Sneak Peek: Paris Afternoon, Charming City & Critters on the Go Stamps

Hello and welcome to day 3 of our 2022 Sneak Peek Week!  Each morning this week I will be showcasing cards using our newest Spring collection which will be available to purchase on January 7th.

Today I am sharing three sets that can work on their own, but I found they complimented each other so well and worked together perfectly that I found myself mixing and matching them on almost all my card examples today. There is a French themed set called Paris Afternoon, a set of eclectic city buildings called Charming City that I think could pass for a number of European and larger American cities depending on how they are colored and then finally a set called Critters on the Go that comes with a variety of animals riding scooters and skateboards which can also ride the bicycle and sit in the cafe chairs from the Paris Afternoon set. Let's get started!

Card No. 1: My first card features the Paris Afternoon Stamps and Charming City Stamps in a fun evening scene on a larger 5x7 card. I colored my images using Warm Grey Copic Markers and lighting up the windows with yellow inks. For my night's sky I colored it using the new Prize Ribbon Distress Ink together with Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot around the outside edges before spritzing on some Picket Fence distress spray. For my string of lights I turned to our Scenic Route Stamps and used the dog and scooter from our City Streets Stamps. Lastly I inked up one of our Small Stitched Circle Dies with Squeezed Lemonade and Mustard Distress ink to sort of feel like a moon in my scene while also giving me a good place to stamp my "bonjour" greeting from the Paris Afternoon set. I love all the little images available to place on the cafe table from this set and how cute everything looks colored with a yellow moonlit glow!

Card No. 2: When I think of Paris I think of pink striped hat boxes, posh boutiques & the wide avenue of Champs-Élysées so I tried my best to capture a little bit of that magic with a simple card featuring all three new stamps sets. I started by inking up a piece of white cardstock using Spun Sugar distress ink and then stamped my row of shops using both the border and individual buildings from our new Charming City Stamps in a pink ink. I then crudely covered the top of the roofs with some post-it notes and stamped the Arc de Triomphe in my background. I think this arch is generic enough though that you could use it also as the Washington Square Park Arch in New York City. Aside from a couple small sentiments I purposely tried to make this stamp set a bit more ambiguous to stretch it's usefulness to work for other locations. I finished my background with some clouds from our Spring Showers Stamps. I love how stamping things in a tone-one-tone color adds some detail to my scene without stealing too much focus from my focal point images. It's also a great way to greatly speed up the cardmaking process without looking like you cut corners.

When I was done I trimmed off the bottom edge of my panel and added the stitching detail using our Slimline Basic Border dies with a small strip of pink striped patterned paper from our Striped Silly Paper pack peeking out from below. For my foreground, I stamped and colored the scooter from the Critters on the Go set and the poodle and two lamp posts from the Paris Afternoon set. Finally the "Merci" sentiment was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black Ink and I added a little pink heart next to it, both from Paris Afternoon set.

Card No. 3: For my next card I recreated the look of a street cafe pairing the cafe table and chairs from Paris Afternoon with the park background from our Spring Scenes Stamps and the bunny, raccoon and dog from the new Critters on the Go Stamps. I just love the way they can sit at the table and enjoy their cups of coffee! For my greeting I heat embossed a sentiment from our City Streets Stamps onto a little banner strip from our Slimline Pennants Dies.

Card No. 4: I went a bit artsy for this card showcasing the latte and macarons from our Paris Afternoon Stamps. For my background I started by inking small circles of distress ink using the Bitty Bunny Blending Brushes, allowing the colors to overlap each other and then using that same distress ink color to stamp one of the macarons in the center. I then essentially trimmed off the edges of my panel using our Stitched Rectangle dies and mounted it onto a piece of brown cardstock to coordinate with the brown from my latte. To frame my focal point images I used our Scalloped Circle Mat 1 dies and stamped a punny greeting from our Breakfast Puns Stamps using VersaFine Clair Pinecone Ink.

Card No. 5: For this Charming City card I wanted to create a bright and happy neighborhood whether it be a street in Manhattan or Copenhagen. I utilized the Spring Sunburst Paper for the background of this uniquely sized 4x6 sized card, stamping it with a greeting from our Happy Home Stamps. Lastly I added some cars and a scooter to my bustling street using images from our City Street Stamps.

Card No. 6: Up next is a card showcasing Paris in the spring time, coloring my little trees from the Charming City Stamps to look like blooming Cherry Blossom Trees. I paired them with the boutique and cafe from the same set. I heat embossed the Eiffel Tower from the set using Hero Arts Brass embossing powder and layered some clouds around it using the small dies from our Comic Strip Everyday Dies. For the bottom portion of my card I layered our Scalloped Fence Dies and added the bunny from Critters on the Go with the bicycle from Paris Afternoon. A small and simple "bonjour" greeting from the Charming City set completed my card.

Card No. 7: For my last card of the day I wanted to create a bright and happy card that focused 100% on the Critters on the Go Stamps and all the fun critters with their different modes of transportation on wheels. For each of the monochromatic scenes on my slimline style card, I inked up an ombre panel using Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers or Picked Raspberry distress inks which I then cut out using our smallest Stitched Rectangle dies. For my clouds in the background I used or Plane Awesome Stamps and then stamped the little whirling wind in the same colors using the images from the Critters on the Go set. For my greetings I cut two speech bubbles using our Comic Strip Speech Bubbles dies and then stamped them with greetings from Critters on the Go and Savanna Safari. I had some leftover space at the bottom of my 4" x 9" slimline card base so I filled it with some Rainbow Bright Paper topped with small scalloped border cut from our Classic Gingham Paper using our Slimline Basic Border dies.

That wraps up today's sneak peeks. I'm so happy you spent part of your day with me today. I read all your comments and they mean so much!  I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the rafflecopter below. Our daily contests this week run through Saturday, January 8th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 9th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at the our new Paris Afternoon Stamps & Dies, Charming City Stamps & Dies and Critters on the Go Stamps & Dies used today (which will be available to purchase starting on January 7th):

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

City Streets Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	City Streets Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Home Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Fence Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Breakfast Puns Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Comic Strip Everyday Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Sunburst 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Dots & Stripes Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Summer Splash 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Plane Awesome Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Comic Strip Speech Bubble Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Scenic Route Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scenic Route Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Scenes Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Scenes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Spring Showers Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Savanna Safari Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Basic Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Circle Mat 1 Dies Shop at:Sunny Studio
Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Pennant Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Circle Small Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Cherry Blossoms, Lovey Dovey, Out on A Limb & Spring Greenery

Hello and welcome to day 2 of our 2022 Sneak Peek Week!  Each morning this week I will be showcasing cards using our newest Spring collection which will be available to purchase on January 7th.

Today I am sharing ideas using our newest Cherry Blossoms layering stamps, Lovey Dovey Sentiment Stamps, Out on a Limb Dies and Spring Greenery Dies. Hope you love them as much as I do!

Card No. 1: Up first is a card showcasing the Cherry Blossom Stamps. To create my delicate pink flower blossoms I omitted the first stamp layer so that the white background of my white cardstock could show through. To start my card, I inked up a 5.5" x 4.25" white cardstock panel using PinkFresh Studio Summer Shower Ink, die-cutting a stitched rectangle mat from the center using our Stitched Rectangle Dies. I then adhered the outer portion leftover to my cardstock base before layering the scalloped frame from our Frilly Frames Polka-dot Dies with that stitched rectangle mat over the top. I used that same blue ink to stamp my greeting from our new Lovey Dovey Stamps in the bottom, right-hand corner.  For my cherry blossoms tree branch I used our new Out On A Limb dies cut from brown cardstock. I scattered a few of our Mirror Droplets embellishments as my final finishing touch.

Card No. 2: For my next card I used all four pink ink layers from the Cherry Blossoms Stamps resulting in darker pink flowers. Cherry Blossoms often make me think of Paris in Springtime so I combined then with the Eiffel Tower image from our New Paris Afternoon Stamps to be shared later this week. I stamped the tower using VersaMark Ink onto kraft cardstock and then heat embossed it using Hero Arts Brass Embossing Powder.

For my scalloped panel, I mixed and matched our Frilly Frames Polka-dot Dies together with our Frilly Frames Lattice dies also cut from kraft cardstock. I then layered a piece of lighter pink cardstock behind them cut just a hair smaller to hide behind the scalloped edge. I then cut our Scalloped Oval Mat 2 dies from some crisp white cardstock and heat embossed my "merci" thanks greeting using the same versafine ink with Hero Arts Brass embossing powder.  A few white shimmer pearls completed my card.

Card No. 3: Up next is another card showcasing the classic pale pink blossoms for a shaker style card. To create my window for my shaker, I used our Frilly Frames Hexagon dies and then using our Stitched Rectangle dies I cut an opening from the center to form a frame. Before adhering anything, I inked up my back panel with Spun Sugar distress ink and stamped my sentiment from our Lovey Dovey Stamps using Versafine Clair Pinecone Ink and piling a bit of our Cherry Blossom Confetti in the center before adding my acetate backed frame to my card using foam tape. I once again used the Out on a Limb tree branch, but this time I die-cut them from white cardstock and while they were still nested in with the original sheet of cardstock on my cutting mat, I colored them using Copic markers which allowed me to add more detailed shading and some small wood grain details to my bark. By leaving them in their backing, I was able to do this really quickly without worrying about making a mess of things or about the ink getting all over the table and my hands.

Card No. 4: This next card was super quick!  I had already created all my flower blossoms assembly line style which is my favorite way to use layering stamps since setting up the layers just right is always the most time consuming part. The rest of the card I kept really simple to let the Cherry Blossoms Stamps take center stage. I added some contrasting black striped paper from our Sleek Stripes Paper pack, rounding the bottom corners using my We R Memory Keeper Corner Chomper. I then die-cut the word "congrats" using coordinating pink cardstock with a word die that come with our Slimline Scalloped Frame dies. As a last touch in an effort to add a bit more interest, I added dots of Rangers Glossy Accents to each of the flower anthers. I think this will be perfect for a wedding card!

Card No. 5: For my next two cards I decided to use the Cherry Blossoms Stamps in unusual colors to stretch the stamps and probably create what only can be considered fictional flowers. I paired the flowers inked up in lilac tones with leaves cut using our new Spring Greenery Dies. I started by cutting my background panel using our new Quilted Heart Portrait Dies which I backed with a darker shade of violet to show through the heart cutouts. For my greeting I stamped the "you make me happy" phrase from our new Lovey Dovey Stamps onto some of that same lilac cardstock and cut it out using the matching dies. To embellish my card I used the lilac colored pearls from our Iridescent Pearls pack.

Card No. 6: For this card I started by creating the tone-on-tone leaf background to resemble the look of an embossed card using our new Spring Greenery Dies. I stamped my Cherry Blossoms stamps using blue inks (linked below) and paired them with a hello greeting cut from white glittery cardstock using another word die from our Slimline Scalloped Frame dies. As a last touch I added a zig zag trim detail to the bottom of my card using our Ric Rac Border dies.

Card No. 7: For my last card of the day I focused on three of the leaf dies from our new Spring Greenery dies alternating them in bright rainbow colors cut from our Classic Gingham Paper pack. I mounted them on a grey cardstock background which I stamped with a greeting from our Lovey Dovey stamps using VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. I finished off the card with a white scalloped frame cut using our Fancy Frames Rectangle Dies.

I frequently am asked which ink colors I used for my layered images. While I think there are so many great options out there, these are the colors I used today for my stamped images from light to dark:

Flower 1 (card no. 2 & 4)
PinkFresh Ballet Slipper
Hero Arts Soft Pink
Hero Arts Bubblegum
Hero Arts Ultra Pink (or Gina K.Passionate Pink)

Lilac Flower (card no. 5)
PinkFresh Soft Lilac (sponged first layer)
PinkFresh Soft Lilac (stamped second layer)
PinkFresh Candy Violet
PinkFresh Regal Kiss

Blue Flower (card no. 6)

Hero Arts Dusty Blue (sponged first layer)
Hero Arts Cornflower 
PinkFresh Seaside
PinkFresh Blue Jay

Flower Centers / Stamen
Gina K. Key Lime (card no. 1 & 3)
Gina K. Sweet Corn (card no. 2, 4, 5 & 6)

Flower Anthers 
VersaFine Clair Pinecone

Leaves
Gina K. Key Lime
Concord & 9th Parsley

Brown Buds
PinkFresh Doe
Versafine Clair Acorn 

(and sometimes Versafine Clair Pinecone for darker examples)

To help you line up our layered stamps I've created a special layering guide (you can click on the photo below to view it larger).  The guide shows the stamps starting with the lightest ink color, working towards the darkest, but sometimes I find it easier to start backwards when setting up my layers. They both work depending on what your preference is.  The black outline indicates where that layer touches the previously stamped layer. 

That wraps up today's sneak peeks. I'm so happy you spent part of your day with me today. I read all your comments and they mean so much!  I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the rafflecopter below. 

Our daily contests this week run through Saturday, January 8th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 9th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at the our new Cherry Blossoms Stamps & Dies, Lovey Dovey Stamps, Out On A Limb Dies and Spring Greenery Dies used today (which will be available to purchase starting on January 7th):

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ric Rac Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fancy Frames- Rectangles Shop at: Sunny Studio
Frilly Frames Lattice Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Frilly Frames Polka-Dot Shop at: Sunny Studio	Frilly Frames Hexagon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Scalloped Frame Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sleek Stripes Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Oval Mat 1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Paris Afternoon Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Paris Afternoon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Quilted Hearts Portrait Shop at: Sunny Studio	Iridescent Pearls Shop at: Sunny Studio	Mirror Droplets Shop at: Sunny Studio	White Shimmer Pearls Shop at: Sunny Studio
Cherry Blossom Confetti Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Acorn Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brass Embossing Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio