So today was another one of those days where I planned to make one thing and ended up with something else. My plan included birds, using the Free As A Bird Stamp Set and Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper (DSP). It all started out OK with me choosing the paper that I’d use for the background and envelope flap. Next I went looking for a birthday sentiment and found the perfect one in the Painted Glass Stamp Set. But then my design took an entirely different direction as you can see…

PAINTED GLASS SENTIMENT

I started by stamping the birthday sentiment from the Painted Glass Stamp Set onto Whisper White card using Old Olive ink. While I loved the sentiment, I wasn’t excited by the ink. It was just too flat and plain. So I decided it needed to be heat embossed.

First I wiped some Whisper White Card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Then I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink. Next I sprinkled the sticky ink with Copper Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Once I’d removed a few stray specks I then melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Oh my goodness that was so much better and really brought out the beauty of the Painted Glass font.

With that done, I cut out the sentiment using the #4 die from the Stitched Nested Labels Dies (counting from the smallest up). Then I used the slightly larger #5 die to cut out some Petal Pink Card to use as a mat.

BIRD BALLAD FLOWERS

I began to look through the Bird Ballad DSP for birds to cut out to decorate the card. They were all lovely, but I kept being drawn back to a floral only sheet (with a key design on the back). As luck would have it, I found a scrap of the paper and cut out a couple of small sprays of flowers to try. That did it, out went all ideas of birds, and instead I’d just use flowers.

Finally I was ready to assemble my sentiment using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the it onto the Petal Pink mat. Then I added two of the floral pieces I’d cut out with Paper Snips. So pretty!

TIP – Instead of trying to cut out all the white space between the flowers and leaves, I left some of it there. It’s barely noticeable though because I made sure those bits were on top of the white sentiment. If you look really closely at the lower flowers you’ll see there is some ‘stitching’ missing. On the top flowers there’s a very faint line visible between the two lower buds.

FANCY FOLD CARD BASE

Now I needed my card base and I thought it was about time I did something different. So I made my Thick Whisper White Card base as normal, but then scored the front at 2-1/8″ and folded it back to create a Z-fold card.

At this point I went back to the Bird Ballad DSP and the petal pink polka dot design. First I used liquid glue to attach a piece to the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope. Then I cut the DSP to shape with Paper Snips, using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Next I cut a piece of the same polka dot pattern as a background layer for the folded back section of my card base. I couldn’t decide though whether to add a layer of Petal Pink Card underneath it.

Then I thought maybe it needed a little ribbon or twine between the DSP and sentiment piece. I chose the gorgeous Petal Pink 5/8″ Organdy Striped Ribbon and decided just to lay it on the front of the card to see. Hmm, possibly that would work.

HAPPY ACCIDENT

Still not sure about layering the polka dot background, I pulled it out from under the ribbon. Eureka! Without the distraction of the patterned paper suddenly my card made sense to me.

I used Tear & Tape Adhesive to fix the ribbon 1/8″ in from the centre of the Z-fold. Then I added the layered Painted Glass sentiment in the centre with Stampin’ Dimensionals just under the left half.

As I was tidying up I found a small fussy-cut flower spray with a straight edge where it had been printed at the edge of the sheet. Instead of wasting it I used a little liquid glue to attach it to the top of the card underneath the Z-fold section. This way it doesn’t change how the card looks when closed, but adds a little interest on the back when opened. At last my project was finally complete.

This was definitely not what I had in mind when I sat down this morning, but I think this is better. Sometimes less is more, especially when there’s a gorgeous sentiment like the one from Painted Glass as the focal point.

In the list below you’ll find links to some earlier blog posts with projects created using the Painted Glass Stamp Set:

• Heat Embossing Tips
• Bright and Early
• #simplestamping Challenge Thank You
• Faux Stained Glass
• Mosaic DSP Inspires A Tag

PRODUCT LIST

UPDATE 2020: Sadly the following products have retired and are no longer available from Stampin’ Up!

• Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper
• Painted Glass Stamp Set
• Embossing Buddy