Stippled Roses Again

Happy Monday to all.  The sun is shining, and I've just returned from the grocery store.  Can you believe it - I still have a few dollars left over.  My goodness - the hike in grocery costs is truly crazy.  Maybe it's time to rethink having a garden again.  It would be a learning curve all over again with growing seasons and the heat and dryness.  Do I really want to start that up again?  It definitely needs more thought.  What doesn't need any extra thoughts is how much I love the Stippled Roses stamp bundle.  The roses are so realistic looking, until I start coloring them anyway!  I thought some Pool Party roses would make a pretty card, but I don't think you're going to find that color in nature.  I guess that's part of the fun in stamping - you can be creative with color!

To go along with the Stippled Roses bundle, a sentiment from the Thoughtful Expressions bundle made a good match.  I not only made some Pool Party roses for this card, but I actually stamped and colored a number of these roses with an assortment on ink colors to use on different projects.  For some reason, the Pool Party ones just called to me. 

Let's start making the card.  Start with a sheet of Pool Party cardstock cut to measure 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half to make a basic card size.  To soften the color, a piece of the Vellum Basics leaf print was cut to measure 4" x 5 1/4".  This was not attached until the images for the front on the card were finished and ready to place.

The roses are stamped onto a Basic White piece of cardstock using Basic Gray ink.  I thought the black would be a little too dark for the softer Pool Party color.  Using the Small Blending Brushes, Pool Party ink was blended on the roses and buds.  The color starts in the center and is swirled out to the edges.  This way the darker areas stay in the center of each rose.  It was a little difficult to stay on the buds and not go all over the place, but I tried to keep the ink on only an edge of the brush for more control.

After the Pool Party roses, it was time to color the leaves.  I used Garden Green ink to give bits of color to the leaves.  I was afraid to get too dark on the leaves and have it blend onto the roses.  So, after the color was added, I went back in with a Blender Pen and added small amounts of ink to the shaded areas of the leaves.  The sepals of the rose buds were colored in this way also and I made these a little darker than the leaves.  As a final touch, Wink of Stella was brushed over the roses for a bit of shimmer.  Unfortunately, none of the pictures really picked up this addition.  After coloring, the roses were die-cut using the coordinating die.

The sentiment is from Thoughtful Expressions.  The die used is the smallest rectangle shaped die from the set. The sentiment was stamped with Basic Gray ink to match the roses.

Putting the card together:  Several loops of the Simply Elegant Trim (pg 144 A.C.) in the silver tone were attached to the backside of the roses.  A couple of pieces of Tear & Tape was used to hold them in place.  After deciding on the placement of roses and sentiment, adhesive was used to attach the vellum piece to the folded card.  The adhesive was placed only where the roses and sentiment would cover it.  This keeps the edges free, and no adhesive shows through the vellum.  

The roses were attached with multiple Dimensionals to hold in place.  The sentiment was tucked in slightly under the roses and held in place with Dimensionals also.

For a little bit of bling, five of the Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added to the card.  This really enhances the silver color of the trim and gives the card that pretty sparkle.

Hope you enjoyed this idea.  I found it amazing how quick it was to color the roses and leaves with the Blending Brushes and ink.  The last time I used this set, I colored them with Stampin' Blends.  That was fun, but it was also time consuming.  So, when you're in a hurry, get out those Blending Brushes and give them a little swirl on the roses.  You'll love it!  Thanks for stopping by for another idea to create your own masterpieces.  I hope you get out your Blending Brushes often.  They are more versatile that you think.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon