Sometimes I need to follow my own advice and actually read the Stampin’ Up! catalogue. Recently I’ve been playing with the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set and coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch. The punch cuts out four shapes; the strawberry (obviously), plus the stalk, a small 5-petal flower and a leaf. But the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set has a second, slightly larger 5-petal flower and I thought it was a shame I’d have to fussy cut that one.
It was only over the weekend that I realised that larger flower is designed to coordinate with the Small Bloom Punch. Of course it wasn’t a secret, Stampin’ Up! says so under the stamp set description. Duh! What’s more, I’ve had that punch for a while (it coordinates with the Basket of Blooms Stamp Set in the 2020/2021 Annual Catalogue). So today I decided to put both punches to the test on one project.
SMALL BLOOMS
I began by making the three flowers for the gift tag. Using the Small Bloom Punch I punched out two flowers from Gorgeous Grape Card. Then from a narrow strip of Highland Heather Card I punched out three flowers using the Strawberry Builder Punch. Next, using a Sponge Dauber I added a little Gorgeous Grape ink to the tips of the petals. Then I curved the petals outwards by gently pulling them between a Bone Folder and my thumb.
Before going any further I used Paper Snips to cut a little slit between the petals on the smaller flowers. Then I placed the flowers onto a Stampin’ Pierce Mat so I could rub the large scoring tip from the Take Your Pick tool over the centre of each one. This made the flowers take on a cup shape and once done, I set these aside while I worked on the tag base.
GREENERY EMBOSSING FOLDER(S)
Instead of using punched or stamped leaves I decided to add a different kind of interest using one of the Greenery Embossing Folders. These narrow folders come as a set of two, one with an all-over background design and one with a design just at the top and bottom borders. I chose the border folder and used it to emboss a 2-1/4″ x 4″ piece of Balmy Blue Card.
Next I used a Sponge Dauber to add a little VersaMark ink to some of the raised parts at the bottom of the tag. Then I sprinkled it with VersaMark ink and tapped off the excess, before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).
Finally, in preparation for the ribbon or twine I punched a hole at the top using the oval hole option on the Detailed Trio Punch.
At this point I realised I’d need to add another piece of card to the back of the tag to write on. So I cut a 2-1/4″ x 4″ layer of Very Vanilla Card and punched a hole at the top to line up with the one on the tag. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the tag and the backing together.
SWEET STRAWBERRY SENTIMENT
I was almost ready to start putting all the pieces together but first I needed a sentiment. So I chose the “Happy birthday you sweet thing” from the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set.
Using VersaMark ink I stamped the sentiment onto a 7/8″ x 2-1/2″ strip of Very Vanilla Card. Then I heat embossed it using the same process as before.
I’d made the sentiment strip a little longer than the width of the tag so that I could fix it with a curve in the middle. To do this I fixed two layers of Stampin’ Dimensionals in the middle on the back. Then I added a thin line of liquid glue at each end and lined them up with the edge of the tag.
Going back to the flowers I put a small dot of liquid glue in the centre of the two large ones and fixed a small flower in each one. Then I attached the double flowers and the remaining single one onto the embossed leaves at the bottom of the tag.
To finish I added a small self-adhesive Gilded Gem to the centre of each flower. Then tied a piece of 3/16″ Braided Line Trim through the hole at the top. Job done.
This is such a pretty gift tag, and one again not a strawberry in sight! It’s also given me a few ideas for other projects using the stamps and coordinating punches. Watch out for them in a future blog post.
For some more ideas using the Small Bloom Punch see the following blog posts:
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