SU Pleasant Poppies

The first stamp set I wanted to color with my new SU Blendabilites alcohol markers was SU Pleasant Poppies. However, I just got around to it today! And, again, I did not do any “blending” just pure coloring inside the black lines. Oh, I do love these markers! I love how the alcohol color is transparent and shows all the detail and lines on a stamped image. I will get around blending but for now I am enjoying the coloring bliss:) I used Cindy Hall’s neat challenge at Freshly Made Sketches #141 for inspiration.

I changed it up a bit and did an A2 card instead of a square one. And, guess what? I am going to give you my measurements to save you the trouble of figuring them out. If you are stamping an image you would like to divide into pieces, you can follow this: I stamped my image on a 5″ x 3 3/4″ piece of card stock. I then cut one inch of each of the sides to make the four corner squares 1″ x 1″. Make sure you cut from each side in one inch. (Not one inch then another inch from that same edge.) Then you end up with the center top and bottom rectangles being 3″ x 1″. The center rectangle ends up being 3″ x 1 3/4″.

If you want to use Designer Paper, just cut them the above sizes and place them on your card front. There is a 1/8″ inch border around and between the cut portions. I used my grid paper to help me keep the 1/8″ border as straight as possible.

Card Recipe:
STAMPS: SU Pleasant Poppies, SU Petite Pairs
INK: SU Blendabilities Daffodil Delight-lightest one, SU Old Olive- lightest one, SU Cherry Cobbler-lightest one, SU Real Red
PAPER: SU Whisper White, SU Basic Black
TOOLS: SU Artisan Punch, 1- 1/4″ circle punch

SU Pleasant Poppies with Pearls

When I saw Freshly Made Sketches # 79, I knew I wanted to use the SU Delicate Doilies Sizzlet my friend, Wendy, gave to me. I played tic-tac-toe with Jaydee of The Paper Players #139 to come up with this card:

I did not put a sentiment on yet because it just looked so pristine without one on the front- so I will add it to the inside when I am ready to use the card.
Card Recipe:
STAMPS: SU Pleasant Poppies
INK: SU Basic Black, SU Barely Banana marker, SU Certainly Celery marker
PAPER: SU Basic Black, SU Barely Banana, SU Whisper White
ACCESSORIES: SU Pearls, random matching ribbon
TOOLS: SU Needlepoint Border EF, SU Delicate Doilies Sizzlet, SU Stripes EF

Since this card is clean and simple due to its monochromatic color, and I used the Embossed scallop below the ribbon- I am linking it to the Lucky Dip over at Less is More challenge blog.

SU Pleasant Poppies Sympathy

I forgot how wonderful the SU Pleasant Poppies background stamp set is to work with when making a card. It inks so beautifully and stamps precisely. It can be colored, embossed, cut out and popped up, or die cut with only a portion of it showcased. Or… it can just be stamped tone on tone for a subtle background as I did here using the colors from Fab Friday #14:

Card Recipe:
STAMPS: SU Pleasant Poppies, SU Sympahty from a 1993 set!
INK: SU Sahara Sand
PAPER: SU Sahara Sand, SU Calypso Coral, SU Pink Pirouette, SU Lucky Limeade
ACCESSORIES: SU Pearls
TOOLS: SU Decorative Label Punch, SU Adorning Accents Edgelit and Embossing Folder, CB Wicker Weave EF

*Thanks to my friend Linda Heller for stamping the Poppies on Crumb Cake at our demo meeting last week- it inspired me;)

Whoa to Wow with retrosketches…

When I first saw retrosketches #35, I thought, “Whoa, that’s a lot to take it!” And then I saw Jen’s card that the sketch was built upon and said, “Wow, that’s an incredible piece of work!!!” I have been waiting for the perfect challenge to use SU Pleasant Poppies. This was my one of my first attempts at coloring a large image as well. I used Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils and Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the color gradiations:)

Card Recipe:
STAMPS: SU Pleasant Poppies, SU Because I Care
INK: SU Basic Black, Prismacolor Pencils: Carmine Red, Crimson Red,Spring Green, Apple Green, Canary Yellow
PAPER: SU Basic Black, SU Whisper White
ACCESSORIES: SU Pearls, random black button under pearl, SU Black organdy ribbon (retired)
TOOLS: Nestabilities oval dies
Here’s the sketch: