Did you know that this month marks 20 years since Stampin’ Up! came to Canada. I was still in the UK then and it would be another 8 years before I moved here and discovered papercrafting. Since becoming an independent demonstrator I’ve had the privilege of writing for Inspiration Canada, the Canadian demonstrators’ monthly newsletter. This month my editor challenged me to design a project using only colours that were available in 2002, So I chose Night of Navy and Real Red and created this simple card with bright poppies.

PAINTED POPPIES

Now the my colours had been decided I went looking for a something to really show them off. That’s when I remembered the Painted Poppies Stamp Set. I could use Night of Navy ink for the outline image and then the Real Red would quickly colour each flower. It was the perfect #simplestamping project.

Coming from the UK I could easily have been pulled into a red, white and blue colour palette but I wanted something a little softer. So instead I chose Very Vanilla as my neutral and, as luck would have it, another one still available from 2002.

With the basic idea in my head I cut two pieces of Very Vanilla Card; one 1-3/4″ x 5-1/4″ and one 4″ x 5-1/4″. Next, from the Painted Poppies Stamp Set I chose the largest of the two poppy head images plus the abstract solid shape. I began by using Night of Navy ink to stamp the outline on the large piece of card. First across the top left corner and then across the bottom right corner. On the strip of Very Vanilla Card I stamped the outline image over the whole piece, close together but not overlapping. Finally I stamped the outline over the whole of the flap on a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.

Colouring the poppies was quick and easy using a Real Red ink pad and the large solid stamp from the set. The solid stamp is not designed to fit the poppy outline exactly and that gives it a loose feel that I love. All I had to do was ink up the stamp, stamp off onto scrap paper to remove a little of the ink and then stamp over a poppy outline. Then I repeated the process until all the poppies were coloured.

CELEBRATION

As this was a card to celebrate 20 years of Stampin’ Up! in Canada I knew exactly where to look for my sentiment, Celebrating You. This is my current go-to sentiment only stamp set and from it I chose “the best is yet to come”. Then I stamped it onto a 1-3/8″ x 2-3/8″ piece of Very Vanilla Card with Night of Navy ink. Now I just needed the card base and layers and I would be ready to put it all together.

I began by using my Paper Trimmer to cut a 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Night of Navy Card. Next, with the long side at the top I used the scoring blade to score it at 4-1/4″. Then I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Finally I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the large stamped layer on the inside.

That just left the front of the card to do. So for my mat layers I first cut a 1-7/8″ x 5-3/8″ piece of Real Red Card. Then using liquid glue I mounted the poppy strip on top before adding it to the front of the card base.

Going back to my Paper Trimmer I cut a 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ piece of Real Red Card followed by a 1-5/8″ x 2-5/8″ piece of Night of Navy Card. Then after layering these two pieces with liquid glue I added the sentiment on top. Finally, using Stampin’ Dimensionals, I fixed the assembled sentiment to the card front.

While I liked the colours I felt that the front needed a little lift and so I reached for a pack of Classic Matte Dots. From the four colours I chose one large and two small in Very Vanilla and added these to the card base just below the sentiment. With that my card was complete.

I love how this project turned out and despite the flowers I think this could work for any gender. The sentiment is also very versatile; who wouldn’t want to hear that “the best it yet to come”? Talking of things to come, next week I’ll be posting projects using some of the newest products from Stampin’ Up! I hope you’ll join me.

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