More Sunflowers!

Hello my friends!  Hope this finds you all doing well and having fun creating.  I wasn't ready to put away my Sunflowers 3D Embossing Folder just yet.  It's been fun creating with this embossing folder and the ideas keep popping.  Some of the cards have already made it into the mail to cheer someone or let them know they are thought of often.  But I have a few still sitting here that I thought it would be fun to share.

Today's cards are featuring the "embossed" or raised side of the paper that is used after embossing.  Aren't these pretty with the varying tones of color in the design?  I just love them!

All that gorgeous color is all from this one piece of Meandering Meadow 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper.  Amazing, right?

To make these cards, the first step is finding a DSP design that you love.  Find one with multiple colors in a random pattern.  This one has a nice mix of purples, plummy/pink, orange and vanilla.  It gives me so much leeway in how to play with it.

Since the Sunflowers 3D Embossing Folder is so large, I was able to emboss the entire 6" x 6" piece at once.

The first step would be running the edge of a Gorgeous Grape ink pad very lightly across the embossed design.  This was kept very light!  I didn't want an excess of purple overpowering the lovely colors.

Since I knew I only wanted to use 5" of the piece, 1" was cut from the bottom edge.  Of course this was saved for future reference.  I just wasn't sure where or how it would be used yet.  That would come later.

Next came ripping the DSP into useable pieces.  Figuring out where the 4" mark would be from the left side, I ripped along the length of the piece just a little short of 4" wide.  I want to mention that ripping this embossed piece was very different from ripping cardstock or plain paper.  The ripping wanted to follow the embossing in areas, so I had to be careful and rip slowly to stay in control of the rip.  Since this piece was just under 4" wide, that left another piece about 2 - 2 1/4" wide for another card design.

When embossing the DSP, I found the paper becomes rather fragile.  First thing for this piece was to adhere it to a piece of Basic White measuring 5 1/4" x 4".  Tombow Liquid Glue (green glue) was used for this job.

The layers were attached to a folded Gorgeous Grape card base that measured 11" x 4 1/4" and scored at 5 1/2".  I used "green glue" to attach.

The sentiment was chosen from the Thankful Garden stamp set.  Dies from the coordinating set were used to cut one Basic White oval and three Gorgeous Grape ovals.  The center of the white oval is stamped with Gorgeous Grape ink.  The three outer oval frames were layered one on top of the other to create a dimensional frame for the sentiment.

Before attaching the sentiment, I wanted to add a ribbon embellishment to the design.  After trying both purple and Petunia Pop ribbons, I thought they looked too heavy for the design and decided to use this old standby sheer white ribbon with a silver edge.  It's just looped on the card front and attached with a small bit of Tear & Tape which would be covered by the sentiment.  Next the sentiment was layered over the ribbon.

The inside of the card has a layer of Basic White cardstock that is 5 1/4" x 4".  The sentiment from the Thankful Garden stamp set is stamped with Gorgeous Grape ink.

That 1" strip of embossed DSP that was cut from the bottom edge at the very beginning was trimmed on each end to measure 4".  Pieces were cut off each side to get the optimum design to add to the card.  "Green glue" was used to attach to the Basic White layer and then attach inside the card.

Three of the Gorgeous Grape Glossy Dots were used to enhance the card design.  Yes, I think they're retired, but they really worked the best of all my embellishments.

Now on to the second half piece of that embossed DSP we made.

The plan for this card started with the idea of adding the DSP to a layer of Gorgeous Grape cardstock to compliment the DSP.  The purple cardstock was too plain by itself.  I embossed the left side of the cardstock with the Glass & Garden Embossing Folder.  The geometric design seemed to be a good contrast to the bold Sunflower embossed design.  

"Green glue" was used to attach the DSP to the right side of the cardstock.  Then used again to attach the layers to a Petunia Pop card base.  Sorry the picture doesn't show the Petunia Pop cardstock in all its glory.  It just didn't want to play nice.

The sentiment this time is from the Unbounded Love stamp set.  It is stamped onto a label die-cut from Basic White cardstock using one of the Unbounded Love dies.  Gorgeous Grape ink was used for this.  

To make the sentiment label stand out, a 1" strip of Petunia Pop cardstock was cut about 3 3/4" long and then one end was trimmed with Paper Snips to flag it.  This was attached from right to left about 3/4 of the way down the card.

The sentiment still needed a little more definition.  Two different open-work leaf dies from the Unbounded Love set cut some leaves from Gorgeous Grape cardstock.  There was a sprig already cut from Highland Heather cardstock using one of the Painted Lavender dies sitting on my table.  This seemed to be just what the card needed.  The small die-cuts were all attached with "green glue" and the sentiment label was attached over them using Dimensionals.

Three of the Purple Fine Simmer Gems were added for a pretty touch of bling.

Since I had none of the left-over embossed DSP left, I added some strips of Gorgeous Grape cardstock to embellish the inside of the card.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder used with some pretty DSP.  Just keep playing around with your ideas and have fun.  With each little tweak you make whether to the DSP print or cardstock colors or ink color, you can come up with something new and unique to you.

I hope you've been paying attention to the 2025-2027 In Color Sale going on right now through the end of August.  You can save 15% off each item.  

Plus, you can actually buy Sale-a-bration items found in the Last Chance area of the SU! store right now.  It's on a first come, first served basis, so please don't wait too long if you want something.

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping in to see what's new.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon