Blue and Yellow for Ukraine

My whole reason for making this card is to express my solidarity with the people of Ukraine.  You've probably heard of one cardmakers' movement or another for this cause... this one is a Color Hues Challenge with two options, one being blue and yellow -- the colors of the Ukrainian flag.  My little card won't help anyone, other than to join the flood of blue and yellow that may touch the hearts of those in distress if they ever get a chance to see it.  I'm sure I don't need to say more.

My card was made with the Concord & 9th set, Blooms Fill-In.  The solid background was inked with Distress Oxide Chipped Sapphire.  I had planned to even out the coverage with a brayer, but then decided I rather liked the swirls that were left when I swooshed my stamp pad directly onto the stamp.

I stamped flower centers in Chipped Sapphire, and the yellow is Distress Oxide Scattered Straw.  The sentiment was stamped in Chipped Sapphire, then clear embossed.  It has a glare in the photo, but is quite rich in real life.  Stitching and sequins add a little something extra.

You can join in here:

Color Hues Special Double Challenge

Thank you for coming by today.  Sending love all around.

Blooms Fill In

I'm back again with more new stamps getting inky before they grow moldy oldie.  Today it's my very first Concord and 9th set.  I'll blame this one on Cindy Beach and all the pretty stamping she did with this set.  I bookmarked it immediately and, happily, it wasn't long before I shopped.  Don't you just love receiving those packages of crafty goodies in the mail?

The set is Blooms Fill In.  It's a background stamp with a few sentiments and a whole bunch of flower parts you can use to fill in the blanks.

Clear stamps with a large expanse of solid surface can be tricky, so the right paper and ink makes all the difference.  Cindy had good luck with Distress Oxide inks (which I don't have).  My best results were with Memento ink.  My two favorite papers for solid image stamps are Stampin' Up Whisper White and Copic X-Press It Blending Card.

This is Memento Toffee Crunch on X-Press It Blending Card.  I kept it monotone, using Memento Rich Cocoa for the darker accents.  I stamped an additional partial background, cut out the flower part and layered it with twine and a die cut.

After I made this card (and several more!) I looked at them sitting there on my desk and wondered what is so compelling about this stamp set.  After all, you could easily do this with designer paper, and heaven knows I have plenty of that.  I guess it's just the do-it-yourself aspect of stamping.  Different colors, different degrees of filling in the blooms.  Playing around and seeing what happens.  A stamper gets it.  This set should come with a warning:  Once you start it's hard to stop.

Have a beautiful day!

Stamps:  Concord and 9th Blooms Fill In  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, Bazzill tan and dark brown  Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch, Memento Rich Cocoa  Accessories:  Linen thread, Cottage Cutz Fall Vine