Simon Hurley create. | 5 Summer Luau Cards

Summer is here! There's no denying it! It's been super hot here and some summer cards is just what the doctor ordered! I used new products from Simon Hurley create. including the Luau Background Stamp, Road Trip Stamp Set, and some Dye Ink Pads.

I started with the Luau Background Stamp and some watercolor cardstock. I stamped the Luau Background Stamp with five different colors of ink - Prom Queen, Tropical Tango, Crown Me, and Rosy Cheeks from Simon Hurley create. as well as a crisp black ink.

I used my MISTI because I was working on watercolor cardstock - which is textured - and I wanted to get a few layers of ink onto the cardstock. Once I was done stamping I sprayed each background with a good amount of water from a Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer. I found that the darker inks worked best with this technique. I sprayed enough water that the inks would start running, but not blur the lines of the Luau Background Stamp.

This took a bit of playing around with. My first background - the pink one - I used a bit too much water. But by the end I had gotten the technique down! I dried each of the panels with a heat gun and die cut them with a fancy oval die.

I wanted to have a bright and happy focal point for each card, so I grabbed the sunshine image from the Road Trip Stamp Set. I stamped it onto Stark White Cardstock with Slippery When Wet Ink and then deepened the center of the sun with some Traffic Cone Ink. I stamped five suns - one for each card - and trimmed them with scissors.

I intended to adhere the die cut background panels directly to the card bases, but the cards needed some more oomph. I stamped five card bases with the Painted Lines Background Stamp and Woof! Dye Ink and adhered the fancy die cuts to the center with the sunshine stamped image on top with foam tape.

I'd love to know which of these cards is your favorite! I'm quite drawn to the black stamped background  as well as the purple and teal!