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

Happy Easter Eggs

Hello there!  Are you having fun today?  If not, get out your stamps and paper and take a little creative break.  It always puts a smile on my face when I do.  When I was reading my emails this morning, I came across this Global Design Project Challenge that was right up my alley.  It is a color challenge to use Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Flirty Flamingo on a project.  Oh boy, what fun!  I haven't participated in a challenge in a very long while (years!), but I had to do this one.  Hope you enjoy the idea that popped in my head as soon as I saw the colors.  Let's get creative!

Here's the idea that was in my head as soon as I saw the color challenge.  Of course, with those colors, it had to be Easter, right?  The card starts with a Basic White card base that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.

The colorful layer is also Basic White that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  I used Blending Brushes and ink to do the soft background colors.  I started with Daffodil Delight ink on the bottom 1/3 of the layer.  Then added another third of Pumpkin Pie ink across the middle blending the edges together.  Last is the Flirty Flamingo ink across the top.  The colors reminded me of a sunrise and made me so happy to look at it.

No matter how many pictures I took, the background just doesn't show as vividly as the real card.  It's by no means really bright, just deeper colors - more saturated I guess you'd say.

After coloring this layer, it was embossed with the Basics 3D Embossing Folder set that is an Online Exclusive item.  If you don't have these, you might want to consider getting them.  This crosshatch pattern is one I use very often.  After being embossed, it's attached to the folded white card base with "green glue".

Now it's time for all the Easter eggs.  The Excellent Eggs Die set was used.  Only the smallest egg is used here.  One each of Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Flirty Flamingo cardstock was die-cut.  

All the little pieces were taken from each egg and set aside for a minute.  Thinking about a way to attach all the pieces back into the eggs, I decided to use a strip of white cardstock behind each egg, trimming the edges top and bottom from any white sticking out.  Lining up the eggs the way I wanted them displayed, I took the top and bottom cut pieces from the egg next to it and tucked them into the eggs.  The middle pieces were from the egg on the other side of it.  This way each egg has all three colors on it.  The eggs are each attached with several Dimensionals.

I found a nice Easter sentiment in the Throughout the Year stamp set.  It's stamped onto a 3/4" white strip.  I stamped it with Pebbled Path ink which is a warmer gray to go with the other warm colors used.  The Banners Pick a Punch was used to flag the ends of this.  It was attached above the eggs using Dimenisonals.

I wanted some flowers in white to accent all the color.  I found a die not only for the bitty flowers, but for some pretty leaves too.  These came from the Thoughtful Expressions Bundle.  I thought these pieces worked out nicely with the design.  Each of the flowers and stems are attached with Mini Glue Dots.

The finishing touch on this design was adding some of the Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels.  I only used the smaller ones and added five to the design.  That's more than I usually use, but it seemed to work here.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Please leave a comment to let me know what you think of my Easter eggs.  Hope you like them!  Just a quick reminder that the end of Sale-a-bration is just around the corner.  It's always lovely to get items for free, and there are a bunch to choose from right now.  If you don't have a demonstrator, I would love to be yours.  Let me know if you need help ordering.  Don't miss out on this great sale!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon 

sharoncarr50@gmail.com