Springtime Scenes Ladybug

Hello, my stamping friends!  I've taken a small break from making piles of Easter cards to play with a new bundle I recently received - Springtime Scenes.  Yes, that's what I'm playing with again.  It is really wonderful!  The stamps are pretty useful with grasses, assorted leaves, a flower, and a darling ladybug along with five interesting sentiments.  And let's not forget the awesome dies that coordinate with the images and expand the possibilities.  Like I said, it's pretty wonderful.  Today's card was designed with my great-niece in mind.  She's going through major medical issues from the aftermath of a brain tumor.  I needed something to make her smile as she faces the beginning of her chemo treatment.  So, what's not to like about sweet little ladybugs?  Don't they bring a smile to your face?  Let me tell you how I made this card.

Actually, I figured if I was making one, I might as well make two, so I'd have an extra on hand.  I didn't want it to be too in your face red, so I started with Strawberry Slush Two-Tone Cardstock for a softer reddish tone.  The piece measures 5" x 3 3/4".  It was embossed with the coordinating Ladybug Picnic 3D Embossing Folder with the darker side up.  After embossing, it was lightly sanded to enhance the ladybugs all over the design.

I haven't used the Two-Tone Cardstock too often yet.  I've just been 'getting my feet wet' so to speak just buying what colors I really love and getting a feel for possibilities to use this cardstock.  I will tell you that so far, I'm impressed with the quality of the cardstock and the fun of having more color coordination when creating a design.  I'm loving the light and dark versions of the same color.  Very helpful!

A 1" strip of the Two-Tone Strawberry Slush cardstock was cut.  Then it was cut into 5" lengths to fit across the card.  It's attached with the light side showing to give the design an anchor across the card to build the scene.

Let's get all the design pieces ready next.  The ladybugs were stamped on the leftover part of that 1" strip.  It's stamped on the dark side with Memento Tuxedo Black ink to get the outlines.  Then a Basic Black Blends was used to color in the dots and head section.  Then die-cut with the matching dies.

Next, the large leaves were stamped with Garden Green ink onto Garden Green cardstock.  Then die-cut with matching dies.  The leafy branches were die-cut from Two-Tone Old Olive cardstock.  The light side of the cardstock is what I used for contrast.

There are tiny flower dies in this set, but they seemed a little small for what I was envisioning.  Instead, several flowers were die-cut from Daffodil Delight cardstock using the flower cluster die in the Fragrant Layers Die set.  They have a lot of detail on them and are a great size to tuck in around a design for a little pop of color.

Lastly, we needed the sentiment label. This is another little bonus from the Springtime Scenes Die set.  So useful and a great size.  A label was cut from Basic White cardstock.  Then a sentiment from this same set was stamped with Secret Sea ink.

I decided to go with a Basic White Thick cardstock base for the card.  This measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored in half at 4 1/4" and folded.  To frame the Strawberry Slush layer, a layer of Secret Sea cardstock was added.  This measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" to give it a nice thin frame.  These layers were all attached with Tombow Liquid Glue to give me a little 'wiggle time' to get the layers lined up just right.

When arranging all the elements of the design, the sentiment label, one dark green leaf, and the ladybug were all attached with Dimensionals.  The other large leaf and two leafy branches were attached with adhesive.  Each of the flowers were added with a Mini Glue Dot to hold in place.  

For a bit of sparkle, Rhinestone Basic Jewels were tucked in around the design.  These are just a nice basic embellishment to have on hand.  I was surprised how much they drew my eye around the design.

Here's a last look at this darling design.  I just love this new Springtime Scenes stamp set.  If you compare this card to my previous post, you get a good idea of how versatile this bundle can be.  And this is just the beginning.  I'm sure I'll be grabbing this set often to create something fun and beautiful.  Hope you're inspired to give this set a try soon.

Thanks for stopping by and spending a bit of your time with me.  I hope you leave a comment and let me know what you think of the card and overall design.  I love to hear your feedback!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

A Little Springtime Scenes

Happy Saturday to you.  Disclaimer first - if you're only looking for current items, visit with an open mind today.  I've used retired cardstock, ribbon, gems.  Just look at the overall picture and you can see it in lots of other colors instead.  Now on to the cards and the design.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend and maybe catching up on a few things.  I've been immersed in making sympathy cards to create a little stash because I've been going through them too fast lately.  I always find this task hard to do, especially when it's needed right then.  Since that's out of the way for a little while I hope, it was time to move on to something fun and new.  I love playing with new stamps for the first time when there are many possibilities out there, but I'm just not sure where to start.  Sometimes for my first attempt with a new set, I'll grab some cardstock from my retired stash in case I make something that is really ugly.  This time I liked the cards so much I'm sharing them with you anyway using an old favorite - Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Remember that color?  Using it again reminded me of how much I miss it.  Anyway, these ideas will have to hold you until I get around to creating with current colors.

Since I was cutting the cardstock to measure 11" x 4 1/4", I decided to make two.  The cardstock was scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half.  I had planned on making the cards with the fold on the top but changed my mind as I went along.  

Another piece of cardstock was cut to 5 1/4" x 4" for a layer on top.  This was embossed with the Beautiful Pattern 3D Embossing Folder.  This gives the layer a very subtle texture to enhance the design.

Using the die set, I started with the circle with three leaves inside.  This cut a layer of Old Olive cardstock.  Behind this layer there is a layer of Pear Pizzazz that is cut with the circle with many leafy branches.  This totally got lost on the card base, so an open circle was cut from Basic Beige cardstock.  This tends to have a greenish tint to it when I look at it, so it seemed to be the perfect backing piece.

Before attaching these three layers together, I used a Sponge Dauber and a little bit of Old Olive ink to darken the leaves of the top layer.  Now they stood out better from the other leafy layer.  The three layers were attached together with touches of Tombow MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.  To keep the inner Basic Beige layer connected with the others, I added a few Dimensionals around the edges to catch both layers together.  

While I was doing the die-cutting, I also cut several each of the two different sizes of flower dies from Two-Tone Petal Pink and Two-Tone Pretty in Pink cardstocks.  I also cut several of the two different open-work leaf dies from Old Olive cardstock.  Now I had lots of pieces to work with to create these cards.

When putting the designs together, I started by mixing up the larger flowers with the different color centers, then spreading the pieces across the design area until I liked the look.  The circle layers are attached to the front with Dimensionals.  Then the extra leaves are tucked in underneath to peek out.  The large flower is added with a Dimensional and smaller flowers are tucked in flat around it.

The sentiments for both of these cards are from the More Messages stamp and die set that is retired.  I was just looking for skinny sentiments that wouldn't cover too much of the design, and these worked fine.

The first card made was the upper one shown with no ribbon.  I used pink gems on this because the pink seemed more dominant on the card.

The second card has a Petal Pink ribbon with copper edging added to it.  I think this made it look so much fancier and more girlie.  This time the peach gems were used to pick up the Petal Pink color more than the Pretty in Pink.

Either way, I love how these cards turned out and I'll definitely be playing with the Springtime Scenes stamp and die bundle again soon.  I love the layered look of the leaves in the circle.  Maybe next time I'll have to try each layer by itself instead of together.  We'll see.

Have you spent time perusing the new Online Exclusive items?  The Springtime Scenes bundle is one of the new items and so much fun.  If this one isn't your cup of tea, I'm sure you'll find something else that calls out to you.  Happy shopping!

Thanks for stopping in here to see what I've been creating.  Hope you were inspired to get stamping too.  Be sure to let me know what you've been creating lately.  I find it so relaxing and fulfilling to start with a stamp set and paper and end up with a card (or more!) when I'm done.  So very satisfying!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon