Inspiration Week: Introducing Happy Owl-o-ween Stamps & Dies

We're only one day away from our big release day tomorrow and I don't know about you, but I'm getting super excited!  Today I'm sharing something really fun for Fall called Happy Owl-o-ween.  As you will see as you scroll through my card examples though, it's fun for so much more than Halloween.  ;)

First up is a fun trick-or-treat scene using three of the six costumes for our newest little owl. I created a sidewalk of sorts for them to perch on using some ribbon with a saddle-stitched edge. I then added some white dots to form my starry night's sky using my white Sharpie paint pen over my distress inked background.

Up next is an owl dressed up as a witch, paired together with the broom and bats from our Halloween Cuties set from last year.  After my inked-up background had completely dried, I heat embossed my sentiment with white embossing powder and my star background using Ranger's Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

For my next card I created a bright pumpkin scene, pulling pumpkins from both our Halloween Cuties and Harvest Happiness sets.  The white clouds in my background were created by die-cutting the clouds from Sunny Sentiments and Rain or Shine from masking material and then inking over the top of them using Tumbled Glass distress ink.  I then created the grass using a die from that same Sunny Sentiments set.  My last touch was a sentiment from Halloween Cuties heat embossed on a strip of paper that had been cut with our fishtail banner dies.

Up next is a card combining the horse & howdy sentiment from the new Barnyard Buddies, the banner from Birthday Smiles, the tree stump from Woodsy Creatures and the alphabet using Sweet Script.  

I colored all my images using Copic Markers, heat embossed the letters to spell out "partner" using white embossing powder and then added them to my card that was sponged with Colorbox Sky dye ink and Vintage Photo distress ink.  I added some jute twine to my banner with a glue pen as a final rustic touch.

For this card I thought it would be fun to use the owl without any costumes and pair him (or her) with the owl from our Woo Hoo set and the tree branch from A Bird's Life.  I sponged on some Twisted Citron distress ink along the top and bottom before stamping the stamp tree branch off the edge using more of the distress ink.  For my sentiment I curved it on my MISTI tool to match the curve of my circular window.

My next card was shared on Monday when I was sharing peeks of our new Barnyard Buddies stamps which you can read about HERE.  I love how many of these owls can work together with other sets.  I think the pirate costume would look super cute with some of the companion images from our Pirate Pals set. I have so many ideas, but unfortunately I just ran out of time...

For my last card of the day I couldn't resist creating a fun card focusing on the fun bumblebee costume from the set.  I paired my little guy with a sentiment from our Backyard Bugs stamps and a tree branch from our Woo Hoo stamps.

The star border on this card was cut from black cardstock (and backed with yellow cardstock that had been inked along the edge with distress ink) using a free mini star trio die that will automatically ship with each order placed on our website starting on July 21st (while supplies last).

Here's a full look at the new Happy Owl-o-ween stamps and coordinating dies available for purchase on Friday morning.

    

And a little graphic to show all the possible costume combinations...  

Many of the hats were designed to also fit the penguin from Bundled Up, the chick from A Good Egg, and the owl from Woo Hoo.  

I hope you've enjoyed today's sneak peek.  Would you like to win a $25 gift code to our online store to spend on some of the new sets?  Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win.  We will be giving away a new gift code each day for a total of five chances to win!  The contest closes on July 22nd at Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, July 23rd.  :)

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Don't forget to check back tomorrow when I will be sharing two last stamp & die sets for fall. ;)

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used Today:
                                  

Inspiration Week: Introducing Pet Sympathy Stamps & Dies

Hello there!  We're halfway through our sneak peeks for our new release for Fall coming out on Friday. 

Today I am popping in to share a new set for a very specific occasion called Pet Sympathy.  We all love our animals like part of the family and sometimes traditional sympathy cards and stamps don't quite fit the occasion when someone we love loses their beloved fur baby...

Up first is a puppy dog angel card.  The stamp set comes with separate pair of wings and halo to expand the versatility of the set and allow you to use the animals for non-sympathy related projects.  I started by inking the center of my card panel with Tumbled glass distress ink and then layered a cloud from our Sunny Sentiments set.  I colored my pup with Copic Markers and then added some glossy accents to the heart in his mouth for a touch of shine.  I then stamped a random heart pattern with the two solid hearts from the set on my card base and repeated the red color for part of my sentiment.

For my next card I created the kitty version of my first card.  I love that I was able to color my kitty to match my own favorite kitty growing up.  There are really so many ways you could color him.  

I created my cloud background by first creating a stamped scallop edge with our Sunny Borders stamps and then layering it with clouds from our Rain or Shine and Sunny Sentiments stamp sets.  For my background I lightly inked on some worn lipstick distress ink and stamped my sentiment in a soft grey.  It still felt a bit plain so I went back and added some random tiny pink hearts and it's just what it needed.

Up next is a card using an interchangeable sentiment that can be used for either cats or dogs depending on how you stamp it.  The set also comes with a toy mouse and a ball of yarn so by substituting the accessories this card design could work for either a dog or a cat.

My next card uses a similar design with the paw prints.  This time I used our Traditional Tag Topper dies to frame my sweet dog in the dog bed with some of my favorite sentiments from the set.

To put my dog inside the bed, I stamped and colored a second dog bed to layer over the top, cutting off a portion of the bed for the top layer.  The dies that come with this set also cut out that interior line, making it super easy to slip your dog or cat inside the bed.

Up next I created a non-sympathy card by pairing the images from the set with a sentiment from our older Furever Friends stamps.

I have another everyday themed card, this time pairing the kitty from our Furever Friends set with the cat bed from the new stamps.  It's so fun to finally have some accessories to go with the kitties from that set!  For my background, created my own patterned paper by repeating the phase "I heart cats" using some of the extra words from the Pet Sympathy set.  I love the red, black and white color scheme, don't you? 

Here's a full look at the new Pet Sympathy stamps and coordinating dies available for purchase on Friday morning.

     

I hope you've enjoyed today's sneak peek.  Would you like to win a $25 gift code to our online store to spend on some of the new sets?  Use the rafflecopter below to enter to win.  We will be giving away a new gift code each day for a total of five chances to win!  Contest closes on July 22nd at Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, July 23rd.  :)

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Make sure to check back tomorrow when I will be sharing a super fun set for fall and beyond that I'm hoping you'll fall in love with as much as I have. ;)

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used Today:

              

Inspiration Week: Introducing Quilted Hexagons & Cute As A Button

Hi there!  Thank you for joining me for our second day of sneak peeks as we count down to our fall release coming out on Friday.  :)

Today I have two fun new sets to share that play nicely together called Quilted Hexagons and Cute As A Button.  A while back a sweet customer emailed me asking me to create a quilt-themed set and it sparked something in me so I totally ran with it.  ;)

First up, I have a card using both sets with a happy rainbow color scheme, along with our previously released Color Me Happy Stamps and Color Word die.  The Quilted Hexagons come with a row of stitched hexagons and a second row of hexagons that allow you to build on the first row.  You can then fill in the spaces with the different patterned hexagons in all your favorite colors and patterns.  

I love that the backgrounds don't have to be perfect to still be beautiful.  For both my first card and my next card, I stamped all of these freehand with no stamp positioning tool.  The patterns are busy enough that no one is going to notice if you don't have them stamped perfectly centered and it adds to the homespun feel.  :)

For my second card I incorporated a row of buttons using the Cute As A Button stamps which come with 7 sentiments that play on the word "sew", along with two layering buttons, a layered needle and a stitched heart.  I have to say my heart skipped a beat the first time I saw the buttons layered together--They truly look 3-D without any of the bulk, making them perfect for putting through the mail!

For my third card, I was inspired by THIS quilt.  I found for this particular card it was easiest to line things up by using my MISTI (using the instructions outlined below) and the coordinating dies for this set.  This pattern utilizes a stamp that has three of the six sections of the hexagon and then you turn your paper a half turn and stamp again with a lighter color. The image has a fine outline in the center to help you line up your second layer.  

I found once I got them lined up in my MISTI, I was able to stamp out all my colors rather quickly. I then was able to add the die-cut hexagons to my card with a glue pen in a fun, random pattern.  I just drew some light vertical pencil lines to help me keep my rows straight which I was able to erase after my background was assembled.

For my sentiment, I heat embossed my words with black glitter embossing powder on vellum, pairing them with the Sew Word die cut from black cardstock.  To hide my adhesive, I added a simple scalloped edge and sewed around the border to tack down the open side.

My next card uses the stamps in a more modern, free-form look.  To creat this card I started by stamping my sentiment in the bottom, right portion of my card and then stamped the larger hexagons, working out towards the far corners.  When I was done, I went back with the smaller hexagon from the set to fill in some of the spaces.  I finished off my card with some pearlescent sequins and clear jewels for a bit of sparkle.

My next card uses more of the buttons to create a layered border that honestly would be quite bulky and difficult to achieve with regular buttons.  For the bottom half of my card, I blended on Worn Lipstick, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers distress ink, before going back over in the same colors and stamping a stitched border using the trail from our Backyard Bugs stamps.

For this card I created an overall pattern using the stamped and die-cut buttons.  It looks pretty cool here, but I honestly think it looks even better in person.  It begs to be pet with the optical illusion created.  I had one friend who kept feeling it, certain they were more dimensional than they really are.  ;)  

When stamping my buttons (and the hexagons on my third card) I found it easiest to first die-cut them from cardstock and then to create a template to slip them into so I could stamp them assembly line style using a stamp positioning tool like the Mini MISTI.  I then stamped the darkest layer first, going color by color and then followed with all my lighter colors.   Because circles are round, they obviously can rotate around in the template, but I found if I just did my best to line them up perpendicular that they generally lined up pretty well.

For the Quilted Hexagon set, you really are only limited by your imagination.  For these patterns, they both started with a simple stitched background and were built into the two patterns shown here using the diamond and triangle stitched inserts.

To help get your creative juices flowing, I have pinned some patterns and ideas of real hexagon quilts HERE.

Here's a full look at the new 4x6 Quilted Hexagon and 3x4 Cute As A Button clear stamps and coordinating dies available for purchase on Friday morning.  I made sure to also add the word "So" the regular way to expand the versatility of the set for everyday use.  :)

     

        

I frequently am asked what ink colors I've used.  While I have used a variety of brands in my samples, there's a good chance you can achieve similar results with inks you probably already have in you stash.  I highly recommend stamping your inks out and creating a swatch book to aid you in choosing two inks that compliment each other.  These are the ones I happened to use here today from lightest to darkest:

Hot Pink
Colorbox Candy
Colorbox Pinkolicious
Colorbox Very Berry

Ranger Pink Gumball
Colorbox Guava

Red
Colorbox Strawberry
Colorbox Cranberry

Orange
Simon Says Stamp Orange Slush
Colorbox Tangerine
My Favorite Things Orange Zest

Yellow
Colorbox Lemonade
Colorbox Banana
Simon Says Stamp Orange Slush

Green
Colorbox Kiwi
Colorbox Tree Frog

Aqua
Colorbox Seaglass
Colorbox Ocean

Pale Blue
Colorbox Sky
Simon Says Stamp Blue Jay

Medium Blue 
Colorbox Poolside
Colorbox Wave

Royal Blue
Colorbox Moody Blue
Colorbox Atlantic Blue

Purple
Colorbox Grape Slushy
Colorbox Grape
Colorbox Imperial

I hope you've enjoyed today's sneak peek.  Would you like to win a $25 gift code to our online store to spend on some of the new sets?  Use the rafflecopter below to enter to win.  We will be giving away a new gift code each day for a total of five chances to win!  Contest closes on July 22nd at Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, July 23rd.  :)

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Make sure to check back tomorrow when I will be sharing another fun new stamp & die set. :)

Other Supplies Used Today:

Backyard Bugs Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio

Colorbox Archival Dye Ink- Very Berry Shop at: Sunny Studio

Colorbox Archival Dye Ink- Grape Slushy Shop at: Sunny Studio