Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Simon Says.......Anything Goes!

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Welcome to our last challenge of the month at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!



Before we get started, I wanted to make sure you've seen that Gayatri Murali has been chosen to be our newest team member! Please give her a warm welcome!  

As you know, this is the time of the month when we have your favorite Anything Goes challenge!  The Design Team are using Simon Says Stamp exclusive products, and we'd love you to do the same, though that isn't a requirement to play!

I decided to do some watercoloring this week and made 2 cards.  This first one celebrates the beginning of summer:


supplies: Simon's Friendly Flowers, stamped in lots of distress inks, watercolor paper, Ranger Mini Spritzer, Winnie & Walter's Big, Bold Seasons, Ranger super fine detail gold embossing powder, vellum, DCWV gold foiled cardstock, Simon's Leanna Butterfly die

Starting with a panel of watercolor paper, I repeatedly stamped one of the flowers, changing inks as I covered the panel.  I also used a leaf from that set.  Next I spritzed my panel with water until the colors began to soften and run, then I blotted it with a paper towel.  After letting it dry naturally I went back in and stamped the little dots in the centers of the flowers.  That panel was trimmed to this wonky shape, trimmed in gold foil cardstock, and along with my gold-embossed sentiment on vellum, was attached to my card base.  I thought this gold butterfly added some pretty dimension to the whole.  

My parents celebrated their 70th anniversary yesterday, and this is one of the cards I sent them:


supplies: Simon's Thinking of You (flowers) and Happy & Smile (sentiment) stamp sets, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, watercolor paper, Spectrum Aqua watercolor markers, Ranger Mini Mister, Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder, silver and gold sequins

I recently saw a small garden planted in purples and peaches, and used that as my inspiration.  For this card I stamped the outline flowers on a watercolor cardstock panel, then went back in with my Spectrum Aqua markers and roughly colored them in.  I also used a green marker to ink to a solid leaf here and there on my panel.  Then, as above, I really soaked the panel with my spritzer, and blotted with a paper towel when I thought the colors had softened and run enough to my liking.  After a thorough drying, I embossed my sentiment right over the top of the panel, then framed it up with a matching purple cardstock.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

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Simon Says Stamp

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

19 comments:

Mandy said...

Gorgeous cards Lin! They are both so pretty and feminine in true Lin style :)
hugs
Mandy xx
P.S Love your new blog header

Teresa Kline said...

hey Lin....these are both amazing, I so luv the background you have created!...diggin the gold too...wish that was literally...lol. hope you have a wonderful week!

sparkle & shine *~*

Lorraine A said...

Gorgeous cards Lin :-) both are so beautiful! I love the colours and gold touches, very pretty :-)

Happy Anniversary to your parents! WOW 70 years! that is wonderful :-)

luv
Lols x x x

Barb said...

Gorgeous water coloring on both cards, Lin! Love the colors on each one! So pretty! ♥

Sue McRae said...

Love your colour combos on both cards and the gold adds a touch of elegance. Wow, to your parents 75th anniversary! Huge congrats for them!

Dotty Jo said...

Beautiful cards - you have such a way with colour! Jo x

Nancy K said...

Amazing cards, Lin! Your water-colored flowers are just so gorgeous! Sending blessings and lots of happy wishes to your parents, wow 70 years together is quite remarkable!

Stephanie said...

Wow, Lin! Both cards are gorgeous! I love the floral backgrounds of both :)

*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!

Tenia Nelson said...

Gorgeous cards!!

laurie said...

Awesome cards! The backgrounds are stunning!

Christina Hor said...

Gorgeous cards Lin! I love your use of the different colors. Happy anniversary to your parents :)

Maureen Morton said...

Lin, you have seriously out-done yourself! These are both so stunning. Thanks for sharing the details of your technique. You have always been queen of the florals, but now you really rule!

Lisa Elton said...

Both are just lovely Lin!!

Yoonsun Hur said...

Lin, your cards are so very elegant and beautiful!! Love both of them so much! xoxo

Gayatri said...

Beautiful cards, Lin! I love the watercoloured flowers on the first card with a touch of gold. Fab! The second card is so pretty.

jintyoo7 said...

Gorgeous cards Lin - LOVE the gold and vellum sentiment :)

How exciting 70th anniversary - CONGRATULATIONS to them :-D

Jingle said...

These are quite lovely, Lin! You are reminding me to pull out my watercolors! It has been too long!

Lee-Anne said...

Such beautiful cards, Lin! I love the gold and vellum against those wonderful watercolored flowers!

Melissa Bove said...

Lovely cards Lin!! So pretty!! Very elegant!

hugs...