Photo Inspiration at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Hello! I am back for another Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge March Designer In the Spotlight Post. This week we are featuring Your Next Stamp products for our theme of Easter Inspired. You don't have to use Your Next Stamp products to enter the challenge, but if you have some, we would love to see them used.

Simon Says Stamp generously provides a $50.00 Gift Voucher each week for each of their blog challenges. I actually won one of these right after Christmas and got to splurge on a purchase. That was a lot of fun!  Thanks again to Heidi for providing that each week.

We have this beautiful inspiration image and colors to inspire us this week.  My card uses the Hoppy Friends Stamp Set from Your Next Stamp along with a few other Simon Says Stamp Products and a bit of no-line coloring.

This is my first attempt at a no-line coloring look so I started by putting the image in my Mini MISTI and stamping it onto X-Press It Blending Cardstock which is made specifically for use with Copic or other alcohol markers.  It is silky smooth and I find it much easier to achieve the look I want with much less work vs. using a heavy cardstock. I stamped in Barely Beige Ink which is perfect for a no line coloring look.  I'm not typically a fan of images that have been stamped in black and colored in, so I wanted to try this ink out today.  I got this color for this specific purpose but I haven't tried it before now. I could tell right away that it would be perfect for this technique. You can also use light colored Distress Inks to help those lines fade completely away.

I have a moderately sized collection of Copic Markers but I knew that my Warm Greys would be just the ticket to go with the Barely Beige Ink so I pulled them out.  I ended up using only two markers with a very light touch of Colorless Blender for the bunnies.  Most of the bunnies were done with the W-1 Marker using a short flicking stroke to mimic their fur.  Occasionally I would use W-3 to add in a bit of darker color. For the inside of the ears and the tiny noses, I used two different colors; R11 for the bunny on the right and RV10 for the one on the left.  Like people, I assume they all have different tones in their natural coloring. I tried to start at the top of the head and work my way inward, much in the same way their hair would  naturally grow.  I've never actually had a rabbit for a pet so I did it the way my small dogs have it.  I'm assuming it would be similar on all animals so if my bunnies look like Yorkies, you'll know why.  Ha ha!  I have two Yorkies and we get them groomed every 6 weeks so they have the cute little teddy bear faces.

I just kept flicking in short strokes until eventually I filled up all the blank white space.  Then I went back in and added a bit more shading with the darker marker and then blended that back out with the W-1 Marker. Because I was flicking instead of coloring, it maintained some of the white and lightest tones for a natural look.  I hope it looks natural anyhow!  I am not a certified Copic Colorist and I have only minimal skills, but I was really pleased with how these little cuties came out. They aren't meant to be accurate, they are only meant to be cute!

Once I had the coloring finished, I used some Stitched Square dies from MFT to cut the bunnies out and a coordinating mat in Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy Cardstock.  I mounted that to a background panel of  Simon Says Stamp Lavender Cardstock. I cut another Stitched Rectangles from Simon Says Stamp Surf Blue Cardstock and made a card base from Simon Says Stamp Mint Cardstock. I die cut two white and one gold "Easter" and adhered them together and then to the card with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I stamped the "happy" sentiment on a scrap of white cardstock with Versamark and heat embossed it using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder and put a narrow strip of foam tape on the left hand side and adhered that to my card.  I added a few touches of Nuvo Dew Drops in Rosewater and Key Lime for a finishing touch.

I hope you'll be inspired by our challenge graphic and join us over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog. Don't forget, you could win a $50 Gift Voucher! Be sure to stop by next week as we are featuring Altenew!

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  The supplies I used are linked below for your convenience (Affiliate Links may be used at no additional cost to you).

Copic Marker - R11 - Pale Cherry Pink Shop at: SSS	Copic Marker - W1 - Warm Grey Shop at: SSS	Copic Marker - W3 - Warm Grey Shop at: SSS	Copic Marker RV10 - Pale Pink Pastel Shop at: SSS
Copic X-Press It Blending Cardstock - 10 Sheets Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	MFT Stitched Square Stax Shop at: SSS	Mini MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp Barely Beige Ink Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	SSS Cotton Candy Cardstock Shop at: SSS
SSS Easter Wafer Thin Die Shop at: SSS	SSS Lavender Cardstock Shop at: SSS	SSS Mint Cardstock Shop at: SSS	SSS Stitched Rectangles Dies Shop at: SSS
SSS Surf Blue Cardstock Shop at: SSS	Tonic Nuvo Jewel Drops - Key Lime Shop at: SSS	Tonic Nuvo Jewel Drops - Rosewater Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS
Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	Your Next Stamp Hoppy Friends Shop at: SSS