I’m still working my way through my parcel of new goodies from Stampin’ Up! and having such fun. Yesterday I realised that it was definitely getting lighter in the evenings, and spring must be on its way. So was it any wonder that I chose crocus images for today’s project.

PURPLE CROCUS

Whenever I think of a crocus my first thought is purple. Stampin’ Up! give us a lovely choice of purples but I decided to use Highland Heather for the front of my project. But first I had to stamp the large crocus image from the Easter Promise Stamp Set onto Very Vanilla Card.

I fancied doing a little ‘painting’ so I wiped the card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Then I stamped the image using VersaMark ink and sprinkled it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Once I tapped off the excess and removed a few stray specks, I melted the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

With the embossing done I then used my Aqua Painter to quickly add colour to the image. For the flower head I used Highland Heather and a touch of Pineapple Punch. Then for the stalks I used Granny Apple Green. First I squeezed the top each of the closed ink pads to transfer some of the ink to the inside of the lid. Then I added a drop of water to the ink and used that for painting. Of course Very Vanilla Card is not designed to be saturated with water so I had to work quickly with just the lightest touch. Once the ‘painting’ was done I set the piece aside to dry.

SMALL CROCUS IMAGES

Also in the Easter Promise Stamp Set is a long image with a lot of smaller crocus images. So I decided to use this on the inside of my card and the front of the envelope.

Instead of embossing the image however, I decided to stamp it using Granny Apple Green ink. First I stamped the image once at the bottom of a layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I stamped it twice on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.

Rather than ‘paint’ the small crocuses I chose Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. This time for the flower heads I used dark Purple Posy and dark Mango Melody. Then the leaves and stems were finished with a light Granny Apple Green.

For the card base I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Purple Posy Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. The Very Vanilla layer came next, fixed to the inside with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

More liquid glue was then used to mount my embossed and painted panel to a layer of Purple Posy Card. Then all I had left to do was the sentiment.

ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU

Although the crocuses come from an Easter-themed stamp set, I wanted to create a thinking of you card. So I turned to the Very Versailles Stamp Set and a beautifully scripted sentiment. I toyed with the idea of having a separate card layer for the sentiment but instead decided on something more subtle, vellum.

So I wiped a layer of Vellum Cardstock with the Embossing Buddy and stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink. As before I sprinkled the VersaMark with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Once I’d removed a few stray specks I then melted the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

To complete my card all I had to do was use liquid glue to attach the mounted crocus panel onto the vellum. Then with liquid glue hidden behind the panel I fixed the assembled layers to the card base.

I’m so pleased with how this project turned out. Of course it’s purple which I love, but it’s so elegant. That layer of vellum adds a softness to the project which really suits the sentiment don’t you think?

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