An exciting day for sure! It’s my first ever post for the Kindred Stamps Design Team. I am so thrilled to be a part of this amazing team. Allow me to showcase my inaugural designs.

This month’s travel set is called “Travel to Polynesia.” Even if you’ve never been to Polynesia, there are still so many fun things to do with this set. There are several different holidays and occasions this set can be used for. “Mele Kalikimaka” and “Happy Hula Days” are the perfect sentiments to use for Christmas cards. You could easily adorn the hula girl and fire twirler in holiday colors.

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I designed “Hula Loves You” with that special day in mind. I stamped the hula girl with Picket Fence Black Hybrid ink and colored her with Copics. I stamped her a second time so I could color and cut out the flowers on her head to use as embellishments around the sentiment. I added a few highlights to everything with a white pen. The sentiment was heat embossed on red cardstock with white embossing powder.

I created the background by layering Distress Spray Stain in Candied Apple and Distress Oxide Sprays in Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries on watercolor paper. I sprayed, splattered and dabbed until I had something I was happy with. Then I unscrewed the cap of Distress Spray Stain in Picket Fence and splattered some white on the card. Once it was dry I ran it through with a heart embossing folder. First I used a waterbrush to blend some of the raised areas. Then I went over them with a Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen in Opal Quartz. For a final touch, I inked the edges with red chalk paint. I layered with red cardstock onto a white card base.

I fussy cut the hula girl and adhered with pop dots next to the sentiment.

Sometimes I like to send a card to a friend for no other reason than to say hello. The “Aloha” stamp was perfect for this type of card. I stamped and colored the fire twirler same as I did the hula girl. I really wanted this to feel organic so I tried to play with layers and textures. I made the background by running a piece of yellow patterned paper through with a basket weave embossing folder. Then I inked the entire background in brown ink. I die cut circles out of patterned paper and vellum and layered them with die cut flowers. I set the fire twirler on top with adhesive foam. I added patterned paper and twine behind the sentiment to balance out the texture and layers.

I see many more possibilities with this set. “Mahalo” paired with both dancers would make a great thank you card. “Hula Love You” would make a great birthday or anniversary card. Check out “Travel to Polynesia” and the other new sets at Kindred Stamps.