Did you realise that one week today it will be the end of January! How on earth did that happen? As I get older it definitely seems like the days and weeks are speeding by faster than ever. Good job too, as I’m bored with winter now, and the winter storm warning that appeared overnight. I’m definitely a warm weather girl and spring can’t arrive soon enough. Perhaps that’s why I paired the Flowers of Friendship Stamp Set with this sheet from the Delicate Desert Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack.

DELICATE DESERT
I began my project determined to create a slimline card and started by choosing a Smoky Slate envelope from the Slimline Envelopes pack. From there I decided to use Basic Gray for my main ink colour and for my card base.
Using my Paper Trimmer I cut a 7″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Basic Gray Card, and with the short side at the top I scored the card at 3-1/2″. Then I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create the slimline card base. Finally I cut a 3-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card to line the card base later.
If you missed my earlier projects using the Delicate Desert 12″ x 12″ DSP pack you’ll also have missed my suggestion to give this pack a second look. It’s full of patterns that I think will make great backgrounds even if you don’t want the Desert Details Stamp Set or Desert Details Dies.
After choosing this gorgeous design I made sure that the pattern was horizonal before cutting a 4″ wide strip. Then from that I began by cutting a piece 2-1/2″ high and, using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow), attached it to the envelope flap. After picking up my Paper Snips I trimmed off the excess DSP using the edge of the flap as a guide.
Next I cut a 1-1/4″ x 3-1/4″ strip and glued it along the bottom edge of the Basic White Card layer. Then I fixed the assembled piece inside the card base.
From what remained of my 4″ wide piece of DSP I cut a 3-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ piece and glued that to the front of the card base. Now I was ready to begin stamping.
FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP
Although I have lots of floral stamp sets with coordinating dies I love the simplicity of using a punch. So today I decided to use the Flowers of Friendship Stamp Set with the coordinating Leaves & Flowers Punch.
I began by stamping the larger flower twice onto scrap strips of Thick Basic White Card using Basic Gray ink. Then I chose the larger of the two leaves and stamped six of them. To colour the images I took my cue from the DSP and chose Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers for the flowers. Using the lighter marker I coloured each of the petals. Then I changed to the darker one for the flower centres. Finally I went back to the lighter marker and added 3 lines along the length of each petal. This gave just a little more dimension to the flowers.

Next I coloured in the leaves using just the light Soft Succulent Stampin’ Blends marker before punching out the individual images. With that done I used lqiuid glue to attach three leaves to the back of each flower and set them aside.
All I needed now was a sentiment and for that I went back to the Flowers of Friendship Stamp Set. I thought the “life is better with friends like you” sentiment was the perfect shape for a slimline card, so I stamped it onto some Thick Basic White Card with Basic Gray ink.
To cut out the sentiment I chose a pretty rectangular die with fancy corners from the Painted Labels Dies set. After die-cutting the sentiment I used liquid glue to attach my two floral pieces. Then I simply mounted the assembled sentiment onto the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Finally I scattered some Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels around the flowers and my project was complete.
I love how this card turned out. It’s the perfect size for a longer message inside, or perhaps you could add tickets or cash.
For more of my projects using the Flowers of Friendship Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:
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