Beautiful Hydrangeas

Hello fellow stampers!  Have you seen the new Thankful Garden Bundle with all the coordinating pieces that go with it?  If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you check out the Online Exclusives section.  It's there along with the gorgeous DSP that goes with it.  The two floral images in the set are lovely and will be a treat to color.  But one of the cool things about this bundle is the set of masks for coloring the images.  Oh boy, they are wonderful.  That's what I had to try out first.

Here's the first card of what will be many in the future.  We had a gorgeous Pool Party/Coastal Cabana colored hydrangea before my husband went on a "cutting all the unnecessary shrubbery" rant.  Unfortunately, the hydrangea was in that unnecessary category because it wasn't in bloom at the time.  Boo hoo!  Anyway, this card was colored in honor of that fallen bush.

 I started by stamping the hydrangea with Memento Tuxedo Black on a Basic White piece of cardstock.  I then lightly attached the cardstock to my work area with a little washi tape in the corners.  The first mask was laid over the design and the registration mark on the edge was made for lining up the other four masks.  The first color used was Balmy Blue ink blended on with the Blending Brush.  This is all the color between the petals and the first bit of color on the petals.  

Mask #2 was put in place and Pool Party ink and a Blending Brush added the next layer.  I felt that I added quite a bit of Pool Party to get some color on the flowers.  (Maybe I need to re-ink my pad.)

Mask #3 was put in place and another layer of Pool Party was added.  There wasn't enough definition and detail showing.  So I switched to Coastal Cabana and added a light layer of this.  That really helped the petals to stand out.

Masks #4 and #5 were to color the leaves.  The #4 mask was used to add a layer of Garden Green ink with a Blending Brush.  #5 was also Garden Green ink, but it was added more heavily.  That was it for the coloring.  Seems almost too easy!

The finished flower was die-cut with the matching dies. 

With the flower in hand to choose colors, I chose Pool Party for the card base.  This measures 11" x 4 1/4".  It's scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half.

The green print layer is from the Lovely Garden DSP which coordinates with the set.  A piece was cut from the two-toned green print that measured 5 1/2" x 4".  This piece was die-cut with largest die in the new Textured Notes dies set.  You can't see the edge details in my pictures, but the detail adds so much to the look in person.  This is attached to the folded card base with adhesive.

The next layer is a piece of Basic White that was cut with the 3rd largest die.  This time the detail shows up very nicely.  Doesn't it really add to the elegance of the design?  The die-cut hydrangeas were attached to the white layer with adhesive.  Then this was attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

The sentiment is one of the preprinted sayings in the Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack.  This can be found on page 13 of the Jan-April Mini Catalog.  I usually don't buy these preprint words, but thought I'd give it a try.  It's full of basic sentiments you'll find helpful and use often.   I really like this Easter sentiment, and it was easy to release from the perforated sheet.  Maybe I'll have to try more of these ephemera packs.  

The sentiment was added to the card front with Dimensionals.  

After going through my stash of bling, I settled on the Rhinestone Basic Jewels.  One of those tiny gems was put in the center of most of the detailed flowers.  I used 9 of them.  Any more seemed like too many to me.  

I just love how this card sparkles in the sunlight!  So pretty and a fitting homage to my deceased hydrangea bush.  I can't wait to try the other pinks, blues, and purples to make these fabulously easy, but gorgeous flowers!  I'm always amazed how nice the masks work coloring the designs and then being able to finish a card so quickly.

Hope you enjoyed today's card idea.  You really need to try out these masks and easily create your own masterpiece.  It's always fun to see what a few color changes can do to change the total look of a card.  For me, these are my colors, but what would you choose to use?

Thanks for stopping by today.  It's always fun to hear from you.  Just a heads up, the cost of cardstock will be going up in the new catalog.  If you're in need of any soon, now would be a great time to stock up.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon