February 4, 2023, Brighter Days Ahead CLR285 Stamps

Happy Saturday, crafty friends!  Have you checked out the new Brighter Days Ahead stamp set yet?  If not, you definitely need to! 

I loved coloring up this beautiful landscape.  I will tell you a funny story in a bit. 

I took a trip to Arizona recently, along with several of our amazing Design Team members, and one of the things that struck me was how different the landscape is from where I live, and the skies are incredible!  I saw some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets there. 

Anyhow, I colored up this beautiful scene with Copic markers.  To start, I only colored the ground, and left everything else uncolored.  I used a piece of a wash cloth with some colorless blending solution to add a bit of texture to the ground.

I stamped the image again on some sticky notes and fussy cut it.  Those that know me know that I hate to fussy-cut.  I am terrible at it, truly terrible!  I masked the image and I did some ink blending to create this night sky. Now, I have to be honest (here comes the funny story) - I was on auto-pilot when I gathered my Distress Oxide colors and went to my go-to's for a night sky.... Imagine my dismay when I lifted the mask and realized that the sun is up in the image.  I don't even know what I was thinking!

Not to worry, though!  I heat embossed this beautiful sentiment that is absolutely PERFECT for the scene, and I covered the sun!  No one would be any wiser, except for the fact that you all know now!  Don't tell! 

I added some die-cut frames that I had in my stash, and voila!  A beautiful landscape on a card. 

I hope you love this as much as I do! 

Please make sure to head over to the shop and take a peek at this fabulous stamp set, along with all of the other fun sets in the Southwest Collection!  There is even a bundle available with the entire collection. 

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes of your day with me! 

Xoxo, Kim

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February 3, 2023 Brighter Days Ahead Stamp Set CLR285

 Hi Pear Pals! Tia here with you from RockyMtnCraftia.com. The Prickley Pear Design Team and I are really having a blast with the newest addition to the Southwestern Release series. You've seen it this week and are probably just in love with it as we are! The set is called Brighter Days Ahead and I've linked it here to take you straight to the store! 

Being that I'm a Rocky Mtn girl, I saw mountains and desert blended together and that's what I colored. 

Card Design

If you're looking for a short cut, look to your design papers! I have a great pack of water colored cardstock backgrounds from Momenta. 

I stamped and fussy cut the focal image. I then colored with COPICS and moved the piece around my 8x8 in piece of design cardstock until I found the background I wanted. 

I love how the pinks in the cardstock lined up with my pink sunrise!

Card Layout

I used an A2 sized card base. I traced the size of my focal image cutout onto the designer cardstock. It was a little shy of the 4.25 x 5.5 in card base, so I looked to create a 'frame' for it.

A Spellbinders label die was used to cut a piece of kraft paper. I opted for kraft to mimic the brownish tones of the desert and really let the sunrise colors shine.

Don't forget one of the TEN fabulous sentiments that come with this set! There wasn't any room left on my card to stamp it, so I stamped and circle cut it, then popped it up on foam tape in the corner. To draw your eye there, I edged it with Vintage Photo & Worn Lipstick Distress Inks.

COPIC Coloring

I wanted to bring in a lot of subtle colors in the same tones. The coloring technique I used was 'tip to tip'. I used the lightest color and touched it to the tip of the darkest color. Ex. The pink skyline is RV09. I then used RV63 touched the RV09 to draw a 'middle-shade' before coloring with the RV63 for the lightest shade. I used this technique all the way down my card and even on the cactus.

COPIC Colors Used:

Skyline: RV09; RV63; B93; B21; Y32; YR20; E33; E23

Sun: Y19; Y08; Y13

Saguaro Cactus: YG97; G94; G46; YG23; G07

Prickley Pear Cactus: YG45; BG57; BG34; G12; T4

Thanks for following along with me! There are so many great ideas with this beautiful 'Brighter Days Ahead' image! Make sure to keep following us there are more ideas coming in! And please-share your cards with all of us on the Prickley Pear Pals Facebook Group!

Now-Go Get Crafty!

-Tia