Miles Apart But Close At Heart

When I think of the phrase “miles apart but close at heart” like most people I think it refers to significant distances. In fact probably hundreds if not thousands of miles. But with all the COVID restrictions those miles (or kilometres) could be much less. Everyone is coping with the stress and worry in their own way and with vaccines now being approved for use hopefully we’ll start to see the beginning of the end. Until then, why not bridge those miles with a handwritten message.

"miles apart but still in my heart" card created using the Lovely You and Basket of Blooms Stamp Sets from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

VINTAGE BACKGROUND

For today’s project I wanted to create a card with a bit of a vintage vibe. So I chose colourful but understated patterned paper for my background layers.

I began by finding the larger layer in the World Of Good Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I cut this piece 3″ x 3-1/2″ before sponging some coordinating Cinnamon Cider ink around the edges. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I mounted it onto a 3-1/8″ x 3-5/8″ layer of Mossy Meadow Card.

My second background layer comes from the Peony Garden DSP pack. This time I cut the DSP to 1-1/2″ x 4″ and sponged around the edges with Petal Pink ink. Then I mounted the DSP onto a 1-5/8″ x 4-1/8″ piece of Mossy Meadow Card.

For my card base I decided that Whisper White would be too harsh so instead chose Thick Very Vanilla Card. Using my Paper Trimmer I cut & scored the card, then folded it along the scored line before sharpening the crease with a Bone Folder.

With that done I fixed the larger background layer to the card front using liquid glue. Then with Stampin’ Dimensionals I added the second background layer and set it aside.

MILES APART

I already knew the sentiment I wanted from the Lovely You Stamp Set and when I opened up the stamp case out it fell, already heat embossed onto a strip of Thick Very Vanilla Card. Obviously it was left over from a previous project and stored for just such an occasion.

To create it I would have stamped the sentiment onto a 3/4″ strip of card using VersaMark ink. Next I would have sprinkled on some Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then after removing any stray specks the rest of the powder would have been melted using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Now to shape the ends of the sentiment strip I used the plainer option on the Lovely Labels Pick-A-Punch. Then I added the sentiment to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

TINY FLOWERS

That just left the floral decoration to do and for this I turned to the Basket of Blooms Stamp Set.

First, using Basic Gray ink I stamped the small flower image onto a scrap of the Peony Garden DSP. Then I coloured in the flowers using chose Rococo Rose Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers for some simple colouring. First I coloured the petals on two of the flowers with the light marker, before doing the remaining three flowers with the dark one. After some thought I opted to leave the centres of the flowers uncoloured.

For the leaves I went back to the Basket of Blooms Stamp Set and Basic Gray ink pad. This time however I found a mottled green pattern in the World Of Good Specialty DSP. I thought it would be perfect for the leaves so I simply stamped the images and left it at that.

Once stamped, I cut out the leaves and flowers with Paper Snips and then fixed them on and around the sentiment using liquid glue.

SIMPLE COORDINATION

Now all I needed to do was add some coordinating decoration to the inside of the card and the envelope.

Keeping it really simple I first stamped one flower in the centre of the flap on a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope using Basic Gray ink. Then I stamped another flower in the centre near the top of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Next I coloured the petals of both flowers with the dark Rococo Rose Stampin’ Blends marker. Finally I fixed the Very Vanilla layer inside the card base with liquid glue and my project was complete.

I love how this project turned out. The muted colours and tiny flowers give a really tranquil feeling. What do you think?

For more projects featuring the Lovely You Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Lovely You Stamp Set and Lovely Labels Pick-A-Punch using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. For this reason I’ve included both options in my product list so you can explore this further if you wish.