Where do you get your colour inspiration? I often make a note of colour combinations I see on clothes and household linens while I’m shopping. I also love to wander around the garden and take my cue from nature. In the summer there’s lots of pinks, reds and oranges. Autumn also has these colours, but the tones are quite different. Winter brings neutral colours like greys and browns. But right now I see blues and purples, and that’s what I was thinking of when I created today’s pretty card project.

LOVE NOTES

Today’s project started out with the new Full of Love Stamp Set on page 77 of the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue. It’s a fairly small set containing just three sentiments and four images. But what attracted me to the stamp set were the two largest images featuring flowers and envelopes. They (and one of the smaller images) are perfect for colouring, which of course you know I love!

For this project I chose the open envelope with flowers tucked inside and began by inking it up with Tuxedo Black ink. Then I stamped just the flowers across the bottom right corner of a Basic White Medium Envelope. After re-inking the stamp I did the same thing on a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card.

With that done pulled out my Stamparatus stamp positioning platform to help with the next phase. Taking the same stamp I placed it face down onto the grid paper lining it up with the grid. I closed the hinged plate to pick up the stamp, then inked up the stamp surface with Tuxedo Black ink. Then when I closed the hinged plate the image was stamped onto the Grid Paper so I could check the placement was correct.

Next I cut a 2-3/4″ x 3-1/8″ piece of Basic White Card and placed it onto the Stamparatus platform over the image stamped on the Grid Paper. Then without re-inking the stamp I stamped onto the card, leaving a much lighter image. I had a special plan for this last image so I was careful to leave it undisturbed on the Stamparatus platform. I also left the stamp attached to the hinged plate while I cleaned it with the Simply Shammy. That stamp would be needed later, but it was essential that it and the card piece stayed exactly where they were.

COLOURS I LOVE

At last it was time to start colouring.

I wanted this project to be coloured quite simply and chose just three sets of Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. First I used dark Highland Heather on the largest flower. Then I swapped to the light Highland Heather to colour the three closed flowers. Next I used the dark Granny Apple Green at the base of the closed flowers, while the light one was used for the leaves. Finally I chose Balmy Blue and used the dark marker for the cluster of tiny flowers. To add a shadow around the envelope I used the light Balmy Blue.

TIP – Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers are designed to saturate the card or paper with ink. This is what makes them blend so beautifully. However, it also means that the ink can bleed through to the other side of an envelope. So to prevent this from happening I slip some scrap paper inside the envelope while I’m colouring.

Once I’d coloured all three images i had just a little more to do to the one still on the Stamparatus platform. So using VersaMark ink I inked up the stamp still in place on the hinged plate. Then I closed it to transfer the sticky ink perfectly on top of the original Tuxedo Black lines of the image. Finally I removed the card from the platform so I could sprinkle the sticky ink with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder. After tapping off the excess I removed a few stray specks. Then I melted the rest of the powder using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Oh my goodness what a difference that black embossing made!

All I needed now was a sentiment and for that I went back to the Full of Love Stamp Set. After choosing “always grateful for you” I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Basic White Card. I then stamped the sentiment in the centre near the bottom of the card using VersaMark ink. Finally using the same method as before I embossed the sentiment in black.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

At last I was ready to bring all the various pieces together with the addition of some Balmy Blue Card.

First I used my Paper Trimmer to cut a 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Balmy Blue Card. Then with the long side at the top I scored the card at 4-1/4″. After folding it along the scored line, I sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create my card base.

Next I used liquid glue to attach the sentiment layer to the front of the card base. Then I glued the other decorated Basic White layer on the inside.

To help the envelope layer stand out I cut a 2-7/8″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Balmy Blue Card and mounted the coloured image on top. Then I added some white Faux Sea Glass Shapes using the putty attachment of the Take Your Pick tool to help me.

Finally, after making sure the embellishments were firmly attached, I added the assembled piece to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals. With that my project was complete.

The layout of this project is actually quite simple but I have to say I love it. What do you think of the colour scheme? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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