At the beginning of the year I created a welcome plaque as my Painted Poppies sneak peek project. I loved the results and I know many of you did too. As so often happens I didn’t actually use all the poppy images I painted and as a result I left the unused ones in the stamp case. Then when I opened the stamp set yesterday to create another poppy project I rediscovered the images and as a happy consequence I ended up with this card.

POPPY PAPER?

With my main images already completed I decided to keep the background of my card fairly simple. For me this meant avoiding any more poppy images, but that didn’t stop me finding this striped design in the Peaceful Poppies 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. The handpainted, less-than-perfect stripes were literally made for this card so I began by cutting a 6″ x 6″ piece.

The background to the DSP is Whisper White and that gave me the colour for my card base. I cut and scored a piece of Thick Whisper White Card using my Paper Trimmer. Then I folded it along the scored line before sharpening the crease with a Bone Folder.

Now I was ready to add the DSP to the card. From the 6″ x 6″ piece of DSP I first cut a 3″ x 5-1/2″ strip. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached it to the card base up against the fold.

Next I cut a 3/4″ x 5-1/4″ strip and glued that along the bottom edge of a layer of Whisper White Card. This piece was then fixed inside the card base.

Finally the remaining piece of DSP was glued to the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope. With that done I trimmed the paper to shape with Paper Snips using the edge of the flap as a guide.

ALMOST THERE

For my thank you sentiment I went back to an old (but still available) favourite, the Daisy Delight Stamp Set. I love the font and the size and hope it never retires. Today I decided to keep things simple by using Mossy Meadow ink to stamp the sentiment directly onto the card base.

Before I could arrange my poppy images on the card I needed to define the edge of the DSP. Instead of card, I chose some Poppy Parade 1/2″ Textured Weave Ribbon which doesn’t fray easily. First I fixed some Tear & Tape Adhesive along the bottom edge of the DSP and then pressed the ribbon onto it. With the ribbon firmly attached all I had to do was trim the ends flush with the edges of the card.

Now everything else was complete all I had left to do was arrange the poppies. However it was at this point I realised that while I had poppy pieces in the stamp case, there were no leaves! To be honest I didn’t want to have to watercolour more, that would take time. So instead I went back to the Peaceful Poppies DSP and found a Mossy Meadow sheet with a ‘watercolour wash’ effect. Perfect!

For no other reason than it was the black ink I used on my watercoloured pieces, I used StazOn Jet Black ink to stamp 5 single leaves from the Painted Poppies Stamp Set onto the DSP. Then I cut out the leaves using the die in the coordinating Painted Labels Dies.

POPPY ARRANGEMENT

Finally I really was ready to assemble my poppy arrangement.

First I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to fix the largest flower onto the card base. I don’t usually start like this but it seemed the best way to achieve the layout I wanted. So with the focal image in place I then set about adding the remaining pieces using liquid glue.

Starting in the bottom left corner I tucked a single leaf under the edge of the flower. Then higher up I layered two more leaves, followed by another pointing towards the top right corner.

Next I placed the two smaller poppy images. These are identical but by angling them slightly differently I was able to get a more natural effect. That just left the final leaf which I tucked under the main flower but layered over the edge of one of the smaller ones. And that was it, my thank you card was complete.

I must say I’m really pleased with how this turned out. Starting with previously made pieces really saved me a lot of time. It’s the main reason I store my unused stamped images in the stamp case. In fact I know that this would have been a very different card without the watercoloured poppies I found at the beginning.

Rather that repeat myself, you’ll find instructions for the watercoloured poppies in my earlier blog post Painted Poppies Sneak Peek. There’s also more poppy inspiration in Pretty poppies with a familiar story.

PAINTED POPPIES PROJECT KIT

You may have gathered that I love the Painted Poppies Stamp Set and this why I’ve put together a special project kit for you.

If you buy the Painted Poppies Stamp Set or the Painted Poppies Bundle through my online store by February 14th, I’ll sent you my project kit for free. The kit will contain full instructions and all the pieces to make four projects using your Painted Poppies Stamp Set. To get it, all you have to do is allow Stampin’ Up! to share your contact details with me so I know where to send it.

PRODUCT LIST

I bought the Painted Poppies Stamp Set and coordinating Painted Labels Dies together using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options below so you can explore this further if you wish.