For some reason just lately we’ve been left waiting for a lot of mail. One package from the UK actually took 5 weeks to arrive! Talk about snail mail… Yesterday though I had a simply wonderful surprise when a package from my daughter included our granddaughter’s latest school photo.

The timing was perfect as I’ve been looking for a photo for today’s sneak peek project. So here it is, a simple but elegant decorated photo mat.

PRETTY POPPIES

I began the project with the poppy image from the new Bloom & Grow Stamp Set from the Stampin’ Up! 2019/2020 Annual Catalogue.

Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the poppies onto some Thick Whisper White Card, then coloured the image with Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

For the poppies I chose light Poppy Parade (what else?), then dark Petal Pink for the buds. The leaves were coloured using light Shaded Spruce and then I added a little light Basic Black to the flower centres.

The reason I chose to use Stampin’ Blends even though I wasn’t actually doing any blending is so that I didn’t get those tell-tale pen marks on the image.

Once the flowers were done I used my retiring Big Shot and Magnetic Platform to cut out the image. This was a simple task using the coordinating Budding Blooms Dies.

SIMPLY WONDERFUL SENTIMENT

The next stage was to add the sentiment to the photo mat that came with the frame.

I wiped the card using my Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static from the surface. Then I used my Stamparatus to stamp the ‘you are simply wonderful’ sentiment in the centre at the bottom with VersaMark ink.

Next I sprinkled the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then I spent a minute checking for and removing any stray specks of embossing powder. With that done I melted the rest of the embossing powder using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Now all that was left was to attach the floral image to the top of the mat with liquid glue. Then I added the photo of Alyssa and put in into the frame. Done in no time.

BLOOM & GROW

The poppy image used today is one of 3 large floral images in the Bloom & Grow Stamp Set. There are also four smaller floral images, and a background type image.

As well as the ‘simply wonderful’ sentiment used today, the set contains three other large sentiments, plus a smaller ‘hello’.

All the images in the Bloom & Grow Stamp Set (except the background one) can be cut out using cooordinating dies from the Budding Blooms Dies. The dies also include a couple of extra decorative pieces, but more about that another day.

I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for a Simple Sunday sneak peek, but for now I’ll just leave you with a photo of the gorgeous Bloom & Grow Stamp Set.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – you can buy the Bloom & Grow Stamp Set and coordinating Budding Blooms Dies separately, or together in a bundle. Using the bundle code will save you 10% off the cost of getting the two items separately. You’ll see I’ve included links to both options below so you can look at this in more detail if you wish.