Soft Seedlings Card

 Hello again!  I'm back with another two-fer card idea.  I saw a card made by Mary Hanson that just drew me right in.  I loved everything about it - the colors and layout, and especially the stamp set she used.  I knew I just had to sit down and make one like hers.  Well, between then and now, things changed.  When following her directions, I couldn't get my card to look nice like hers at all.  So it was time to figure out how I could get the same look my way.  I guess I'll show you the autumn-colored version first and explain how I did it and then end up with my version of Mary Hanson's card.

I love the rich colors of autumn.  They just make me happy, so this was my Thanksgiving card idea.  I started with a piece of Basic White that was die-cut with the Rectangle Stitched dies.  I made sure the stamp fit on it with little room to spare.  

To stamp this multiple times, I attached it to the Stamparatus and used the magnets to hold the die-cut rectangle in place.  Lightly ink up the stamp with Old Olive ink, then use a sponge dauber to add Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie to different areas of the stamp.  After stamping, I added more of the Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie inks and stamped again.  Since these were all mid-tone colors, stamping twice gave me enough coverage and color to the image.

At this point, I also spattered with an Old Olive Marker.  Then spattered over that with Wink of Stella and put it aside to dry.

In the meantime, I cut a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  This is scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half for the card base.  A piece of Old Olive measuring 4 1/4" x 3" was embossed with the new Leaf Fall 3D Embosing Folder.  Love the detailed leaf images this leaves behind!  It's attached to the card front with MultiPurpose Liquid Glue a little lower than the middle.

To continue with the fall colors, I wanted to have a layer of Pumpkin Pie to frame the stamped image.  The 2nd largest die in the Scalloped Contours Die set fits perfectly around the Rectangle Stitched die-cut piece we already stamped on.  This was cut from the Pumpkin Pie cardstock and then attached behind with adhesive.  It was then attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

The sentiment is one of four in the Soft Seedlings set.  I love the font that's used on these, very loose and looks hand-written.  It was stamped on Crushed Curry cardstock using Early Espresso ink.   It was die-cut with the Stitched Rectangles dies.  Then it's attached to the card front using one Dimensional on the left side to hold it up and adhesive on the right side to stay flat. 

After looking around at all the bling I own both current and retired, I decided to use some very old sparkle dots in a yellow tone.  I'm not even sure which color they were supposed to be, but they brought out the yellow and orange tones in the card.

Here's my version of Mary Hanson's gorgeous card.  I have so many changes from her card, it's hard to know where to start explaining.  First of all, she used Soft Sea Foam and Pool Party - I changed it to Balmy Blue with the Soft Sea Foam.

She said she inked once and dabbed on Pool Party with a Sponge Dauber and stamped.  With mine on the Stamparatus, I believe the Balmy Blue was added 3-4 times before I got a look I liked.  

I also changed the sentiment layer and the retired sequins that are used.

I think that might be all the changes.  I still love the overall softness of the colors used for both the stamping and the cardstock.  I would strongly suggest that you use the Stamparatus when stamping this set.  I totally love the softer looks and it's worth the bit of extra effort that goes into it.

Just a reminder that Stampin'Up! is having special weekly sales throughout the month of September.  There are different items listed for sale each week.  Check the Stampin'Up! website each week to see what's new.  You don't want to miss out on them!

And the Perfect Partners sale is going on through the entire month of September.  I sent flyers showing these six new dies that match six stamp sets in the Annual Catalog.  These coordinating dies will be available all month long, but only while supplies last.  If you don't have the stamps yet, you can get the stamps and dies at the bundle price which is 10% off.  Don't forget to check out these bargains!

Thanks again for shopping and stamping with me.  You are so appreciated!!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon