Once again the weekend disappeared and we’re faced with another Monday morning. It’s not all bad of course, the weather is set to be bright and sunny, and not too humid. I’ve also noticed that a parcel from Stampin’ Up! has made good progress and will be delivered to me a day early. That means I have a stack of chores to get done this morning if I want the whole afternoon to play. So here’s a quick card with a California poppy so you can have a bright start your your Monday too.

POPPY PREPARATION

I began my project with the Painted Poppies Stamp Set and some Thick Basic White Card. Then using Granny Apply Green ink I stamped the larger poppy image and three of the single leaves.

To colour in my the poppy I wanted to steer clear of the classic red, just because I felt it was time for a change. So instead I chose a Mango Melody Stampin’ Write Marker from the Brights collection and set to work. Even using the brush tip of a Stampin’ Write Marker can leave tell-tale lines in the colouring so I completed one petal before moving on the to the next.

First I used the brush tip to colour from the base of the petal to the tip. This way if any lines were visible at least they’d look more natural than if they went across the petal. Then I quickly went over the coloured area using a damp Water Painter. This moved and smoothed out the ink just a little but without getting the card too wet. With that done I continued on until all the petals were coloured.

Next I turned to the leaves and using the same process coloured each one with a Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Write Marker.

Finally I cut out the flower and leaves using the coordinating dies from the Painted Labels Dies.

MANY HAPPENINGS

Now I was ready for a sentiment and I decided to pull out the Many Happenings Stamp Set. Like the Many Messages Stamp Set this is one large stamp with 19 separate sentiments. In addition there are four tiny shapes to help line up the stamped image with the coordinating Messages Die.

Some time ago I stamped the Many Happenings Stamp onto Thick Basic White Card and die-cut it. Then I put all the individual sentiments into a small bag and stored them with the stamp. Today, when I opened the stamp case, I had a whole stack of sentiments ready to use. In the end I selected “You’re the best” and set it aside with the poppy pieces.

Next I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score a piece of Thick Basic White Card. I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base.

FINISHING TOUCHES

I wanted my poppy to stand out against the white, but thought a little subtle inking wouldn’t hurt. So I grabbed a Black Stampin’ Write Marker, took the lid partly off the brush end and pulled the brush tip against the edge of the lid. This created a really fine splatter effect on the front of the card base. I repeated this process a number of times until I was happy with the effect.

Still using the same ink splatter technique I covered the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Then I did the same across a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card. Finally using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the white layer inside the card base.

I was nearly done, but I thought my poppy needed a bit more detail so I went back to the Mango Melody marker. First I added a little extra colour around the centre of the flower using the brush tip. Then, using the writing tip, I added some fine lines from the base of each petal. That was much better.

Now to complete the card I cut some gold twine from the Simply Elegant Trim pack. This twine has a bit of a memory and loves to create loops. All I had to do was hold them down on the front of the card base with a couple of Mini Glue Dots.

Next I added the die-cut leaves over the twine using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals, before fixing the poppy on top with liquid glue.

That just left the sentiment to add with a few more Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals and my project was complete.

Bright and cheerful, just the thing to start the work week don’t you think?

For another idea using some other images from the Painted Poppies Stamp Set, check out my earlier blog post Ornate Layers becomes a tag base.

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