OK I admit it, I’m a sucker for flower images and dies. I don’t buy every one that Stampin’ Up! brings out, but I do buy quite a few. When I first saw the 2020/21 Annual Catalogue I was immediately captivated by the Peony Garden Suite. There’s pretty paper, gorgeous floral images and sentiments in the stamp set, and coordinating dies. So I got it all.

It was only when I opened up the Peony Dies that I realised I had no idea how to put the 3D flower together. It didn’t take long to work out the assembly part, then I had to consider how to add colour to the petals. This part took a little longer as there were so many options. In the end I settled on a quick and easy solution that anyone can do.

SIMPLE BEGINNINGS

I had a pretty good idea where this project was headed so I started with the card base. Using my Paper Trimmer I cut a 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then with the long side at the top I scored it at 4-1/4″. I folded the card along the scored line and then sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Next I chose the subtle herringbone pattern from the Peony Garden Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. First I cut a piece 2-1/4″ x 6″ to cover the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. After fixing the DSP to the flap with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I trimmed it with Paper Snips using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Next I cut a strip of the same paper 3/4″ x 5-1/2″. Then using liquid glue I attached this strip inside the card base along the bottom edge.

Finally I cut one last piece of the DSP at 3-1/2″ x 5-1/2″.

But before attaching the DSP to my card I first needed to stamp my sentiment. For this I chose “My thoughts are with you” from the Prized Peony Stamp Set and Rich Razzleberry ink. I also decided to stamp the sentiment directly onto the DSP in the top right corner. Once that was done I used liquid glue to attach the DSP to the front of the card up against the folded edge.

To finish off I cut two pieces of Rich Razzleberry Card 1/8″ x 5-1/2″. Using liquid glue I attached one to the bottom edge of the DSP on the front of the card, and the other to the top of the DSP on the inside of the card. This gave the DSP a more finished look.

PEONY PROGRESS

Now I was ready to start playing with the Peony Dies.

I decided to begin with the petals. In fact I cut a number of sets of petals as I experimented with various colouring options. After a few false starts I eventually cut one of each of the first four pieces from Thick Very Vanilla Card. The fifth piece, the stamen, was cut from a scrap of Rich Razzleberry Card. These were the pieces that made it onto my finished project.

I assembled the peony inserting each piece into the next and glued the layers using a little liquid glue just at the bottom edge. Once the four petal layers were in place I sponged over the whole flower using Rich Razzleberry ink. Then I sponged a little ink on the ends of the stamen piece before inserting it into the centre of the flower and gluing it in place.

After creating the flower I decided to film the process again in case my written description wasn’t clear.

In the dies set there are three different leaves, each one comprising a base layer and a more delicate top layer. For today’s project I decided to make up all three leaves. I cut the bottom layers from Pear Pizzazz Card and the top layers from Old Olive Card. After gluing the pieces together I sponged a little Old Olive ink around the edges.

To complete the card I used more liquid glue to attach the leaves to the back of my assembled flower. Then I glued the whole thing to my card front, adding a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals just under the top section of the flower to balance out the extra height caused by the layered leaves at the bottom.

Despite the false starts I’m really happy with how this project turned out.

I’m so looking forward to seeing what else I can come up with for these dies. In the meantime here’s the quick visual reference of the dies for the peony flower as seen in my video.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Prized Peony Stamp Set and coordinating Peony 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 so you can explore this further if you wish.

GET THE PRIZED PEONY BUNDLE FOR FREE – you still have time to get this bundle (or one of the other stamp set/tool bundles) for free. Simply join Stampin’ Up! by June 30th to take advantage of this special offer. For more details see my Join Stampin’ Up! page.