Stippled Blossoms Thank You Card

Today's card is a thank you card that I'm sure you'll like.   I got my inspiration for this card from  a blog challenge site called "Just Add Ink".  There is a link button on my left side panel so you can go and check out this site anytime.   

Just Add Ink has been around since January 2010 and during that time they have hosted over 200 challenges.  They are an Australian/New Zealand Stampin’ Up! challenge blog run by Australian and New Zealand Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators.   Along with their challenge blog they also have Pinterest and Facebook pages you can follow.  It's worthwhile, because they have sketch and colour challenges that are awesome not to mention all the wonderful samples from the talented design team and fans.

 Just Add Ink #223 Sketch Challenge

This really challenging sketch was created by Tina Gillespie.  She used this sketch to create a birthday card for her daughter.  Check it out on her blog Scissors Paper Card.

Here's My First Attempt at this Card: 

Oooops!  I don't know if you're like me but if you are take heart, sometimes we just don't get it right.  I began this challenge with one card in mind and ended up with a bit different card, I'll call it my "stepped up" card.  That's the one I submitted to the challenge.  

For my first card I wanted to use my new InColour card stocks and inks but when I assembled the card it just didn't do it for me, it was too dark.  Here's the first card and I won't go into a lot of discussion about it's assembly just some basics.

Assembly:
I really liked the full circle in the card sketch but chose to mount it on a square card base.  I didn't want anything too big, so chose to do a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square.  The Whisper White card base for this card measures 4 1/2 x 9" and it's folded at 4 1/2".

For this first attempt I used Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Perfect Plum and Whisper White card stocks and inks.  I used a sponge dauber to edge the card and stamped the sentiment directly to the Whisper White card stock.  Basic Rhinestones were added to the flower centers. 

I embossed the flower layer with the Decorative Dots EF but the layer of Blackberry Bliss in the background is plain.  Instead of pearls I used Basic Rhinestones for the flower highlights.  

The inside of my card was plain with only the floral image stamped in the corner.

Here's my "Stepped Up" version:

I did some tweaking with the layers adding an additional one to give it more connectivity.  See my note below.

I stamped the roses from Stippled Blossom in Perfect Plum and Blackberry Bliss and added leaves in Pear Pizzazz.  The Thank You sentiment is from the Blooming With Kindness Stamp set. The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White in Blackberry Bliss and then punched out with the 1" circle punch and mounted on a 11/4" circle of Perfect Plum.  This piece was then adhered to the card front with dimensionals. 

 

For the inside I cut a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" piece of Blackberry Bliss and then layered it with a 4 x 4 piece of Whisper White.  I don't really like verses inside my cards but I do like some kind of adornment so I chose to stamp  just the detailed stamp of the large rose from the Stippled Blossoms set. I probably should have stamped off the ink to give this image a softer look, but I'm glad I decided to go with full ink.  The image came out clear, detailed, bold and, is a striking contrast to the Whisper White card stock.

Layers, Layers, Layers:  
Remember I mentioned there were lots of layers on this card, well I cannot tell a lie.  There are a lots and lots of layers!  Why?  Because I like the way it pulls everything together and adds depth to the design. 

The first layer on this card is cut from Pear Pizzazz and measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  The next layer of Blackberry Bliss measures 4 x 4" and was embossed with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (EF).  I just can't get enough of those large dots.  

After that, I added a layer of Pear Pizzazz cut out with the Floral Frames Framelits die and then embossed it with the now retired Vine Street embossing folder.  It made the floral image look like veined leaves, which was just the look I was trying to capture.

Finally I added a 3 1/4" circle of Blackberry Bliss topped by a 3" Whisper White circle cut with the Circle Framelits.  The Whisper White circle was cutout, stamped and then cut into puzzle pieces before being mounted on the Blackberry Bliss circle.  Tip:  When mounting the circle pieces I used Tombow Multipurpose Glue so I would have some flexibility in getting the pieces to line up properly along the circle rim and in between.  Once the floral layers were put together, I added dimensionals and adhered it to the Pear Pizzazz flower shape. 

I added the Basic Pearls to the flower centers after the card was assembled.  The Thank You sentiment was the last piece added and was popped up with dimensionals.  I love the script used for this stamp.  So romantic!

Here are the two cards I made together. 

 

Card No. 1

 

Card No. 2

 Supplies Used: 
Stamp Set:  Stippled Blossoms and Blooming With Kindness
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Perfect Plum, Mossey Meadow, Pear Pizzazz
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Blackberry Blizz, Mossy Meadow
and Perfect Plum
Accessories:  Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (EF), Vine Street EF, Big Shot, Trimmer, Circle Framelits, Flower Framelits, Basic Pearls, Sponge Dauber, 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches, Tom Bow Multipurpose Adhesive and Dimensionals. 

Hope you enjoyed this card.  Leave me a comment if you did.  Let me know which version is your favourite.  It will make my day.

Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens 

PPCCS #100 Challenge and Blog Candy

I had big intentions of participating in the Paper Craft Crew's 100th card sketch challenge today, but missed the close off time by a few hours because of the time change.  

Regardless, I loved the sketch so went ahead and finished my card and want to share it with you.  

Here's the sketch:

Here's my card: 

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to do a card using the Decorative Dots Embossing folder as a background for the layers in this sketch and the Stippled Blossom stamp set for my image. 

I think my concept worked really well.  I flipped the layout so the tag and ribbon were on the left hand side of the card and the small flower was on the lower right hand side.  This allowed me more room to work with my stamped image. 

Supplies: 

Ink:  Crumb Cake and Early Espresso Classic Inks

Card Stock:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets:  Stippled Blossoms #126747 and Blooming With Kindness #126422

Accessories:  Big Shot Machine, Trimmer, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Pearls, 3/8" Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon (retired), Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (#133324), Large Delicate Doilies Die Cut (retired), Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (#133520), Corner Rounder, Scissors, Adhesive, Dimensionals.

Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig allowed me to line up the flower images cleanly when using a two-step stamp set like Stippled Blossoms.  Here you can see I was able to accurately layer the rose image from the tag with the image stamped on the Very Vanilla layer.

I added the smallest of the basic pearls to the centers of the two large rose images and a medium sized pearl to the smaller flower image.  Even though the taffeta ribbon is retired I'm still in love with the texture and the way you can tie the small bow so beautifully.  I also love the sentiment "I'm here for you" from the Blooming With Kindness Stamp set. Because this is such a caring sentiment this card could be used for either a friendship or a sympathy card. 

The Blooming With Kindness Stamp set a detailed flower image and five greetings that will carry you through lots of card-giving situations. 

The inside of the card has a Very Vanilla layer that measures 5 x 3 3/4" and is simply stamped with the rose image. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this latest post.  I'd love to hear your comments on my interpretation of the PPC Sketch.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny

Fusion Floral Class

FLORAL FUSION CLASS HELD ON JUNE 30, 2013

I love flowers in any shape or form and my recent Floral Fusion Class was all about "shape and form". 

Participants made four fast and fun flower cards.  Each card highlighted a different technique and different materials.  If you weren't able to attend this three hour class and would like too, I'm offering it again on July 9th, so please contact me to register:

Date:            July 9, 2012
Time:           9:30 to 12:30pm
Place:           Abbotsford
Cost:            $20.00* covers materials, supplies and PDFS for all 4 projects
Class Size:    Only 4 spots left.

*Place a minimum $25.00 order at this class and your class fee is waived.