After creating yesterday’s decorated box project I did something that I rarely do, I walked away from my workspace without put everything away. It’s not a difficult or time-consuming task as everything has a place, but I was running late for an appointment and it was a minute I just didn’t have. Of course that meant when I sat down to create today’s card project I had to clear the desk first. However before putting away the pretty Hand Penned Petals Stamp Set I couldn’t resist getting it inky again.

HAND PENNED FLOWER

I have to say that I’ve loved the images in the Hand Penned Petals Stamp Set ever since I saw them in the catalogue. Today I wanted to play with two-flower image and started by stamping it onto some Thick Basic White Card using Tuxedo Black ink.

Next I chose just two colours of Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers, Petal Pink and Soft Sea Foam. In fact I only used the dark marker in each set, leaving areas of the image white rather than colouring the entire thing.

With the colouring complete I cut out the image using the coordinating die from the Penned Flowers Dies and my Cut & Emboss Machine.

For my card base I decided to avoid the obvious Basic White, instead I cut and scored some Smoky Slate Card. After folding it along the scored line I sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Then I set it aside with the die cut flower while I created the other layers for the project.

EASY CUSTOM BACKGROUNDS

When I began this project I’d planned to mount the die-cut flower onto a white background, but then I thought it would look nice with a subtle colour behind it. So having already cut a 3-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ piece of Basic White Card I decided to use it as the base for a custom background.

I began by using a Blending Brush to add a light layer of Soft Sea Foam ink over the surface. I liked the patchy effect with some areas slightly darker than others but I wasn’t quite finished. To add more interest I took some Saran Wrap (cling film) and scrunched it up into a loose ball. Then I gently tapped the ‘ball’ onto the surface of the ink pad before tapping it onto the inked card. That was so much better and I decided that this background effect was perfect for my coordinating feature.

So with that I repeated the process on the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Then I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card and covered all but a 3/4″ strip down one long side with scrap paper. Now I could create a strip of my custom background just on the visible part of the card layer. With that done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the white layer inside my card base.

I love the effect of stamping ink onto card of the same colour and decided to use this technique to create a second custom background layer. So keeping with my original colour scheme I cut a 1-1/4″ x 5″ strip of Petal Pink Card. Then going back to the large flower image I stamped the petals along the sides of the strip using Petal Pink ink.

PENNED FLOWER PETALS

To finish the original custom background piece I just needed a sentiment from the Hand Penned Petals Stamp Set. This actually says “Feel better friend” but wasn’t quite what I wanted, so I tweaked it. After tapping the stamp onto the the Tuxedo Black ink pad turned the bock over so I could see the surface of the stamp. Then I covered the word “friend” with a small piece of sellotape. With the word covered I stamped the altered sentiment in the top right-hand corner of the background layer.

At last I was ready to finish off the card front. I started by using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the die-cut flower onto the Soft Sea Foam background layer. Then I added a few green embellishments from the Faux Sea Glass Shapes pack.

Next, using liquid glue I mounted the Petal Pink strip onto the card base, 1/2″ from the fold.

Finally I added the assembled flower layer on top using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals and my card was complete.

There’s so much I love about this project, the custom background pieces, the simple layout, it all just seems to work well together. What do you think?

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