Summer Sunshine

I've always found it absolutely fascinating to read and listen to what creative people are inspired by. Sometimes it's a shape, a sound or a movement. That burst of inspiration feels like you're capturing an entire experience and transforming it into a single word (as impossible as that might be). Once you have the finished piece, it - in turn - can become that creative inspiration for someone else.

I'm a color girl. I have always been inspired by color, especially when it's color done well like this or this or this. Add to this my penchant for certain patterns (polka dots and stripes, I'm looking at you!), and it's easy to see why patterned papers are one of my favorite crafty supplies.

So, this card started entirely with color. I was looking through my paper pads and came across the Happy Collection pad from Avery Elle. Leafing through it, I came across the striped paper that had a yellow (mustard seed) on one side and pink (strawberry) on the other. It made me think of summer, which in turn made me think of sunshine and with a creative click, the rest of the card concept just fell into place.

I wanted to use the adorable girl from Simon Says Stamp's Slumber Party stamp set, so I stamped her in brown and colored her with my Copics. Since I had the warm pink and yellow tones for the patterned paper, I chose to use a cool tone for her outfit - and this really made her pop. Using pink on the bear and slippers tied the colors together so it looked like she was meant for this card.

A die, a stamp and some enamel dots later, I had a finished card - a summery "Hello Sunshine" that's warm and feminine.

Since this wednesday's challenge at Simon Says Stamp is Anything Goes, I'm going to go ahead and enter.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp - Slumber Party stamp
Simon Says Stamp - Bring the Sunshine stamp
Simon Says Stamp - Small Hello die
Avery Elle - The Happy Collection 6x6
Simon Says Stamp - Heavyweight cardstock in Sunshine
Neenah Solar White cardstock in #110lbs
Simon Says Stamp Inkpad in Sunshine
My Favorite Things - Blueprints 13 (large stitched rectangle)
Mama Elephant - Femme Frames (small stitched rectangle)
Enamel dots
3M Double-Sided Foam Tape
Copics
Zig - Wink of Stella (clear)