SIMPLICITY at its best - Right as Rain

Penny Black Simplicity – Summer Blooms

Hello! Today, I’m sharing a CAS floral card created with Penny Black stamps and dies. I’m trying to squeeze in a few more summer-themed cards before moving into the fall and winter holidays!

I stamped and heat-embossed 40-468 Flowerets and colored the flowers with Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Carved Pumpkin). I then fussy cut the flowers. I die cut 51-242 Shall We Dance twice from green cardstock and attached the fussy-cut flowers to the stems (covering the flower portion of the die cut). I arranged the flowers and stems on a background to which I’d applied Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink.

The sentiment from 30-338 Special Thoughts was stamped onto a window panel. To embellish the card, I added a butterfly cut with one of the dies in the 51-132 Flights of Fancy set.

Penny Black Simplicity: A Sweet Wish

Hello! Today I’m sharing a card showcasing the Penny Black 30-344 Sunny Wishes stamp set. I created a “sister” version of this card (similar design but different technique) for the Penny Black Simplicity site. I hope you’ll head over and take a look.

I heat-embossed the floral image with white embossing powder twice (rotating it) and applied Distress Inks in yellow, coral and pink.

I cut the panel and attached it to a background which was dry-embossed with a woodgrain embossing folder. The sentiment from 30-358 Happy Snippets was heat-embossed on black cardstock.

Penny Black Bejeweled – 3 Ways

I recently took a few days to play with the Penny Black #40-452 Bejeweled cling stamp. I placed it on my MISTI and stamped with different mediums on several different surfaces. I don’t often have a couple of days just to play and explore, and it’s not easy for me to do so when I’m not sure what I’ll end up with!

I’m sharing several of the cards I created with the stamp. I have another half dozen stamped images on my worktable. At the end of the post, I’ve listed three links with inspiration and tips for stamping “brushstroke” stamps.

First up, I inked the Bejeweled stamp with Distress Ink pads and Distress Markers and stamped onto 110# Neenah cardstock.

The bloom was colored with Abandoned Coral, and the leaves/stems with Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint. I didn’t mist the image at all, but I did color the stems selectively with the darker ink (Peeled Paint Distress Marker) for some variation. I finished the card panel by flicking Tumbled Glass ink and then Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine Spray. After stamping the #30-344 Sunny Wishes sentiment, I cut a narrow strip of woodgrain cardstock and adhered to the left-hand side.

Next up, I colored the flowers with Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire inks, the leaves/stems with Crushed Olive and Mowed Lawn, misted and stamped onto Master’s Touch watercolor paper. While the inks were still wet, I brushed the ink to fill out the image.

Once dry, I added splatters and stamped a sentiment from #30-345 Soar.

Finally, I inked the stamp with Distress Paints in Seedless Preserves and Chipped Sapphire (blooms) and Peeled Paint (leaves/stems) and stamped onto Strathmore watercolor paper.

After I stamped, I sponged Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy on the panel, I stamped randomly with #40-442 Butterfly Charmer (you can see a hint in the upper left corner), added drops of the Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine Spray and put a little Picket Fence Distress Paint on the right corner. The Strathmore paper can take the applications of lots of product!

I heat-embossed a sentiment from #30-346 Perfect Pairing onto a panel, cut the floral image with a square die cut and added it to the card. This isn’t a “simple” card by any means, but I still consider the card design to be CAS.

For more inspiration for stamping with this stamp (and similar brushstroke stamps) from Penny Black:

A Trio with Therese – Therese used the Bejeweled stamp with a variety of sentiments.

Jill Foster’s Inchie Arts and Distress Paints – Jill’s cards were the inspiration for my third card with the Distress Paint.

Penny Black Simplicity: You Brighten My Day

Today, I’m sharing a CAS floral card created with Penny Black stamps and dies.

Taking my color cue from the sentiment, (included in the 30-338 Special Thoughts set), I stamped the Penny Black 40-460 Sunbursts with several bright colors of dye ink on 110# Neenah white cardstock, staggering the image for visual interest. (I tried pigment ink as well, but preferred the saturated and bold look I got with the dye ink.) I embellished the card with butterflies cut with one of the dies in the 51-132 Flights of Fancy set.

CAS(E) this Sketch #177

I’m playing along with CAS(E) this Sketch! #177 with Penny Black stamps and dies.

Here’s my take on the fabulous sketch:

To begin, I cut the flowers and flourishes with the 51-207 Layered Flower and 51-198 Flourish & Butterflies sets from cardstock which I’d colored with Distress Inks.

I stamped the sentiment from 30-297 Sprinkles and Smiles onto a white cardstock panel. I stamped 40-314 Fronds (a background stamp with a tropical feel) with white pigment ink onto turquoise cardstock for the accent strip on the left. The flowers and flourishes were added with foam adhesive.