Hi everyone! I wanted to do a follow up post to give you my tips and tricks I used on this month’s project! This is a 5×7″ card with a panel of 110lb cardstock on top for stability. If I am going to do card projects with beefy fronts like this one, I always add a layer of 110lb cardstock to the face of the card base.
The sentiment banner across the top is cut to fit the added panel, and it is from Altenew brushed gold metallic cardstock-sentiment banners are great ways to use up scraps and to showcase a simple sentiment. To give it some sophistication, I used the Altenew Morning Flowers stamp set, just the leaves layer, and embossed gold leaves across the banner with Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder. Nothing says seasonal sophistication like tone-on-tone gold! I also tried the Rose Gold metallic with Peach embossing powder, which really paired well together, but ultimately decided on the gold.
I really wanted to give this card a 3D effect using stenciled flowers and layering die-cut flowers. I always tend to go overboard with flowers, so to reign it in a bit and give the flowers a grounded area on the card, I used concentric oval dies to cut a large oval from Altenew craft cardstock, and a smaller oval from the Altenew crafty necessities cardstock pack in “Andromeda”. This oval I embossed with the Garden Harmony embossing folder. For interest in the final composition, I adhered both ovals together, then as one piece I off-set them to the right of the 110lb panel so it hung off the edge just a bit. Then I snipped off the overhanging part. Since I had the craft cardstock out, I also cut some random leaves to add in for filler and to break up the bright flowers-neutral accents are a great way to break up over the top flower arrangements.
The background flowers are stenciled from the Bitterroot Flowering layering stencil set, directly onto the 110lb panel. I stenciled three flowers for good composition and let two of them come off of the panel, so your eye is drawn into the finished arrangement.
For the 3D flowers I used two layering die sets: Charming Foliage and Craft-A-Flower Cape Marguerite. To add interest and depth to all the layers of the flower dies, I inked up two scraps of 110lb cardstock: one with oranges and one purples-I inked the cardstock with reds first, then added blue ink over this, rather than using straight purple ink. This gives more depth to the colors I was looking for. After inking I spritzed them with water, this tones down the hues and gives the over-all tone of worn-out color.
I used my heat gun to dry these and also let them set up a bit longer after the drying-I had really saturated the paper fibers. But once thoroughly dried, I cut out my flower pieces and created the finished arrangement.
I hope you enjoyed learning my tricks on this card! Leave me a comment, let me know what you think, and if you try any of these techniques, tag me on Instagram @scrappystampthefunup I would love to see your work! Until next month, have fun getting artsy!
