharing tomorrow.  I love how easy it is to mix and match the sentiments from our different sets.  

Card No. 4: Up next is a card using the sweet walrus and igloo from Polar Playmates.  I used the coordinating die to make it look like my fish is being pulled up through the ice hole.  I once again borrowed the little Santa hat from the new Jolly Gingerbread set.  

I used an emboss resist technique for my snowy background by first heat embossing the Frosty Flurries stamps and then sponging on the ink.  There's a subtle difference in the look vs. stamping after inking up the background.  It sort of adds a subtle darker shadow around the dots for extra dimension.

I finished off my card with a sentiment from our Bundled Up Stamps and die-cut the end of my pennant using our Fishtail Banner Dies. 

Card No. 5:  This card utilized THESE awesome mirror block stamps together with my MISTI tool to flip one of the polar bears to created a bear couple (Jennifer McGuire shared a great tutorial on this technique HERE).  

I heat embossed my background with the Frosty Flurries stamps, inking only the center behind the bears and fading it to white.  I then added mittens from Bundled Up and a banner from our Sunny Borders set.  Some clear round drops by Studio Katia were the perfect finishing touch.

Card No. 6:  For this sweet card I did an emboss resist technique again with the Snow Flurries set, fading my Lilac ink to white before cutting the edge with our Stitched Scallop border dies.  For my little critters, I borrowed the hats from Jolly Gingerbread, the earmuffs from Bundled Up and the ice blocks from Snow Kissed.

Card No. 7:  I am so excited to share this last card!  I used those same Mirror Block stamps to stamp the reflection of my penguin from Snow Kissed with the bear from Playful Polar Bears using a grey ink.  I then used my Copic markers to color a lighter version of my critters and to add quick strokes, flicking on my icy colors from each side of my card to give the illusion of a reflective icy surface.  To help the ice standout again my sky, I then added a little snowy bank between the layers.  

My background was stamped with white pigment ink on white cardstock and then I inked up the entire background over the top with Tumbled Glass distress ink.  It's a great way to have a subtle print that doesn't compete so much with the rest of the images in your card.  A sentiment from Snow Kissed and an edge cut with our Fishtail Banners was a great finish to my little card.

I hope you've enjoyed today's look at the Playful Polar Bears, Polar Playmates, Frosty Flurries and Snow Flurries stamps.  Here's a full look at the new sets that will start shipping on Friday.  As part of our second birthday festivities this week, you can reserve yours today in our store HERE.  Plus use the promo code CELEBRATE to save 15%!

Please note:  The coffee mug die in this set was originally designed backwards by accident, but all dies have been repackaged to include a second mini cup die flipped the correct way.

     

      

     

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Bundled Up Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Bundled Up Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fishtail Banner Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Angels Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Angels Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Snow Kissed Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snow Kissed Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Scallop Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio