Flower Fair with Blends

Hello again.  Just got back in from picking more blueberries.  At least it's only 72 degrees and semi cloudy today so it wasn't a problem.  There were 2 1/2 pints the other day with at least another 2 1/2 pints today.  And there's many more berries still on the bushes in the process of ripening.  For our two smallish bushes I'm thrilled with the yield.  There's lots of cobbler, coffee cake and muffins in our future in the coming months.  YUM!  Okay, now that you know all about the blueberries it's time to talk about stamping.  Right?

 I've decided to put aside the Framed Violets bundle for a tiny bit and share some other things I've been playing with lately.  Today's card features the single Flowers Fair stamp that nicely covers a card front.  I'm not using the full stamp but just cut off a section about 3 1/2" tall instead to fit my card.  I love the warm look of this card with the different elements that come together to make the whole.  I wish the camera captured the colors better.  Here the card looks much darker than it looks in person.

The whole design started with the Flowers Fair stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto a Basic White cardstock piece approximately 5" x 5".  This was colored with Stampin' Blends:

Large flowers - Crisp Cantaloupe Light & Dark, adding touches of Cajun Craze for shading

Small flowers - Hydrangea Hue Light & Dark with Daffodil Delight Dark in the centers

Leaves and stems - Peaceful Pine Light & Dark

After coloring, this was die-cut with the second largest Perennial Postage die.  Then a layer of Cajun Craze was cut to give an accent frame around it.  The Cajun Craze cardstock measures 4 7/8" x 3 5/8".  The two layers are attached with adhesive.  A retired black and white checked ribbon was tied around the layers with a knot to the side.  I thought the checked ribbon gave it more of a relaxed country vibe.

 

The card base used this time is Crisp Cantaloupe. It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is folded in half.  The two layers that were just finished were added to the base using Dimensionals.

The sentiment comes from the ready-made sentiments in the Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack.  These sentiments come either black-on-white or white-on-black which is what I used here.  The sentiment was attached over the ribbon using Dimensionals.

I really debated whether any embellishments should be added or not.  After much thought and trying just about everything I owned, absolutely nothing was added after all that fussing.  I'm happy with it just as it is.  What do you think?  Does it need something else?  If it does, what would you add to it?

I hope you're playing around with coloring some of your floral stamps with Stampin' Blends.  They work so nicely and can give you such beautiful colors when adding a little extra color for either shading or highlighting with another color.  The flowers looked a little flat before the Cajun Craze was added.  What a difference a little extra shading color can make.

Thanks for stopping in today.  Hope you're inspired to get out those stamps that need a bit of coloring and have yourself a color date.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  Wish I could join you for that!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon