I suppose being Friday the 13th I shouldn’t complain too much, but I’ve just had a morning where everything was just that little bit more difficult that it should be.  It started with an e-mail from UPS telling me that my latest order from Stampin’ Up! which was routed via Richmond, BC (don’t ask me why) has spent the past week stuck in customs.  Instead of being delivered to me yesterday it’s now not due until next Thursday!  So much for spending the weekend playing with the new limited edition Blended Seasons Stamp Set and coordinating Stitched Seasons Framelits.

I don’t know if that disappointment was playing on my mind, but I’ve had a severe episode of crafter’s block this morning where I’ve actually started and not been able to finish 3 different projects.   Finally with the help of a couple of challenges I pulled myself together and come up with a pretty thank you card.

I started this design with the three flower images from the Colorful Seasons Stamp Set.  Each one was inked up with Crushed Curry ink and then ‘stamped off’ onto some scrap paper before I added a little Rich Razzleberry ink directly to the surface of the stamp with a Sponge Dauber, just in the centre of each flower and the edges of the petals.

The three flowers were all stamped onto some Very Vanilla Card and the stamen images were stamped in the centre of each flower using Rich Razzleberry ink.

The Just Add Ink challenge this week is #417 Just Add ‘T” and so I chose the ‘thank you’ sentiment from the Letter Board Messages Stamp Set and stamped it onto  a piece of Very Vanilla Card with Rich Razzleberry ink.

Then using my Big Shot and Magnetic Platform I individually cut out each of the flowers and the sentiment using the #1 (smallest) of the square dies in the Stitched Shapes Framelits.

I was using the Global Design Project sketch challenge GDP#146 as the inspiration for my project layout, and spent some time playing with the arrangement of my four die-cut pieces.  I tried a number of different background colours and in the end settled on Coastal Cabana Card while at the same time pushing the four die-cut pieces together to create a larger square.

To embellish the bottom of the main piece I decided to use some Very Vanilla 1/2″ Lace Trim instead of the card piece suggested by the sketch.  Having chosen some Coastal Cabana/Copper 1/8″ Tea Room Ribbon I thought it would be fun to try to thread the ribbon through the lace.  With the help of a darning needle I was able to achieve the desired result and fixed the threaded lace to the bottom of the Coastal Cabana piece using a little Tear & Tape Adhesive to secure it on the back.  I tied a small bow with another piece of ribbon and added that to the lace with a Mini Glue Dot.

Then I got stuck again.  I tried various patterned paper options but none of the Designer Series Paper I had seemed quite right.  I tried different colours of card and that wasn’t much better.  In the end I decided to keep it simple with a Very Vanilla layer, although I couldn’t resist embossing it with the new Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

TIP – To get the best result with the Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder which is thicker than standard embossing folders, I lightly spritzed both sides of the card with clean water then used my Big Shot and multipurpose platform with all the tabs open, a single cutting pad just on top of the folder, and I rolled the embossing folder forwards and back again.

Oh my goodness that textured piece of card was just the spark I’d been looking for all morning!

I created a card base using my Stampin’ Trimmer to cut and score a piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card, folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.  The embossed Very Vanilla layer was fixed to the front with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) and then the assembled focal piece added using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

On a separate layer of Very Vanilla Card I stamped a single multicoloured flower in the centre towards the top using the same technique I’d used for the flowers on the front of the card.  This layer was fixed inside my card base with liquid glue.

Finally I stamped another flower in the centre of the flap on a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope and I was done.

Four cups of coffee later, I think I’ll pop out for a walk around our property.  Maybe the rest of the day won’t be so bad.

CHALLENGES

Here are the challenges that helped me break my crafter’s block to make today’s project

 

And here’s the list of all the Stampin’ Up! products I used:

Product List