4th of July Celebration!

Welcome to the Inking Royalty’s July Blog Hop! During this year’s blog hops, we are enjoying a year of celebrations. This month’s projects celebrate the 4th of July – the projects are inspirational, patriotic, and filled with reds, whites, and blues. We are excited to share our creations with you today! After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.

We are all Red, White, and Blue today!  I love this summertime color combination!  Not only does it represent our beautifully diverse country it also screams summer happy fun! Pools, sun, and hot dogs!  Anyway, I decided I just had to use the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle!  Sunflowers are one of my favorites!  They are strange, quirky flowers that just makes me happy when I see them!  They are perfect for a summer gathering!  Well, in my opinion, any gathering is better if sunflowers are involved. That being said I knew the yellow flowers would look very pretty against a blue and red background.

  I also knew that I wanted to incorporate Smoky Slate into the color combination.  Smoky Slate works so well with the yellow of the sunflowers, the red and blue background, and it is one of my favorite colors!

Ink blending is my new favorite friend in card making. I have always liked ink blending. But, recently discovered the wonders of ink blending on watercolor paper. Such a dream!!!

• The underlying of the Sunflower and leaves are all ink blended on watercolor paper. Then spritz with water.  Let it set then blotted with a paper towel (microfiber cloth works as well)
• The top layer of the sunflower and leaves, as well as the solid leaves, are all colored cad stock with ink blending on to add some texture and dimension
• The background was created with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder on whisper white.  Then you guessed it, more ink blending on top.  This time in smoky slate

You could add let’s celebrate from the stamp set in the lower right corner. But honestly, I didn’t think of that until I had already added the clear drops and made the next card that uses that sentiment!  The Flowers for Every Season Gems are quickly becoming a favorite item!!

I have been exploring what in the card making world is called slimline card. These cards are 8 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. I find this size very fun to stretch my stamps and dies!  To make a slimline card you want to cut your paper 8 1/2  by 7 inches.  Then score at 3 1/3 on the side that is cut to 7 inches.

• So here again, watercolor paper ink blended with real red and poppy parade. Then Spritz with water and blotted up with a towel.  Finally, die-cut with the many medallions
• The smoky slate card stock also has very splotchy ink blending on it to add some texture.
• The Sunflowers and leaves are stamped in smoky slate.  Then die cut with the coordinating dies
• You could color the sunflowers in. That would look very nice as well.  But, I was going for a more graphic feel.  And the gray and white definitely gives you a graphic look.  It all depends on what you are going for

Each of your comments makes me smile! Please, comment HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Brian King. There’s lots of inspiration to be found in this group – and you don’t want to miss it!

If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:

1. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
2. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
3. Shawn de Oliveira at Shawn Stamps
4. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps Ink
5. Joanne Brown at Stamping with JoJo
6. Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
7. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
8. Linda Krueger at The Stamp Coach
9. Robin Myren at Songbird Designs by Robin
10. Candy Ford at Stamp Candy
11. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations

Go and be creative!