OK I admit it, I’m not a fan of fruit stamp sets. Whether it’s pineapples, or lemons, apples or cherries, they just don’t inspire me. So imagine my surprise when I was drawn to the new Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set. I should be honest and say that it wasn’t the strawberries that attracted my attention. It was actually the sentiments, plus the various flower and leaf images. Now I actually have the stamp set and coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch I’m certain I won’t regret ordering them.

STRAWBERRY FLOWERS

My project actually started with me testing out some of the images in the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set. After a few false starts I settled on my colour scheme; Garden Green and Granny Apple Green for the leaves, with Rococo Rose and Mango Melody for the flowers.

I began with a 2-7/8″ x 4-1/8″ piece of Whisper White Card and using Garden Green ink I stamped “Thank you” in the top left corner. Next, in the bottom right corner I stamped the large leaf and flower image. Then I coloured in the leaves using Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

Initially in my tests I tried colouring the small flower images with Rococo Rose, but decided I liked them better as just a stamped outline. After stamping the flower three times on Whisper White Card, I added a bit of brightness to the centre with a dark Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends marker. Then I punched them out using the coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch.

It was only at this point that I realised that one of the flowers in the main image was actually a side view. So I needed to be a little creative.

Going back to the small flower stamp and Rococo Rose ink pad I stamped the image again on the backs of the three punched flowers. This was really simple to do as I could see through the photopolymer stamp to get the placement just right. Then on one of the flowers I coloured over the centre using the dark Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends marker. With that done I added a curve to each flower by gently pulling the petals between my thumb and a Bone Folder.

With the stamping done I then began to think about the rest of the project.

FREE PATTERNED PAPER

I wanted to keep the design fresh and settled on Thick Whisper White Card for my card base. Then after cutting and scoring the card, I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

When looking for a background I considered stamping some other images from the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set. In the end though I found a summery plaid design in the free Berry Delight 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. From there the project really came together quickly.

First I cut a 2-1/4″ x 6″ piece of the DSP and used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix it to the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope. Then with Paper Snips I trimmed off the excess paper using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Next I cut a 3/4″ x 5-1/8″ strip of the DSP and glued it near the bottom edge of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Whisper White Card before fixing the assembled layers inside the card base.

My final piece of DSP was cut 3″ x 4-1/4″ and glued to the left side of the card base front.

With that done I used more liquid glue to fix my sentiment layer onto a 3″ x 4-1/4″ layer of Garden Green Card. Then with Stampin’ Dimensionals I mounted it onto the card front.

That just left the three stamped and punched flowers. First I took the flower coloured on the back in green and folded it in half to mimic the shape on the large stamped image. Then I fixed it in place with liquid glue. To finish I glued the remaining two flowers into place and my summery thank you card was complete.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set and coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant that I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options below so you can compare these if you wish.

FREE SALE-A-BRATION PRODUCTS – the Berry Delightful DSP used today can only be obtained as part of a free bundle with the coordinating Berry Blessings Stamp Set (not used today). To get the Berry Blessings Bundle simply place an order for $120CAD (before shipping and taxes) and choose the bundle as your free Sale-A-Bration item. Please note Sale-A-Bration ends on February 28th and product availability may be limited towards the end of the promotion.