The Stamp Review Crew Brings Beautiful You

Welcome to my very first hop with the talented Stamp Review Crew!  I am so excited that I was asked to become a part of this talented team and look forward to hopping along with them every month. Today we are featuring a stamp set from the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog called Beautiful You!  This is one of my favorite sets and I was excited for it to be the feature of my first hop.

I wanted to make sure to capture all of the images in this set, so I decided on a three card spread, each featuring a different image and coordinating sentiment. I had been dying to try a watercolor and bokeh background and decided that it would pair beautifully with this stamp set. I am pretty excited about the results!  You can see the supplies and instructions on how the background was created at the end of this post.

The sentiment “Wishing You Brighter Days to Come” pairs well with the women holding the umbrella.  Both the image and sentiment were stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink on Shimmery White Cardstock.  The umbrella and dress were colored with Blushing Bride Classic Ink, So Saffron Classic Ink and an Aqua Painter.  She was snipped out with a Paper Snips and adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  I strategically placed the Iridescent Sequin Assortment on the Watercolor + Bokeh Background (see end of post) and adhered them with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

The sentiment “Happy Birthday Gorgeous” pairs well with the Stylish Fashionista.  Both the image and sentiment were stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink on Shimmery White Cardstock.  The umbrella and dress were colored with Blushing Bride Classic Ink, So Saffron Classic Ink and an Aqua Painter.  She was snipped out with a Paper Snips and adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  I strategically placed the Iridescent Sequin Assortment on the Watercolor + Bokeh Background (see end of post) and adhered them with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

The sentiment “Live, Laugh, Love” sentiment pairs well with the dancing queen.  Both the image and sentiment were stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink on Shimmery White Cardstock.  The umbrella and dress were colored with Blushing Bride Classic Ink, So Saffron Classic Ink and an Aqua Painter.  She was snipped out with a Paper Snips and adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  I strategically placed the Iridescent Sequin Assortment on the Watercolor + Bokeh Background (see end of post) and adhered them with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

I think the photo above captures the Bokeh Circles beautifully and really shows off the cards well.  I am already dying to try it in different shades of colors to see what the result may be.

How did I create the Watercolor and Bokeh Background?  The photo above speaks volumes on how and what I used to create the background.

1. Start by using painters tape to adhere Shimmery White Cardstock to some Grid Paper to hold it in place and keep the Shimmery White Cardstock from warping.
2. Use your Large Aqua Painter to add water to the entire piece of Shimmery White Cardstock.  Then grab some Blushing Bride (or your choice of a lighter colored ink) with the Aqua Painter and add it to various spots, using a fair amount of water to ensure the color blends nicely.  Clean your Aqua Painter and then grab your 2nd color (So Saffron for this card) and add to the other areas of your background that still need color.
3. Let the cardstock dry completely. A Heat Tool can be used to speed up the process.
4. Take a scrap piece of Whisper White Thick Cardstock and various sized Circle Punches (I used 1/2″, 3/4″, 1″, and 1 1/4″) and punch holes as shown above.  This will be your mask to add the Bokeh Circles to your background.
5. Grab the Whisper White Craft Ink Pad along with a Piece of Sponge or a Sponge Dauber (a dauber would be ideal, I didn’t have a spare one on hand).
6. Lay your handmade mask over your background and start by adding the white ink to large circles first.  Then add smaller circles that slightly overlap the larger ones.  Make sure to add circles off the edges as well.  This helps to maximize the Bokeh Effect.
7. Let the White Craft Ink dry completely.  It will lighten as it dries.  If you are in hurry, use your Heat Tool to speed up the drying process.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and hopping along with the Stamp Review Crew today!

If you need to move along on the list, please click on the Next Blog button below to view the talented Natalie Lapakko’s creation!

You may have come from the Previous Blog, the talented Cindy Elam.  If you want to check out her creation, please feel free to click on the Previous Blog Button Below.

If you want to view the entire blog hop line-up, click the image below to hop on over to the Stamp Review Crew Blog Post and see the list!

My list of products used in this post. Click on the image to see the product in store or print a pdf by clicking the link at the bottom!

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Have a Hoot-a-Riffic Day!
Stesha