Mother's Day Ensemble

Earlier this week I designed and posted a Mother's Day card on the WWC66 Watercooler Wednesday sketch by Libby Fens. 

I really liked this sketch and my design so I decided to make another Mother's Day project using the same concept but stepping it up. 

This time I've changed up the colors, added some die cuts and created an ensemble that includes a Mother's Day card, a gift bag and a tag.  

I think it worked out really well.  Just remember that the beauty of ensembles like this is that by simply changing up some of the stamps for different sentiments or images, you could use this layout as a shower, a birthday, a thinking of you, or get well ensemble.  The possibilities are endless.

Okay, so here is the "Mother's Day Ensemble" I came up with and all the details you'll need to create one of your own:

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  All About Everything and Lovely Little Wreath  (Paper Pumpkin April 2016)
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, Versa Mark
Card Stock:  Blushing Bride, Rose Red and Wild Wasabi
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Lovely Lacey EF, Botancial Dies, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Rose Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Delicate Designs EF, Edgelits Die (Retired), Corner Rounder Punch, Occasions Paper Piercing template for Ovals, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Tom Bow Glue, Sticky Strip adhesive, Paper Gift Bag.

The Card:

So basically this is the same card as the one I designed for the WWC66 challenge.  Beyond the card stock and ink changes, the alterations I've made are minimal.  I've added a bow to the oval, changed the die for the horizontal layer, stamped a few more leaves on the background piece and added pearls instead of decorative dots in several places.  
 

The card on the left is my original design and I used Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz for my colour palette. 

The combo of Blushing Bride, Rose Red and Wild Wasabi really works well together.  I've added small pearls throughout the stamped layer images and I was happy I had some Rose Red ribbon for the bow on the card and the gift tag.  

The measurements for this card are:
 
Card Base:  Whisper White card stock measures 8 1/2 x 5 1/2  and is scored at 4 1/4".
1st Layer:  Wild Wasabi measuring 5 3/8" x 4 1/8"
2nd Layer:  Blushing Bride 5  1/4 x 4" and embossed with Lovely Lacey EF
Vertical Stack Layer:  The measurements are: Wild Wasabi 2 1/4 x 4 3/4", Rose Red 2 1/8 x 4 5/8", and Whisper White 2 x 4 1/2".  Randomly stamp floral and leaf images from the All About Everything Stamp set in the 3 ink colours.  Adhere all three layers together leaving a 1/8" border on all sides and add some small seed pearls randomly to the stamped images.
Horizontal Layer:  Cut a strip of Rose Red card measuring 1" x 4 1/2" die cut with Edgelits die.  Using the fan design as a guide cut this piece down to 3 5/8" (all fans will show evenly).  Adhere this strip with mounting tape or dimensionals.  Place a small pearl at the center of each fan design.
 

Oval Layer:  Cut the Wild Wasabi 2 1/2" Oval using the Ovals Framelits.  Pierce around the edge using the Occasions Paper Piercing Template that coordinates with the Oval Framelits (retired).  Cut the Whisper White layer cut with 2" Oval die.  The images are randomly stamped with the All About Everything stamp set.  When you're doing this kind of collage stamping, remember to stamp off the image before stamping directly on the card stock, to give a softer look to the design.  Stamp sentiment "To the Loveliest Person I Know" from the  Lovely Little Wreath  stamp set in Wild Wasabi.  I stamped my image first in Versa Mark ink and then in Wild Wasabi ink then applied Clear Embossing Powder and heat set it. 

Here's a view of the inside of the card.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 3 7/8" piece of Wild Wasabi for the base layer and added a 5 1/8" x 3 3/4" layer of Whisper White.  The Whisper White piece is stamped with the "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment from the Lovely Little Wreath stamp set in Wild Wasabi and flowers from the All About Everything set.


The Bag and Tag:

The small white bag measures 8 1/2 x 5 1/4".  This is the perfect size for a small gift.  You can purchased these bags at the big box craft stores or sometimes at the Dollar store. Here are the measurements for the layers:

1. The Rose Red layer measures 7 7/8 x 5" 
2. The Wild Wasabi layer measures 7 5/8 x 4 6/8"
3. The Whisper White layer measures 7 1/2 x 4 1/2".   

Tip: I stamped the collage on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of Whisper White card stock and then cut down the layers for the front of the bag, the tag, and the card front.  It's much simpler to do it this way, and then you can put away your inks when you're finished.

4.  For the lace edge at the top of the bag I decided to go with a wider strip  so I cut a piece of Rose Red card stock measuring 5 1/2 x 1" and embossed it with the retired Decorative Design embossing folder.  I then cut it down so the scallops across the bottom were even width wise and trimmed off the excess card stock below the scallops. This was adhered to the Whisper White designed layer with Tom Bow glue.
    

Don't you love these flowers?  They were made with the Botanical Garden dies from this years Spring Occasions Catalogue.  I'm so happy those are going to see another season, as I just want to use them on everything.  To add a bit of variation for the leaves I cut a couple of them from Mossy Meadow card stock.  I punched out a 1 3/4" circle from Wild Wasabi and used this as a base to build the flower and leaf layers into a small bouquet.  I adhered the bouquet to the bag front with sticky strip to ensure it would stay on.     

Please note:  Did you notice that my card has Basic Pearls while my bag and tag have rhinestones?  Well it seems I got carried away while assembling the little bouquet and popped those Basic Rhinestones on without any thought to what was on the card. Oops!  Well, not to worry, I'll either make another card with Rhinestones to match this bag or I'll be doing a change-up so the bag and tag match the card.   Either look is a winner!

For the Tag I cut a 2" x 3 1/2" piece of the stamped Whisper White card stock and then punched it out with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  I adjusted the length of the tag and rounded the bottom edges with a corner rounder punch.  To give the tag a little more substance, I cut a strip of Wild Wasabi card stock measuring 2 1/4" x 3 3/4" and punched it out with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  Again, I rounded the edges with a corner rounder punch and then mounted the Whisper White piece to the Wasabi layer with dimensionals. The tag was tied to the handle of the bag with a 12" piece of Rose Red ribbon.  I used a dimensional under the tag to keep it in place.  

Okay, that's it.  I hope you didn't mind my repeating this project but I thought you might like to see an alternative look.  

Let me know your thoughts and what colours you might choose to do this bag and card in.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot   

WWC66 - Libby's Sketch Challenge

I'm delighted to let you know I was invited to be a "guest" designer on Watercooler Wednesday this week. You won't believe what an honour this was for me. I'm so over the wall inspired by this group of exceptionally talented paper crafters, it was a real thrill to join them.    

This week Watercooler Wednesday is featuring a wonderful sketch challenge by the talented Libby Fens who just recently became a permanent member of the design team.  Congrats Libby!

Here's Libby's sketch - WWC66:  

  
Mother's Day is just around the corner so I decided to use this delightful sketch to design a card for my mom.

When she was younger, my mom was an avid gardener who couldn't wait for Spring so she could work in her garden. She planted a variety of fragrant and colourful plants including Pinks, Bachelor's Buttons, Forget-Me-Nots, Cosmos, and Sweet William. What joy she took in those flowers!  

Mom really enjoyed her flower garden and I can remember going to the store with her to buy her precious packages of seeds.

I'm hoping this card will bring back some of those memories not only for my mom but for those of you who are flower lovers too.  

Here's My Card:

April was a special month for Stampin' Up's Paper Pumpkin as they were celebrating not only their 3rd birthday but also their one millionth sale.  To reward new Paper Pumpkin subscribers they included an extra exclusive photopolymer stamp set called "All About Everything" which I've featured in the two stamped panels on this card.

In this closeup of the large rectangle you can see some of the detail achieved with the two-step stamping method.  This is the perfect stamp set for creating background paper.  The Lovely Lace Embossing folder which will retired later this month, was used to create the beautiful texture on the Pink Pirouette layer. 

By stamping off before applying the stamp on the oval you get a softer version of the image that looks like it's been water coloured.  To define the edge around the oval I used a retired paper piercing template to poke the holes on the Pear Pizzazz oval.

I always finish the inside of my cards and the matching envelopes with stamped or embossed images. Here's what the card looks like inside:

The "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment is from the Lovely Little Wreath stamp set which was part of the April 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit.  I really like the lettering and the small flowers on this sentiment.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  All About Everything, Lovely Little Wreath (Paper Pumpkin April 2016)
Card Stock:  Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Lovely Lacey EF, Decorative Edge EF, Decorative Dots,

I hope my card has inspired you and that you'll want to take part in this challenge too!  Be sure to enter your project back at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge (#WWC66). The deadline to post your entry is Monday, May 9th, 2016. Thank you for visiting today.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot