Paper Pumpkin Easter Lilies

Hello Friend!  I don't know about you, but one of the things I enjoy seeing at Easter time are the lovely lilies that are in full bloom.  I think they are just gorgeous.  Stampin'Up! hasn't had a lily stamp set for a while, so I was very excited with my new Paper Pumpkin Kit that came last week.  First of all, there were two stamp sets included instead of the usual one.  And since the second set has a pretty lily stamp, I was simply thrilled.  Of course, I had to make something as soon as possible.  I finished it up this afternoon and here it is!

I love the softly serene look to the finished card.  I kept it fairly simple because I wanted the lilies to stand out, and I think they do.  The card base is cut from Soft Succulent cardstock and measures 11" x 4 1/4".  It's scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half.

The next step was deciding what shape I wanted to stamp the lilies on.  The Stitched So Sweetly dies were used here.  Yes, I know they're retired, but the size and shape worked so nicely.  The largest rectangle was chosen to cut the Basic White cardstock piece.

The lilies were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink near the top of the die-cut shape.  The planter was stamped with Gray Granite ink onto a scrap of white.  The leaves were water-colored with Soft Succulent ink.  The planter is painted the same Gray Granite as the outline.  

After the water-colored images dried, all the images received a wash of Wink of Stella.  I think you can see this better on the next picture. The golden stamens were touched in after this.  I used the Daffodil Delight Dark Blends for this and just dotted them in.  The planter was also cut out at this point.

After trying to decide on an accent strip of some kind to fill in the card more, but not detract from the lilies, I decided on the leafy border die from the Delicate Edges Die set.  They are on page 170 of the Annual Catalog.  All of these dies are lovely, but I felt the leaves worked with the design the best.  It is cut from the Fine Shimmer Paper on page 86 in the January - April Mini Catalog.  This specialty paper comes in three colors - Soft Succulent, Fresh Freesia, and Gold.  If you haven't gotten these gorgeous papers yet, you don't know what you're missing!  The shimmer is very fine, and nothing will rub off.  And the colors!!  What can I say?  I think they were made with me in mind!  lol  The leafy die-cut does a lovely job as a subtle accent that draws your eye to the card, but it's not over-powering at all.  When die-cutting the leaves, I did run the die back and forth a couple times to make sure all the little bits would come out without fussing too much.

Before adding the leafy border to the card base, I used Soft Succulent ink and a Blending Brush to give me a darker swath to adhere the border to.  The area that was darkened was only about 1 1/2" wide and not quite out to the top and bottom edges.  I just wanted the pretty leaves to stand out from the card color a little more.  The leaves were attached to the card with Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue touched on very lightly.  If I would have been thinking ahead better, I would have used an Adhesive Sheet behind the paper before die-cutting.  It would have made attaching it so much easier.

The "Happy Easter" sentiment was stamped on the bottom edge of the card at this time.  The sentiment comes from the Easter Bunny stamp set. You can find this set in the January - April Mini Catalog on page 52.  It's stamped right near the bottom edge of the card using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.   

The lily layer was attached with Dimensionals to overlap the leafy accent a little bit.  The planter was added over the stem of the lily using a Dimensional to attach.

All that's left to do is the inside of the card.  The sentiment used here is from the Rejoice in Him stamp set.  It's in the January - April Mini Catalog on page 54.  It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a quarter sheet of Basic White cardstock.  As an accent, the palm branch from this set was used to the side.  It's stamped with Soft Succulent ink that has been off-stamped to give it a lighter color.

I had planned to use a skinny strip of scrap Fine Shimmer Paper that was left over from a different project.  I mean, it's way too pretty to throw those extra strips away.  You never know when you might need them!  But it worked out that I had a mini strip of Soft Succulent cardstock sitting on my table too.  They layered up just right.  So, there you are, the final touch to this simple and elegant card.  I did debate with myself whether it needed any bling added and decided it didn't.  I liked the simplicity of the card.  And the Fine Shimmer leafy border was just enough.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you'd like to place an order soon.  Please consider using the Host Code at the top of this blog post.  I really appreciate you continued patronage.  I'll be ordering the new Annual Catalogs very soon.  If you're interested in receiving one, please make sure I know.  Otherwise, you might not get one next month, and that would be sad, now wouldn't it?  I'm excited to see what's going to be new and what's retiring.  I'm especially excited to see what the new Color Refresh is going to look like.  I'm already happy that Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock are coming back.  But what's leaving??  I don't know any more than you do at this point, so I'm pretty excited!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon