While we’re still dealing with winter and the extreme cold that brings, other places are more fortunate. I’ve even seen photos of trees covered in spring blossoms! There’s something about apple and cherry blossoms that makes me smile. Maybe its the realisation that winter is finally over with lighter evenings and much milder temperatures. For now though I’ll just have to get my smiles from the Forever Blossoms Stamp Set and coordinating Cherry Blossoms Dies.

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

I haven’t made a wedding card in such a long time so today that was my plan, starting with the “Always and Forever” sentiment from the Forever Blossoms Stamp Set.

First I wiped a piece of Whisper White Card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Then I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink. Next I sprinkled the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Finally I removed some stray specks before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high). With that done, I mounted the sentiment onto a piece of Crumb Cake Card using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) and set it aside.

Next I created my card base using my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Crumb Cake Card. I folded the card along the scored line, sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder and then set that aside too.

Next I wanted to add some texture to the background and for that turned to the Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder. I cut some Seaside Spray Card and once it was embossed, mounted it onto Whisper White Card using liquid glue.

Finally I was ready to start creating my cherry blossoms.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS DIES

For my blossoms I chose Blushing Bride ink, combined with Pear Pizzazz ink for the leaves.

On scraps of Whisper White Card I began by stamping two of the double leaves and two of the single leaves. Then I stamped two of the full flower images.

For the flower buds I first tapped the bud end of the image on the edge of the Blushing Bride ink pad. Next I turned the acrylic block around in my hand so I could tap just the stem end of the image on the edge of the Pear Pizazz ink pad. Then I stamped the multi-coloured image onto some Whisper White Card. It’s not an exact science as the stamp set it made of red rubber, but I was happy with the result.

After stamping four buds I was ready to cut out all the pieces using the coordinating Cherry Blossoms Dies. While I was there I also cut the curved branch die in the set from some Crumb Cake Card.

Taking my stamped and die-cut pieces all I had to do was assemble them on my embossed layer using liquid glue. In the end though I decided to give a little more depth to the arrangement by attaching the full flowers with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

With the flowers all in place I used more Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the assembled piece to my card front. That was followed by the sentiment, but to allow for the height of the embossed layer I stacked the Dimensionals two high under the end attached to the card base.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Now the front of the card was complete I turned my attention to the inside and envelope. It made sense to use the same flower and leaf images, except this time I wouldn’t die cut them.

So on a layer of Whisper White Card I began by stamping the full flower image in the top right corner. Next I added a few leaves and finished off with a couple of multi-coloured flower buds. At this point I decided to add a second sentiment from the Forever Blossoms Stamp Set using Pear Pizzazz ink. With that done I used liquid glue to fix the layer inside the card base.

Finally I stamped some more flowers, leaves and buds in the top left corner on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope, and my project was complete.

For another way to stamp multi-coloured flower buds, check out my previous blog post Playing with Forever Blossoms.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Forever Blossoms Stamp Set and coordinating Cherry Blossoms Dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included links to both options below so you can look at these in more detail if you wish.