Project created by Jason Loucks
Inspiring Colors
Imperial Measurements
Early Espresso Card Base: 4-1/4″ × 5-1/2″
Soft Suede Cardstock: 4″ × 5-1/4″
Whisper White Embossed Layer: 3-1/2″ × 4-3/4″
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Project Notes
The Gentlemen Crafters Designer Team is back and here with your monthly inspiration. As a reminder the hop itself unlike most are not going to be based on a theme or a stamp set, we simply want to inspire you by sharing what we love — Stampin’ Up! products. Check out the other design team projects by using the links below.
For this month’s inspiration hop, I am featuring the the new Celebrate Sunflowers bundle from the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog. Need a catalog, request one for free here. The Celebrate Sunflowers cling stamp set and coordinating Sunflowers dies is one of my favorites in this year’s catalog.
Sunflower: Stampin' Blends How-To
This project uses the larger sunflower image colored using Stampin’ Blends, my favorite coloring medium right now. Fun fact: all the projects I have created recently use Stampin’ Blends! Here is a list of Stampin’ Blends used to color the sunflower:
- Daffodil Delight (Dark/Light)
- Mango Melody (Light)
- Mint Macaron (Dark/Light)
- So Saffron (Dark/Light)
To start, stamp the sunflower and three larger leaves using Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Ink. Did you know you can use any of the Classic Stampin’ Ink Pads to stamp images and then use our Stampin’ Blends to color? The classic ink is a water-based dye ink and does not conflict with the properties of the alcohol-based makers.
Lay down some color using the light So Saffron marker first; then go back in with dark marker and add shading using the lines the artist has already created. For parts of this sunflower, some areas were left white to add interest in the colored piece. To finish the petals, use the light Mango Melody towards the bottom to add more shading and depth. The sunflowers center was colored using both the light and dark Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blends.
The leaves were done the same way as the sunflower; using the Mint Macaron Stampin’ Blends combo, lay down the light shade first and then using the lines once again created by the artist using the dark shade. Don’t forget to leave some white areas on the leaves so it mimics the look of the completed sunflower.
Inspiration Hop
If you are in the United States and would like to purchase any of the Stampin’ Up! supplies used in The Gentlemen Crafters projects, create your shopping list, and shop my online store. Thanks for hopping along with us this month and we’ll see you next month!
- Barry Selwood & Jay Soriano
- Bruno Bertucci
- Daniel Nickeson
- Ian Potter
- Jason Loucks (you are here)
- Kevin Estey
- Martin Stone
- Rene Guenther
- Tony Embrey
Stampin' Supplies
If you’d like to make this project at home, products are listed below (and linked) and are available now in my online store.