Well the winter storm is still raging outside and a huge snowdrift means we won’t be using the front door anytime soon. Still at least the power stayed on (so far) and I was able to complete my blog post for you. Today I have a vintage inspired card showing off the Rococo Rose Card and ink that will be retired on May 3rd. The sentiment is one of 19 (plus 4 tiny images) in the new Many Messages Stamp Set. I set ‘set’ but in reality it’s just one large stamp. It coordinates with the Messages Die which cuts out all the sentiments and images in one go. It’s a great way to create and store a variety of sentiments for when you need to make a project in a hurry.

VINTAGE ROCOCO BACKGROUND

The vintage-looking background is a sheet from the Hydrangea Hill 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I ‘aged’ it using Rococo Rose ink applied with a combination of Sponge Dauber and Blending Brush. I used the same technique to age the DSP added to the inside of the card and the envelope flap too.

For the front of the card I glued the DSP to a layer of Merry Merlot Card. Then I cut a Crumb Cake scripted pattern from the World Of Good DSP pack using the #6 die from the Stitched Nested Labels (counting from the smallest up).

Next, using a Sponge Dauber I added Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the die-cut piece before screwing it up into a tight ball. Then I unravelled the paper and added some Crumb Cake ink over the surface to highlight some of the creases. Finally after flattening the DSP with the help of a Bone Folder, I glued it onto the Rococo Rose background.

To add to the vintage look I chose Very Vanilla 3/8″ Scalloped Lace Trim. I simply wrapped this around the layers and secured it on the back with Tear & Tape Adhesive. With that done I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to mount the assembled piece onto a card base made from Rococo Rose Card.

FLOWER SURPRISE

For my flower embellishment I turned to a surprising stamp set; Poinsettia Petals. This set had pieces that I could assemble into a flower of the right size, so why not? I chose the smallest of the 5-petal poinsettia images and stamped it twice onto Petal Pink Card using Rococo Rose ink. For the leaves I used the same image, but stamped onto Pear Pizzazz Card with Pear Pizzazz ink.

Once stamped I cut out the three images using a coordinating die from the Poinsettia Dies. Then I ‘aged’ these pieces using the same colour inks as the stamped images and applied with a Sponge Dauber.

To assemble the flower I used liquid glue to fix one of the Petal Pink pieces to the Pear Pizzazz piece. Next I used a Bone Folder to curve the petals on the remaining piece. Then on the back I put a small piece of Stampin’ Dimensional on each petal, before adding a dot of liquid glue to the centre. Finally I pressed the piece onto into place and added large a Gilded Gem.

MANY MESSAGES

All I needed now was a suitable sentiment and with the Many Messages Stamp I really was spoiled for choice. A few weeks ago I’d stamped the whole stamp using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it in gold. Then I cut out the sentiments using the coordinating Messages Die and my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. So now I had a pile of different sentiments and I just had to choose which one.

In the end I decided on “Oh happy day!” Not only did I like the sentiment but it suited my project. So with a little Tear & Tape Adhesive I fixed it over the lace on my card front.

Finally, using liquid glue I attached the assembled flower beside the sentiment and my project was complete.

I love how this turned out and it’s not obvious that the flower is a poinsettia. The only thing I might have done differently is add some texture to the background layer with an embossing folder. What do you think?

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Many Messages Stamp Set and Messages Die using a ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options in the list below in case you want to compare them.