Hello, Sunshine

Morning, folks :)

It's almost the 15th again and we know what that means... an all new Papertrey Ink release for your viewing pleasure.  The design team is bringing you a special group post featuring my new favorite stamp set, Hello Sunshine.

In other words, hello to my new favorite set...

Some people love dogs... some people love peanut butter... some people love football... I love sunshine. I'll take good ol' vitamin D over darned near anything else 9 days out of 10.

And so I claim Hello, Sunshine as the new essential in my stamping medicine cabinet. It's that good.

I'd say I consider this on a basic :)

Honestly.

This first one pretty much sums up my favorite type of card...
happy... feel good... sunshiney... simple.

Nichole's challenge to us today was to come up with two cards using one inspiration...

When I look at this picture, then close my eyes and think back to it, I come up with two main thoughts...
color (yellow and blues with a sort of instagram-y feel) and concentric circles.

I focused the first part of my inspiration on color while using the new Sunrise Impression Plate...

To get this one going I got friendly with my spray mists.  I have a few Tattered Angels mists that I use again and again... this  shimmery yellow and shimmery aqua get a lot of play time. 

I started with a panel of white cardstock and used the yellow where I pictured the sun ending up.  I tend to spray liberally, then dry it with a heat gun, then spray again... sometimes starting with the new color, sometimes going back to the original color and giving it a second coat.  I let the blue and yellow mingle at their meeting point to create that green.  When I like the color, I hit it with the heat gun really well one last time.

I like to run my colored panels through with any impression plates after spraying them... doing the impression second keeps it looking crisp.

A little clear cardstock overlay gave me a place for a sentiment.  Overlays are a great solution for cards without a great place for a sentiment.  In this case, I didn't want to stamp the sentiment on top of the texture from the impression plate.  The overlay lets me put the sentiment where I want but still lets the texture stand out. 

You do have to use a permanent ink on clear cardstock (StazOn Opaque in Cotton White, in this case).  {Keep your eyes peeled because you may be seeing a special little video from me concerning stamping on clear cardstock overlays soon, hint, hint.}

I added the rhinestones for another layer of shine and sparkle :)


Moving on to inspiration project #2...

here I focused on pairing up the concentric circles idea with the Hello Sunshine stamp set. 

The little sunshine rays and sun from this set can make for such striking cards.  I knew I wanted to go in a clean, simple, and graphic direction with this one so I just used one of the various ray stamps as the base of my sunny sun. 

I used the the coordinating ray die to cut 5 rays each from Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, and Summer Sunrise.  That goes pretty quick since the ray die actually cuts 2 rays at a time.  I lined all the die cuts up together in a circle on my cutting mat and then went to town with my old school cutting system (from Creative Memories)... cutting a larger and smaller circle from the center. 

The key after that is just laying them out on the card so that the Raspberry Fizz layer is first, then Orange Zest, then Summer Sunrise. 

Stamping and clear embossing the sentiments and the sun adds some extra interest to such a simple, graphic card... just gives it a little extra umph, right?

And there you have it... two of exactly the kind of card that I love giving.
As Phil from Duck Dynasty would say, "Happy, happy, happy."
{Yes, that show is a favorite in our house :) }

For more of what I'm sure will be happy, happy, happy cards, be sure to check out the rest of the team...

Nichole Heady

Betsy Veldman

Erin Lincoln

Maile Belles

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Melissa Phillilps

Michelle Wooderson

Danielle Flanders

And a happy, happy, happy Wednesday to you, friends :)

{Sunshine to my Soul} card

Supplies not available now but available 6/15: 

Stamps - Hello, Sunshine
Impression Plate - Sunrise
Supplies available now:

 Supplies available now but not listed in Inlinkz: Spray mists (Tattered Angels)

{Live in the Sunshine} card

Supplies not available now but available 6/15: 

Stamps - Hello, Sunshine
Impression Plate - Sunrise
Die - Hello, Sunshine Collection
Supplies available now: