What inspires you to stamp?

When I’m up at 2:00 AM, I bring out the iPad and  start scanning the websites that I frequent.  2-1/2 hours later my head is swimming with ideas.  My Stampin’ UP! Catalog and Butterfly notebook are on my lap so I can flip through to find that stamp set I want or sketch out an idea…I don’t have to get up…the height of laziness I know…but it is 2:00 AM and I don’t want to get up!  This is what came to me this morning.  The Certainly Celery is more brilliant in real life…I just had trouble catching that beautiful color in my photo today.

These simple cards were inspired by some Reflective Wall Art that I found online.  I looked through practically the whole site looking for that one item that inspired me and this was it!  I’m a lover of the color green so this just caught my eye!    I opened up my catalog found the Greenhouse Garden set and knew it was the perfect set for my project.  If any of you still have the Looks Like Spring retired Stampin’ UP! set, I think that would also be a great set to use for this project. If I can find mine that is packed away…I’ll give it try too.

My first 4-1/4” x 4-1/4” creation used the same colors as the inspiration piece – Certainly Celery, Whisper White and Sahara Sand.  I have to say that I was definitely intrigued by embossing on the sahara sand – you get a different look than embossing on the standard white or vanilla cardstock.  I loved how it turned out so I moved on by exchanging the Certainly Celery with Poppy Parade and then with Peach Parfait.  Do you have a favorite? All of the cards are embossed with clear embossing powder.  I love the variety in the cards and I believe that they are a terrific card set.  Thinking….thinking….now how do I package them up!  ***I think that will be a post for another day!***

UPDATE:  How did I do that?  This is an easy ink-layering technique, it is just time consuming because you need to clean your stamp between each card.  First, I stamped the solid image in Versamark.  Next, I used two sponges and sponged two colors onto the stamp (Certainly Celery, Whisper White (Craft)).  You should do this delicately with the standard Dye style inks so as not to remove all the Versamark in the process. The Versamark allows you to emboss the image.  Most dye-inks dry too quickly to emboss.  I did not sponge on the Sahara Sand as that color would just come through naturally using the Versamark with the Clear Embossing Powder.  If you have all Craft style inks you can omit the Versamark.  Next, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the detail with Jet Black Stazon and then clear embossed the entire image.  There will be some speckling of the embossed image on the dye inks if you pulled off too much of the Versamark…but in no way does this detract from the beauty of the embossed image! Cleaning your solid image stamp between cards eliminates transfer of different inks into your white and Versamark pads. 

Stamps:   Greenhouse Garden
Papers:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Ink: Versamark, Jet Black Stazon, Whisper White Craft Ink, (Poppy Parade, Certainly Celery, Peach Parfait as pictured in above photo)Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy 
Tools: Sponges, Heat Gun, Embossing Buddy, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Techniques Used:  Heat Embossing, Two-Step Stamping, Ink Layering

Enjoy!