My latest box of goodies from Stampin’ Up! was finally delivered yesterday and was waiting for me when I got home. But with so many new products it’s hard to know what to play with first. Looking for a little inspiration I scanned my emails and found a great colour challenge. So I immediately reached for the Thoughtful Blooms Stamp Set and set to work.

THOUGHTFUL BLOOMS

The CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #354 gave me Seaside Spray, Granny Apple Green and Rococo Rose as my colour combination. So from the Thoughtful Blooms Stamp Set I chose the large stems image, the large striped flower and the small solid flower. Then to keep the design soft and subtle I chose Very Vanilla Card for my background and began to stamp.

I always do a test on some scrap paper and decided that the Granny Apple Green was a little dark for what I had in mind. So before stamping onto the Very Vanilla layer I first ‘stamped-off’ onto some scrap paper. Then when I stamped onto the card I had the same colour, just a little lighter.

To create my random design I first stamped the leafy stems in Granny Apple Green. Once again after testing the colour I decided that the Rococo Rose ink was too dark, so I stamped-off first before adding the striped flower to the centre of each cluster of four stems. Finally I added a sprinkling of the small flower using Seaside Spray ink.

I was really happy with the colours and the images I’d chosen from the Thoughtful Blooms Stamp Set so I continued on with my stamping.

I took another layer of Very Vanilla Card but this time stamped the stems image across the top right and bottom left corners. Then I added the Rococo Rose and Seaside Spray flowers around the stems. Finally on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope I stamped the stems and flowers in the bottom right corner.

That just left the sentiment and I chose “I’m always amazed but never surprised by your thoughtfulness”. Using Seaside Spray ink I stamped it into a smaller piece of Very Vanilla Card before starting to put everything together.

A LITTLE LACE

Seaside Spray is one of my favourite light blues that has almost a lavender tone to it and I wanted that to complete my project. So using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored a piece of Seaside Spray Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base.

Next, using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow), I fixed the main stamped panel to the front of the card base. Then the second Very Vanilla layer was added to the inside.

With more liquid glue I mounted the sentiment onto some Seaside Spray Card too, but something was missing. I had this delicate looking card but it seemed to need an extra feminine touch, and I had just the thing.

I flipped over the layered sentiment and put some Tear & Tape Adhesive around the edges of the card. Then after taking off the backing paper I pressed some Very Vanilla 3/8″ Scalloped Lace Trim onto the adhesive. To get the lace around the corners of the piece I simply added a little pleat.

With the lace attached I added a second layer of Seaside Spray Card over the top to sandwich everything together. Then I added the sentiment to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals and my project was complete.

COLOUR INSPIRATION

It’s funny how a simple thing like being given a colour combination can spark the creative process. I’m really pleased with how my first Thoughtful Blooms project turned out and I have the guys over at the CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge to thank for that.

PRODUCT LIST

SALE-A-BRATION – The Thoughtful Blooms Stamp Set is part of the Sale-A-Bration promotion and is only available until March 31st. To get this stamp set simply place an order for $60 CAD (before shipping and taxes) then when prompted select the stamp set for free. Also available for free is the Small Bloom Punch that coordinates with the larger flower. The punch is a level 2 Sale-A-Bration choice available for free with a $120 order. For more details see the Sale-A-Bration section of my online store, or click on the Sale-A-Bration image on the right to download the brochure.