Getting To Know the New Team: Introducing Melissa

Hello! My name is Melissa and I grew up in a small town on the South Island of New Zealand called Akaroa. After meeting my now husband Tyler I decided to pack up with my dog Jay and move to California. I have been living in beautiful San Diego since early 2015.  I've studied and worked in Interior Design, so I have always enjoyed being creative.  

I started making cards after discovering one of Kristina Werner’s YouTube videos in late 2014 and have been hooked ever since. I love making fun designs that make people happy. Aside from crafting I enjoy hanging out with my family and friends, taking my dog Jay on walks, calligraphy, cooking and traveling.

You can find me at the following links...

My Blog: http://melissabowden.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mellissabowden2/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/131821440@N07/


Aren't Melissa's cards amazing?  She has such a knack for creating darling scenes in her cards and a great eye for color.  It's hard to believe she only started making cards less than a year ago and I can't wait to see what she creates next!

Introducing the New Sunny Studio Creative Team! :)

Hello there!  I am so excited to finally share with you our new creative team!!!

 
You caught a little glimpse of these talented ladies work during our blog hop earlier this month and I am ecstatic that they have agreed to provide you all with some amazing inspiration on a weekly basis!  :)

You can find out more about these sweet ladies at their blog links below.  We will be spending the next week getting to know them better before diving into all of their lovely creations using the new Sunny Studio stamps and dies. 

• Audrey Tokach
• Elise Constable 
• Marion Vagg
• Heidi Criswell
• Melissa Bowden
• & me (Mendi Yoshikawa)

I just know you are going to fall in love with them as much as I have!  ;)

Harvest Happiness: Happy Thanksgiving Turkey Card

Hi there!  Today I have one last share using the Harvest Happiness stamp set.  For my card I turned to a CardMaps sketch by the wonderful Becky Fleck over at PageMaps as my jumping off point.

I created my background by inking up a piece of white cardstock with Peeled Paint distress ink and my favorite Jumbo Sponge Dauber.  When I was done, I felt it wasn't blended quite as smoothly as I would have liked so I helped it along by lightly misting it with my mini mister.  When it was dry I stamped the two little leaves from the set over the top to form a subtle tone-on-tone pattern in my background.

The orange dot paper was created as a solution to a problem, but I love the unexpected detail it added.  I had a little goober under one of the dots and I hid it by pulling out the tiny sprinkle stamp from the Birthday Smiles set and stamping a tri-dot pattern with my Spiced Marmalade distress ink.  I love happy accidents like that!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow to introduce you to the new design team.  I'm really excited by the sweet group of girls that have agreed to go on this new journey with me.  :)

Bundled Up Dies Are Back In Stock

Hi there!  For those of you who have been waiting for the Bundled Up dies, they are officially back in stock in our shop!  

We now are also shipping all orders over $39 for free within the USA.  For small orders to international destinations I have also been refunding portions of the shipping and handling based on the weight of the package. ;)

Happy shopping.  :) 

Harvest Happiness: Pilgrim & Indian Thanksgiving Owl Card

Hello!  Today's card uses two of my favorite images in the Harvest Happiness stamp set:  The Pilgrim and Indian Owls.  :)

After coloring them in with my Copics I was searching for just the right color scheme for my card and blue seemed like the perfect compliment to the orange legs and beaks.  I inked up my circle diecut using Stormy Sky Distress ink and then contrasted it with Fossilized Amber & Wild Honey for the sentiment.

To complete my card and add a bit of interest, I stamped faint stars in the background of the circle and again on the kraft cardstock, sprinkling on some Doodlebug sequins in between.

That wraps up today's card.  I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday!  ;)

Harvest Happiness: I Love You More Than Pie Card

Hi there!  For Today's card using the Harvest Happiness stamp set I thought I would focus on the food images, adding little happy faces to the slice of pie and drumsticks.  I love this time of year when the pumpkin pies start to roll in at Costco!  It's definitely near the top of my favorite desserts.

To get all my images to fit on the circles without looking overly cramped I chose to go with a slightly oversized notecard sized at 4.5" x 6".

I like the warm rustic feel of the kraft cardstock and twine paired with crisp pops of white, don't you?  I'll have to remind myself to try that more often.  ;)

Birthday Smiles Kraft vs. White Ice Cream Cone Birthday Cards

How was your weekend?  They always go by way too fast, don't they?  Today I'm wrapping up the Birthday Smiles stamp set with a fun little crafty experiment.  I wanted to play with the ice cream cone image for a card that would be super easy to mail and I couldn't decide if I preferred kraft or white cardstock for my background so I decided to try both!  :)

For the kraft card I stamped the ice cream images with Hero Arts Latte Chalk Ink and lightly shaded the image with E42 Copic Sketch marker.

For my card in white I stamped the cones in the background using Hero Arts Soft Sand shadow ink which I traced with an E41 Copic Sketch marker.  I then colored in the pink portion on the ice cream and hearts with a RV52 Copic marker which was blurred a bit with the colorless blender pen.

For both of the focal point ice cream cones I stamped them onto Neenah Solar White cardstock using Hero Arts Passion Flower ink (which is actually a pale pink despite what the case shows) and Bubblegum shadow inks for the ice cream and Hero Arts Soft Sand and Latte Ink for the cone.

To give my ice cream a bit of a shaded look, I used the solid ice cream image which I added a bit of bubblegum ink to the bottom and one side before stamping it again over the top of the first stamped image in Passion Flower.  I finished them off with a bit of glossy accents added to the hearts on top.

So which version is your favorite?  My personal favorite is the kraft, but my family prefers the white.  I would love to hear what you think.  ;)