“Celebrate Summer” with Peaceful Place for Stamp with Amy K’s Blog Hop

Hello again to my readers! Thanks for joining me today. I haven’t been able to post much lately—summer being a busy time and all!—but I just got back from celebrating a long July 4th weekend with family and joined Stamp with Amy K’s July 9 blog hop to “celebrate summer.”

Summer is one of my favorite times of the year. I love being outside without a jacket, I physically feel better and am rarely cold (unless I’m indoors with air-conditioning), activities abound, flowers bloom, and my birthday falls during the summer—so how can I not love it? The sun alone just makes me smile. So this card features a stamp set called “Peaceful Place” because one of my favorite things about the summertime is being outdoors with nature, where the breeze blows and the birds sing and I feel happy all over. (And perhaps a little sweaty…which is way better than being cold.)

I was recently asked to make a card for someone who is going through a hard time. Even though I’m celebrating summer, it seems like she is going through more of a “winter” time in life right now. So I was hoping I could create a quiet, peaceful, “run away” kind of feeling in my scene that would help her psyche and help bring her peace and encouragement with a card from her friend.

Stampin’ Up has several kinds of coloring tools available. I began my card by using watercolor paper and stamping the main “Peaceful Place” image on it in the retired Basic Gray archival ink so that I could watercolor with my colored pencils and Aqua Painters. I wanted a lighter “no-line” sort of look, so I used Basic Gray rather than Basic Black. (You can see the complete list of current items I used below the list of blog participants.) The “Peaceful Place” stamp set is available in both Clear-Mount and Wood Mount. I have not used the current Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper in my card today, but I’m looking forward to getting some and testing it out. I’ll let you know how I like it!

After I had stamped out two of the images, I set about coloring them with my watercolor pencils while I ate lunch. 🙂 When I have time, I stamp two images so that I can play with the colors and figure out what I like best. I almost always go with my second try. I have so much to learn about color mixing and shading yet. When I was happy with the color I’d put down, I carefully brushed over each color individually, wiping off my AquaPainter when I was done with one so that I didn’t transfer any ink. Then I set the paper aside to let it dry.

To build the card, I started with a kraft card base from the Magnolia Lane Large Specialty Memories and More Cards and Envelopes pack. I found a large background card I liked out of the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack (it had a lovely open space for a sentiment in the middle, which I had to unfortunately cover up). Fun fact: the repeated green pattern looks like the stamp from the Verdant Garden Photopolymer set, so these products would coordinate beautifully!

I needed a divider of some sort to finish hiding the sentiment spot in the background paper, and the Seaside Spray gingham pattern from the 2019-2021 In-Color 6×6 DSP pack fit the best. I feel as if it kind of fades away and leads into the background the way a soft vellum would (I tried vellum but the color was all wrong.) Then I adhered my dry watercolored “canvas” on top of the patterned papers.

I love that this stamp can not only be used for “thinking of you” cards like this but also sympathy and masculine and fall subjects. It’s just so versatile!

I wrapped a length of Whisper White 5/8″ Flax Ribbon around the back of where the gingham paper ended and decided to place my own chosen sentiment atop it. I first die-cut a piece of Gray Granite cardstock with one of the dies in the Stitched Labels Framelits Dies and then placed a sticker sentiment reading “Days Like These…” on top. It matched the greens and die-cut tag perfectly in both color and size. The sticker sentiment is also from the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack. I figured it was applicable, with all this lady has been going through. And it fit with the inside sentiment stamp I’d already discussed with my customer (which is not made by Stampin’ Up).

Running down the sides of the inside paper are two more stickers from the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack, which set off the inside sentiment just right. I stamped the sentiment stamp in Gray Granite ink as well. Then I colored the heart with my retired Pink Pirouette alcohol Stampin’ Blends marker—the best light heart color I had to work with.

I guess it turned out to be a very simple card after all—simple enough to be on the way to its recipient soon. I hope it makes her smile.

As a reminder, you can see the current products I used below the list of blog participants. Clicking on the links will take you right to my online store if you want to purchase any of them. Thanks for reading about my crafting journey! Be sure to “hop” around and see the other projects my incredible teammates have created to celebrate summer! Click the “previous” button to go back and view Paula Vincent’s blog or click “next” to jump forward and visit Leslie Larkin’s!

1. Karen Ksenzakovic: https://wp.me/paaNf4-JK
2. Jaimie Babarczy: https://wp.me/p79UhD-2Wn
3. Sue Prather: https://wp.me/p5yitZ-1kz
4. Paula Vincent: http://cockeyedcrafter.com/2019/07/09/celebrating-summer-sunsets
5. Connie Troyer: https://constantlycreatingme.wordpress.com/?p=1513&preview=true
6. Leslie Larkin: https://leslielarkin.com/come-sail-away-suite/
7. Karen Finkle: https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2019/07/stampin-up-sailing-home-birthday-card_9.html
8. Shirley Gentry: https://stampinwithshirleyg.com/?p=6260
9. Julie Johnston: https://wp.me/p8SzmQ-2eD
10. Mary Deatherage: https://wp.me/p5snyt-8yk
11. Akiko Sudano: https://wp.me/paOv8E-dD
12. Amy Koenders: https://wp.me/p2SFwf-g8V

These are the products I used to create today’s card.
Product List

Author: Connie Troyer

I'm a cardmaker, scrapbooker, book editor, and vocal singer, but not always in that order. I juggle these things with filling card orders for my local gift shop and others and being a Stampin' Up consultant! I'm happy to help you place an order anytime if you want some craft supplies! Shop with me at http://www.stampinup.com?demoid=2202334 View all posts by Connie Troyer