Saturday Showcase {Hello Sunshine}

I'm one of those people that really likes to "celebrate the season", no matter which one it happens to be!  Honestly, even though Summer can be uncomfortably hot, it seem to just whiz by quicker than any other season and I end up feeling sad as the summer days slip into Autumn. For today's Ink to Paper Saturday Showcase, a few of us are creating some fresh designs using the new Beachy Keen stamp set which is just perfect for July! I really like to send out seasonal birthday cards, thank you cards, etc. so these two cards will be heading out ASAP! I'm also getting excited to use these palm trees for some Hawaiian themed Christmas cards as well!

I ended up by making two cards {surprise, surprise} but it wasn't planned. I just happened to have some extra palm trees all cut and stamped and they were just begging to be used! I originally only planned on making the "hello sunshine" design, so I will start off with the details of that one first! To begin, I got to work doing some ink blending on 5 strips of white cardstock. I used an assortment of Distress Oxide inks and my Blender Brushes to get the ombre effect blend I was going for. I wanted it heavy on one end and have it fade out. Once those were done, I spritzed them with water and some Shimmer Spray and set them aside to dry.

The next step was to stamp the palm tree tops and the trunks using the Beachy Keen stamp set. I used my mini MISTI and just got them all stamped quickly. I used the coordinating Beachy Keen die set to die cut everything. I set those aside with the strips and got to work on the rest of the card details.

I really love all of the sentiments that are included in this set, so I used 2 of them on the front of this design. The "hello sunshine" portion is stamped in black onto a die cut square. The other sentiment is stamped directly onto a white panel that was die cut using the Nesting Basic die set and the Nesting Basics Pierced Rectangles die . I also used that die set for the yellow panel as well.  Once all of that was done, I was ready to assemble the card. I added some black ink flecks here and there and some sequins for some detail and shine!

This is my second card which uses the extra trees that I had ready to go! I figured I'd put them to good use and make another card,which allowed me to use yet another sentiment! I die cut a white panel using the Nesting Basics Rectangle dies and the Nesting Basics Pierced Rectangles dies and then added the different rainbow colors using the different abstract shape images that are included in the set.

I stamped the sentiment in black and then added the palm trees over the rainbow portion. I used an extra top to the tree and double layered the one on the left. I think it helps make the tree look more full and realistic. I added the focal panel onto some additional die cut layers for some extra pops of color. A few sequins finish off this colorful design! Thanks for fluttering by!