{Spotlight Project} Sue Spotlights the Spotlight Technique

[Note: This month and next, we have several STAMPlorations girls guest designing and joining the regular Spotlight Project girls and sharing more awesome step-by-step projects that feature our 5x7 stamp club sets. We hope you get even more inspired!]

Hi! It's Sue and I'm so excited to be here today to show you what I've done with The Birds and The Blooms stamp set.

I started by stamping the single bloom using my MISTI using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I'm using the original size MISTI, so that I can more easily stamp "off" the card panel.

I repeated the stamping, changing position and orientation of the single bloom

until the panel was covered with single blooms.

I then stamped a single bloom onto a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I added color with some Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and blended each color with a water brush.

I punched out the main part of the bloom using a 1.5" punch. If you turn the punch over, it's so much easier to position the punch where you want it.

For the scalloped matted edge of the circle, I used a Spellbinders Scalloped circle die with a piece of green cardstock.

I chose one of the sentiments from the stamp set and stamped it using my MISTI and Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I trimmed it into a rectangle and was going to place it on a 1 1/8" black horizontal strip. However, the sentiment didn't "pop" enough, so I matted it with the same green cardstock and I used to mat the circle. I adhered the "spotlight" circle to the green scalloped circle and placed it on top of one of the blooms. I adhered the card panel to a card base.

Sometimes, I like the simplicity of a black and white card with a few "pops" of color. This technique is known as the spotlight technique, as it spotlights a section of a card panel by adding color to a specific area of the card.

Stop by the store to pick up The Birds and The Blooms stamp set or to check out all the other stamps, stencils, and dies. Be sure to use my code STAMPGIRLSUE to get 20% off your purchase.