Today, I have a delightful card to share that’s perfect for the first day of summer. While many associate Memorial Day weekend as the start of summer, today marks the official start. And what better way to celebrate than creating a handmade card that captures its essence?
I created a scene that to me says summer. The cheerful design features a single bird (with cute glasses!) perched on a branch, basking in the bright rays of a golden sun. I utilized the versatility of Stampin’ Up!’s Round We Go Stamp Set by creating the sun in the corner of my card. How fun to use a burst stamp image to create a summer sun, right?
And the remainder of my card features the Bird’s Eye View Stamp Set. It is such a darling set. I love that the set includes fun & unique elements you might not generally associate with birds. But these unique elements definitely add a fun spin to your projects. There are 3 different sets of glasses to choose from. And there is also a stack of books, too.
To add some extra dimension, depth as well as realism to the scene, I did did some paper piecing with the bird, the branch and even the sun. Here you can see the magic of paper piecing for an extra pop of dimension with the leaves. Some are glued flush. Others adhered with a single Stampin’ Dimensional. And some even have 2 sets of Stampin’ Dimensionals for even more height.
My images are all colored in using a Blender Pen. It’s a technique that gives a softer, watercolor look. Simply squeeze your ink pad together in order to get some ink inside the lid. Then using your Blender Pen, pick up some ink and color it where desired. The more ink you add to the brush, the more intense the color. TIP: be sure to wipe the brush off on scratch paper in between colors so that you remove any excess color before moving on to using a new color.
Here are the colors I used for my card today:
In my view, combining these 2 stamp sets together definitely made a card perfect for the first day of summer.