Spring is (Finally!) Springing or A Saga of Perseverance and How I Got this Card Done!

Would you like to create this? You'll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs . Follow the link below and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Card Face: 5.25 x 4

Card Face:

• I often let a card decide what it wants to look like, but this time I was very deliberate. I started out by planning the placement of the bouquet and the final look I was going for, and then stamping it. Using a stamping platform to be certain that I lined up all the elements correctly, I stamped the mauve and yellow tulips and the stems.

• I stamped the mauve blossom first, and then masked it off to stamp the yellow blossom. This allowed the yellow to partially obsure the mauve without the two inks overlapping and getting muddy.

• I stamped the stems in two different shades of green just to give a bit more visual interest. (I didn't bother masking here, as I wasn't worried about muddy tones in the overlapping areas.)

• I also added another stem, in preparation for the third blossom (which would come later in the process), and the upper two leaves.

• To create the leaves I stayed with the same two greens used on the stems, but added a bit of depth by layering them. I inked up each leaf in the lighter tone and then carefully applied the darker one around some of the edges and the tip. To get rid of any harsh lines I carefully dabbed the areas where the two colours met using a small blending tool.

• After masking the two blossoms on the card face I secured a stencil on the left hand side. I used blending brushes to apply yellow at the top of the stencil and green at the bottom, allowing a gradual fade as I worked towards the bottom.

• I prepped my card face with an anti static tool and then used a versamark pen to add a fine line of ink down the right hand side. I added some metallic gold powder and heat set it for a subtle bit of sparkle. (it appears black in the image - I promise you it's not!)

Note on technique:

To mask off an image is to protect it when your design requires you to stamp over part of it. There are several ways to accomplish this: in this instance I stamped onto a piece of masking paper and cut the image out. Then I removed the release paper and covered the image I wanted to protect. (Masking paper has a very, very low tack surface and will not harm your image.)

Card Assembly:

I centered and glued the card face to the card base.

I had die cut a bow out of white card stock and gave it a good spritz with shimmer spray. Once dry, it was ready to put in place on the bouquet.

Normally this is the end of the process (or very close) , but not this time.

• This stamp set (Timeless Tulips, retired, Stampin' Up!) offers the option of another, larger blossom . There is a punch that will cut this out, as well as one of the leaves in the set. I stamped the larger blossom and the appropriate leaf on a separate piece of paper. I used the same ink as the mauve tulip, but repeated the stamping several times to create a more intense version . (Another benefit of using a stamping platform.) I used the punch to cut these out .

• I played with these for far longer than I should have trying to convince myself that it would work. In the end it just didn't as the third blossom is out of proportion in this design.

• SO - I put the entire card back into the stamping platform, grabbed the stamp I had used for the yellow tulip and put it in place at the end of the stem prepared for the larger blossom: I stamped it using the mauve ink quite a few times as I had to cover the stencilling as much as possible. This blossom ended up being purple, which I didn't mind in a spring/Easter sort of card.

• I took one of the leaves that I had punched out, and cut the bottom part of it off. I lined this up with the bottom edge and glued it in place. I liked the overall look at this point - it all came together and worked.

And then I messed it up ....

• I looked at the blossoms and decided to add a bit of definition to the bottom of each tulip by using markers that matched the inks I had used. This went well for the purple and yellow blossoms - but when I got to the mauve blossom the marker was much to obvious and looked terrible. I thought I had ruined my card. I put it down and went to have some lunch.

  Walking away from the situation allowed enough space for an idea, "I wonder if I could .... " There was nothing to lose at this point so I gave it a try.

• I prepped the entire surface with anti-static powder and put it back into the stamping platform. I put a sentiment in place so that it would at least partially cover the mistake I'd made on the mauve blossom, and stamped it a couple of times with archival black ink. I removed it from the stamping platform, added some clear embossing powder and quickly heat set it. To my relief, this provided enough of a distraction that the eye wasn't immediately drawn to the error in the mauve blossom. Phew!

• I glued the bow in place and added a gem to the center.

  And now the card really was done!

Final thoughts: This is a visually simple card that required lots of planning and many steps to complete. I'm glad I persevered! I'd be happier if the sentiment was just a touch lower, and it's not quite the end result I wanted, but it is a pretty spring/Easter card. I didn't have to throw it away - so it's a win.

Supplies:

Stencil: Kite, A Colorful Life Designs

Stamps/punch - retired, but grab something floral from your stash and give it a go

ink: die based ink, Stampin' Up!

archeval ink: , Stampin' Up! (this black ink has retired, but any archeval ink will serve this purpose)

Versamark: Stampin' Up!

gold embossing powder: Stampin' Up!

clear embossing powder: Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Masking Paper: Gina K Masking Magic, Scrapbook.com

card base: Accent 100 lb. , Amazon

card face: Accent 80 lb., Amazon

Thanks for popping by!

what did you think?