Glimpse of Spring

Today is my last day as  guest designer for Sharon’s Stamp Simply Challenge at No Time to Stamp.   I have enjoyed myself immensely.  Thanks, Sharon and your wonderful design team for the opportunity to join in the fun.

Stamp  Simply challenge #76 is to provide a remedy for  Cabin Fever.  We need to see some spring.   I don’t know what it is like where you are but the ground is still well and truly snow covered where I am!  The temperature today did rise above zero  today, though,  so some would say spring must be on it’s way.

This is one of those cards I designed in my head and then when I came to try it out it actually worked out!  Sometimes I can see a design clearly in my head and no matter what I do I cannot make it happen on cardstock.   To make the spring scene I first cut an oval out of cardstock with my Creative memory cutters.  I used the piece with the oval missing to make a mask, laying it on my white cardstock and stamping, then sponging  everything except the sentiment without moving the mask.

I used the blossom stamp from Garden Silhouettes which is a favourite set of mine.  Using the Rose Red, Regal Rose, Bravo Burgandy  and Always Artichoke markers I coloured directly onto the stamp.  The flowers were done with Regal Rose, but I added a centre dots with Bravo Burgandy and a few highlights on the edges with Rose Red.  The leaves and stems were all Artichoke.  It sounds fiddly but it onlytook me about 10 minutes to colour and stamp, this is the Stamp Simply challenge after all.   I sponged Pretty in Pink and Mellow Moss around the oval edges. After removing the mask I used  my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place my sentiment exactly where I wanted it.
(Just for the record, I did try to add ribbon, on the white, on the green, in bows or knots or just flat,  but I couldn’t make it  improve the composition at all!)

Don’t forget to check out the design team’s spring inspirations:
Dee, Tammy, Janine, AJ, Jennifer,  Julie and Sharon

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Best Yet
Inks: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Bravo Burgandy and Always Artichoke Markers,  Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Whisper White
Also: Creative Memories oval cutters

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