COME SLEIGH WITH ME INSPIRATION

While surfing the card gallery at www.scrapbook.com, I find lots of inspiration.

When I find a card layout that jumps out at me and speaks to me, I quickly save the image to one of a few folders I keeps for layout ideas.  I have a layout folder for Christmas, a generic folder, a folder for one of my favorite site within Facebook, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, (awesome design work and layouts), and a masculine folder which has layout ideas for card for the men in our lives.

I have the darnedest time coming up with card ideas for dad, uncles, my sweety, etc.  So when I see a card that hits the mark, I save it quickly, into my Masculine Card Layout folder.

So this year I came across a beautiful card at www.scrapbook.com.  I couldn't wait for Christmas to try my hand at it.  I hope you see it as the gorgeous card that I see it as, with lots of Christmas details.

Inspiration Piece

I spent a few hours of applying pencil to paper to create a rough draft of what I see and what I plan to do, and the purchasing of products.  Sometimes better stated, hunting for products, thus the time consumption.

Note, the upper right snowflake alone.  I count at least 6 punches.
     1 White large snowflake
     1 Green large snowflake, different punch than the first snowflake
     1 White smaller snowflake
     1 Lavender small flower punch
     1 Green small flower punch
     1 White tiny flower punch

Search as I might, I could not find a good icicle punch.  I did find one, but it was too pointy and harsh looking.  Also, I'm never too eager to shop online with a company I've never heard of, or if their website looks too simplistic/homemade.

I read somewhere that the Halloween dripping blood punch by Martha Stewart could also be used to make icicles. Of course that means I had to be on the lookout in early October for the "icicle" punch.  After visiting one Michaels in early October I discovered they were sold out.  I went to another Michaels and I got my hands on the last one in stock.

I find it amazing how soon/quickly you have to be to get your hands on seasonal items.  You must begin planning months in advance to get the supplies you need.  Except for Christmas. You can't find Christmas paper in October, but stores are sold out by the beginning of December.

I'll use this opportunity for a soapbox diatribe to prove my point.

With about 3 1/2 weeks until Christmas, I needed more paper with a soft pretty Christmas print.  Nothing heavy in design.  Airy, and subtle. (See the Christmas print in the finished card below.) I don't want anything with dark muted Christmas tones of green and red.

I was shocked that, in my opinion, we're still in the heart of the Christmas crafting season, and I couldn't find any Christmas print paper.  One store only had a tiny rack of prints remaining.  Another store only had one print in stock.

When I explained I was looking for a Christmas print, they proudly proclaimed they had a Christmas light bulb print.  It had a bright background with large green, red, and blue Christmas light bulbs on the bottom of the page. Being that the only designed area was on the bottom of the page, made the design of no value to me, let alone the colors.

What got me though was the fact they felt it was the perfect Christmas paper.  I equate this to wishing to buy  Christmas cards for all your card giving needs.  Would you go to the Hallmark store, or any store, and be excited that they only have one card to offer.  That card would have to satisfy the need for family, friends, co-workers, children and your significant other.

But I digress.  I went to another "super" craft store.  They too had very few 12 x 12 single sheet Christmas design prints to purchase.  However, they had a small variety of  12 x 12 Christmas paper pads.  Fortunately, there were a few prints within one pad that would satisfy what I was looking for.  Sadly, I'm forced to buy a whole pad of paper, at a cost which is much higher than buying 3 or 4 sheets of paper, which for the majority of the pad I'm really not interested in.

The clerk explained, they switched to pads due to a lack of display area of holiday paper.

I caved, and purchased the pad, since it was 50% off.  Still $7+ is more expensive than $3 or $4 would have cost me if I could have purchased the sheets individually.

Seems to me to be a disconnect for the purchasing public.  If you don't purchase or plan out your project in advance and shop at the exact time the stores are stocked with product, their sold out early on.  It seems poor planning on the stores behalf.  You should not have to walk into a store in mid-season and be disappointed that their sold out of holiday punches, and paper products.

This year I didn't have enough time to go online and order the paper I wanted.  In the end I'm still paying more, due to shipping cost.  I'll have enough time between now and next Christmas to get the exact paper I need via online shopping.

Which brings to mind, I recently began keeping a log of all paper I buy.  I note the maker, color and/or the design print name.  This makes re-purchasing easier, especially if I have to go online and order additional product.  It also makes recreating a card easier.  It's hard to recreate something if you can't remember the design paper details.

Anyway, short story made long, below is my interpretation of the inspiration card.

 

A LEARNING ACT

This is a story of how I was really excited about a new stamp I purchased, but the project didn't turn out as good as I had wished it to be.  Feeling challenged I tried a new approach and ended up with a finished product I felt particularly proud of.

I already had a nice Christmas tree stamp I used last year, but it was so convoluted with details within the tree, it was a bit hard to really appreciate the image as a whole.

This year I found a new stamp at Michaels, (www.michaels.com), by Hero Arts called Branch and Flourish.

I'm always drawn to images with flourishs, curly tails and soft swirls.  In this case, the voids in the curls made a perfect home for embellishments, such as jewels and pearls. 

When creating a stamped image on watercolor paper, I use to find a nice matching or complementing colored pen/marker and finish the edges.  This would give a nice finished edge to the image, but it was also very easy to make a mistake.  One colored edge could be too thin or too thick, and in trying to fix the errant edge(s) could lend itself to possible more errors.

Surfing many a scrapbooking web galleries, I discovered a new idea.   Instead of using a pen or marker, use chalk!  Chalk adds a nice softness to the image, and in the process, it's not meant to create perfect matched edging.  

I swirled the cotton ball over the chalk pallet, then transferring the chalk from the cotton ball onto the edges of the stamped image, in a similar swirl fashion.  

I was really impressed with the finished product.

Once done, I created the final product you see below.

The problem:  I wasn't excited over with the final product.  It was too simple.  There was just no punch.

I was deflated.  I felt I could create better than this.

 

So,  back to my portfolio, and web galleries.

From the web galleries I found the following layout idea:

From my portfolio, I re-use this following layout: 

 

I was fortunate and found a nice charcoal glitter paper with teal flecks in it.  Using it as one of three mats is a nice way to add a little sparkle without being overwhelming.  

Years ago I watched an interior decorating show in which the host explained the color black gives foundation and anchors a room. I find that to be a very true statement in any type of decorating. It's amazing how black can make a color "pop", or lend elegance to the design or finish product.  Therefore, the anchor color for this card is black.  I think it really made the teal color pop. 

Below, you can see the interior of both cards.  

I have to say, I'm proud of these two cards. I think I achieved the "punch" I was looking for with these two cards.

INSPIRATION BECOMES A LEARNING MOMENT

I have found a new website and Facebook pages with the most inspiring card layouts, http://www.kraftinkimmiestamps.com

You must go to her Facebook page and view for yourself her photo albums.  After five minutes I already have too many inspirations to number!!!  At her website if you find a stamp you wish to purchase, each stamp has 4 or 5 images beneath it, of full colored layouts.  Inspiration is everywhere!!!

So, below is a layout I created via inspiration of one of Kimmie's images.

I love lot's of details.  To me, it is the details that make the card so special.  It is the details that make the card more of a gift, beyond just a greeting card.   

Here is a list of some of the details:  In addition of the card base, there are two solid matting that the tableau is placed upon.  The tableau itself has three design prints, with a solid color strip at the bottom, in addition to the solid color edge punching.  It's a bit hard to see in the photo the gems added to the edge punching.  There's a lace like punch located in the bottom third of the card.  The embossed stamped image is hand painted.  And what seems to be my signature punched 3D flowers and leaves, both outside and inside the card.

I did something new with my large floral punch.  I got a tiny dowel, thinner than a pencil and roll each pedal over the dowel.  It's hard to see it in this image, but the flower has a fountain effect.  Usually I fold all the pedal upwards, where all pedals kinda reach towards the sky, then I flatten ever so slightly, for a natural look.  With the rolling effect, the pedal rises then flows back down towards the card, thus a fountain effect.  Looks flat in the photo, but nice curvy effect in real life.

I wasn't 100% pleased with this card, though it was a huge learning experience.

What did I learn?

I wasn't in love with the lace like punch located at the bottom third of the card.  It felt distracting. It felt like it didn't belong.

I did not like the raw visible edges where the cut designs print pieces meet. 

So, back to the drawing board.

 

This time sans the lace punch embellishment.  However, this time I used a somewhat Gothic type of punch twice, in two tones.

 I also added grosgrain ribbon to hide the raw edges.  It just seems so much cleaner.

Now, I got a new toy, the dimension Gerber Daisy punch by EK Success.  With help from the posted Youtube video I learned how to make the 3D flower.  I've added one more step.  I used ribbon around the base of the flower to give it a cleaner finish.

The next time I make the flower, I think I'll trim down the bottom edge.  The flower sits a little tall, so trimming the bottom edge may reduce the height.  Additionally, when I bunch the flowers together I'll lower the smaller flower a bit, so they're not hidden is the shadow of the bigger flower.

As always I like the interior of the card to carry on the flow of the theme of the card in style, color or however the card may lend itself to additional design ideas.

So, during another visit to Kimmie's Facebook page, I noticed an interior shot of one of her cards.  So with that inspiration in my back pocket, here's my best interruption of bring the exterior design to the inside of the card.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 1-2-3

Sometimes a birthday sneaks up on you, before you really have time to prepare.

Isn't it interesting, we all have the same calendar we use each year, either online, or one of those generic event calendar with all our birthday, anniversary, and annual celebrations all marked nice and neat.  But yet, oh my, birthdays and anniversaries can sneak up on you!

At times like these, it's nice to make a quickie card.

Reaching into my bag of tricks, I pull out the tools of the trade and let the crafting begin.

Today, if I were to make this card again, it would be basically the same.  Except I would place 4mm flat back gems at the end of each twirl.  Perhaps I'd also make one of the background papers a subtle print, if I had some on hand, or if there is enough time for a trip to the craft store.

 

Again, reaching in my bag of tricks, and bringing out my toys...I mean tools I created a nice lacy card!  

I have to admit, I found the inspiration for this card from an online scrapbook gallery, probably at www.scrapbook.com .

 

A tip:  When I buy card stock, I usually buy at least two extra pieces of the color or colors I'm using.  It's nice to have extra pieces.  If I make a mistake, or underestimated the amount of paper I need, I have extra on hand.  If 12x12 design paper, depending on the price, I buy at least one extra piece.  

The nice thing about this is, I'm collected a nice library of colored card stock and paper supply.  Real handy when creating last minute greeting cards.  Also nice and handy when planning new designs, and pulling colors together.

Another tip:  When purchasing card stock, make note of the name of the solid colors.  Write the name on a sticky note and keep the note with the extra sheet(s).  When purchasing printed, design paper, the maker and design name is either on the back side of the paper, or there's an extra extended strip of paper on the bottom with all the details.  Again, make note of the information on a sticky note and keep with the paper.  This way, if you every wish to make the card again, you don't have to re-invent the wheel, in that you don't have to search out the paper again.  Or, if you like the particular paper, you can easily find it again.  Worse case scenario, you have the details necessary if you have to mail order the design!

Do You Have Cheese To Go With That Wine?

One of my most favorite places to take a break from the daily fast pace of life is the wine country of Sonoma and Healdsburg.  I love the wine culture and ambiance. I have always gravitate to images of vineyards, or wine tableau paintings.  I always see myself in these setting.  The earthy colors are warm and engaging.  Any image of an inviting glass of wine gives me romantic ideas of a lingering quiet afternoon with my sweety.  Or long entertaining evenings with friends and family. Such images conjures up ideas of a life slow and rich with loved ones.  With a glass of wine in hand, it's hard to be rushing around.

  

So it stands to reason, during one of my low self-control moments of purchasing a group of stamps, when I came across this wine vignette, I just had to have the stamp.  For me, it wraps up my whole mental "wine" concept in one image. 

Then, when shopping at my favorite paper store, Scrapbook Island, (visit them on Facebook), I found this beautiful grape charm.  It's a bit hard to see in the image below, but I found the beautiful grapevine paper.

I have a bit of a habit.  Once I find a new technique, or favorite layout, I have to use it over and over again.

In this case, the technique is embossed stamping and water color painting with acrylic paints.  Then the layout as seen in the Just Beachy card, One Layout Different Outcome card, or Girly Girl shoe card.

As much as I can be inspired and thoroughly see the end product in my mind's eye, sometimes I have the most difficult time finding colors.  For this card the cheese and wine bottle seal colors were a beast.  However, it turned out to be a great memory.  

I asked my sweety to help me. So off to Micheal's ( http://www.michaels.com/ ) we go.  Talk about someone who whole-heartedly gets into the mood, there he sat, on the floor in front of the acrylic paints, comparing creamy yellow and wine color paints.  When you don't have enough hands, nor a table to use, sitting on the floor and lining colors up in front of you gets the job done!

So, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy this card.  Saluto!

HYDRANGEAS

Most the time when creating cards, you learn something new.

With my hydrangea card I learn a few new steps.

First, using puff paint.  Ripping watercolor paper and tying a know instead of making a bow.

With this card, I used the embossed stamp process, and then hand painted with acrylic paint and water.  I then use the yellow puff paint in the center of each pedal group.  It adds a nice texture.  However, it has to be the final touch of the card, since it takes over night to 24 hours to dry!

I'm not a huge fan of ripping paper.  I can be a bit anal retentive, and messy edges runs against my grain.  But I do have to admit it does make a nice effect on the card.

I also like the tied ribbon instead of a bow.  A bow can be a bit too girly, taking a card over the top.  Yet the tied ribbon has a more subtle, maybe even more mature touch.

Sadly I gave both of these cards as a sympathy card. 

BLOOMIN' CHRISTMAS TREE

I love the excitement I get over creating a new card.  I can hardly contain myself.

I get pen and paper out and start writing my shopping list of goodies I need and can't wait to find my way to Scrapbook Island.  Let the shopping begin!!!

I wish I could bottle that kind of excitement energy.  Would be great at 7pm when I get home from work at night.

I found this card in one of my card books, and I know instantly "I can do that!"

I've never been one for traditional Christmas red and green.  Nowadays, the colors seem to be muted, which just seem drabby to me. It doesn't feel festive.  But to see this card in pastel lit my fire!!!

I've got the two different sized flower punches, and the flower hole punch.

I had the glitter paper, and the pink and green paper was simple enough.

I found matching green and pink brads, and of course white ribbon is simple enough to find.

I've always been a big fan of getting ribbon at Michaels, especially the store close to home.  It's a fairly new store and larger than most, so it's a great resource.  Recently I've discovered a good selection of ribbons at  Jo-Ann's.

The only hard part, not that it was hard, was creating a Christmas tree template, and base template.

Now that says, Have a Merry Festive Christmas!!!

JUST BEACHY

After making 12 three image shell cards, I simply hadn't had enough.

However, this time, I made the image a bit more simple.  One image instead of 3 per card.

A consolidation of  concepts of the "Walking on the Beach" card and the layout of some prior cards I made.

Just a little more beachy fun!

I need to make some more of these cards.  I just love them!

RELAXING WALK ON THE BEACH

So I go over board with stamps again.  I purchased a series of shell stamps.

I love anything ocean or sea related.  I'd love to spend my day on a beach listening to the ocean, walking through wet sand hunting for shells.  When I saw these stamps I had no self control.  I had to have them.

I saw an inspiration card of 3 images on one palette.  Running with that concept I tried my hand at it.

I found beautiful shell paper.  One print was dark with dense rich colored clusters of shell.  The other design has light beachy colors with a less-dense layout.

With the idea of walking on the beach, I know I need to have foot prints on the beach!  So I  found a small footy foot punch!  Viola!!!

It's now time to make my card.  I stamp and embossed  the images, a process I've grown to love.

Once dried, I begin water painting the images using acrylic paints and water.  The details were so tiny, taking the smallest of dot to add color,  I was caught off guard on how long it would take to paint.  The fact that I'm making 12 cards, I realize I've taken on a huge project.

But I finally do finish painting.  It took a whole weekend of spare time.  Once the paint was dry, I framed each image in coordinating card stock.

I fold the card.  I cut the first layer of paper, being the shell print.  I add velum, cut a tad smaller than the design print.  I do this so the true color of the print can be seen, yet the velum mutes the majority of the print for effect.  I then adhere to the design paper with sanded brads.

I add the individual images, and glue the footy foot punches.

Final steps involve gluing the whole vignette to the card and top with a fine satin ribbon with a beachy/sea styled charm.

As I always try to bring a little surprise within the greeting card, I placed more foot prints inside, as if the stroll continued inside the card.

A massive project, but I think a definitive proud moment once done!

THIS GIFT IS FOR YOU

Two years ago I'm at Beverly's,www.beverlys.com , and I see the cutest sheer Christmas flocked paper.  Actually two designs. 

I can't help myself and I buy a few sheets of each.

I actually hate when I do this.  I buy supplies I have no plans for using, and then inspiration never hits.  I also do this with printed ribbons.  Design is so cute on the ribbon, and then the ribbon clashes with everything I want to make.

So, for two years the beautiful paper sits.  What a waist.  What's to point of having pretty supplies if all they do is live in a dark box, and no one can enjoy it.

Then one day last Christmas season, while looking at a Christmas advertisement that involved simply wrapped gift boxes, inspiration appears!  Make a card that looks like a gift box with lid!!!

I can finally used the sheer red flocked paper, and sheer white flocked paper.  The white flocked paper I use to overlay a red card and a blue card. 

Worked nice, since I could actually use some of my printed ribbons.  How exciting is that!

What a simple design as well.  A basic folded card with an extended lid added to the folded edge.

I overlay the card first with the flocked paper.  Then I cut the lid piece of card out of the same color stock paper, and overlay as well. Then adhere to the card.

Then I add the ribbon.  With an x-acto knife, I slice a cut in the fold seam the exact width of the ribbon.  Pull the ribbon through.  I cut both ends of the ribbon on a slant, and over lap the ribbon on the inside of the card.  Having a slant edge actually makes over lapping easier and cleaner.  It makes a nice finished edge.

I create a bow for the top of the card, and the project is done. 

I found the wired edge ribbons work better.  The bow has more body and doesn't appear so limp and lifeless. 

Over all I think it was a good idea.  Better yet, it was a fast and simple card.  It can be used for birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries.

BUNDLE OF BOUQUETS

Back at my punching addiction, I purchased more punches for my garden collection.  A dragonfly punch and leaf punch.

Also for Christmas, my sweety bought me a cutting tool kit.  It can cut up to 12 x 12 page, with 3 different die cutters.  Wave, scallop and zigzag.

In this card, I used mostly scraps.  I had to buy green paper for making stems and card stock for the actual card.  But I basically had enough scraps to do all the punching.

And as with so many projects, the punching begins.  Flowers, leaves, butterfly and dragonfly.

I use my lattice punch for the face of the card.  I begin the punching at the line of the fold.  Thought it would be tricky, but wasn't a problem. 

I'm also excited to use my new cutting tool.  I cut a color inspiration piece for the top of the card, using my scallop tool.

Once I have the color inspiration piece, I begin punching the coordinating flowers.

I think the card speaks for itself in terms of all the punch work and placement.

I placed the 3D flower on the finish line of the lattice punch.  I thought I covered the edge cleverly.

I had to remember, place the ribbon on the card first, and glue the stems on top of the ribbon.  Makes life much easier then trying to lace the ribbon through after the fact!

So a light begins to shine!  If I can layer the 3D flowers with a floral center piece/dot to cover the center hole I can also layer other flowers with a floral center piece/dot.

Sometimes it take awhile for an idea to bake!

I have punches, and I'm not afraid to use them!

It must be falling flowers!

With a $100 gift certificate from mum and dad from Christmas, I went hog wild purchasing punches from Michaels. http://www.michaels.com .  With the 40% discount per one item coupon I get every week, either from a prior store visit, or via their weekly ad, once a week I went to Michaels and purchase one punch.  After a few weeks I eventually had a garden of punches.  Starting at at least $10 a punch, a 40% savings was significant.

In a prior posting I indicated I have a sickness.  I am addicted to stamps.  I think I'm addicted to punches too. 

I got a 3D floral punch, other floral punches, a butterfly punch, an oak leaf punch and a beautiful thick garden lattice punch.

I begin punching away!

For this card, after punching the lattice bottom, I used ribbon to hide the top edge of the punch.  I then begin gluing away.  The ribbons were fun.  They have a nice suede texture, so it adds a nice touch to the card.

My concept was to have small flowers cascading from the upper left top of the card, expanding to larger flowers, all the way to the lower right side of the card.  And a lone butterfly flying away.  Looks like it worked!

In reflection, it's funny how I had the idea to make the butterfly 3D and not flat.  I also had the 3D punch giving the flower dimension. But I never had the idea to make the flat flower punches 3D in effect.  That concept never struck me until later.    

Additionally, the 3D floral punch has a hole in the middle.  I had the idea to use the itty bitty floral punch to cover the hole in the 3D flower, yet again, the concept to layer the punches didn't occur to me until later.

ONE LATOUT DIFFERENT OUTCOMES

Using the same design layout I used with my shoe card, I created another card on the fly as a birthday card.

Reviewing my stock on hand, I created this cute purple flower card.  In this case, I took advantage of using my floral border punch.  With a floral back drop, and floral center piece, makes sense to have a floral border!

I have to keep this one in mind for future reference.  It's great for the last minute birthday card.  Simple, fast, and I'm proud to say it's homemade.

This was one of the few times I used pre-made flowers.  

GIRLY GIRL CARDS

So I find I have an addiction.  Rubber stamps.  I see these beautiful stamp images and inspiration over takes me.  I purchased a beautiful dress stamp, shoe stamp and purse stamp online.  This gives birth to my "Girly Girl" series.

I had just purchased a new Martha Stewart punch set, which creates a looped frame.  One punch for the straight edges and the other punch for the corners.

After a night of practicing, a big lesson learned:  Use the back side of the stamp to decide and gage the length of the edges.  Makes matching the corners much easier.  However, making the four edges meet perfectly to the corner punch takes practice.  Especially when you wish the frame to be large enough for the image inside yet small enough for the card design outside the frame.

Anyway, I was out window shopping and found a beautiful printed wrapping paper.  I then found the textured orange paper to match.

So, putting all the tools together I created the Girly Girl orange dress card.

I made a blue dress too, using the same designed printed wrapping paper, matched with a textured light blue paper.

The embossed stamped dress is hand painted and enhanced with a clear gem. above the bodice.  The image is centered on a black loop punched frame.  The two papers are cut to fit the card, and the seam is concealed with an orange ribbon.

I think this card speaks to our girly side.  It just sweet and innocent.

 

Still using the loop frame punches I created the Girly Shoe card.  During the same window shopping trip, I found the soft peach and beige stripped wrapping paper.

I had the hardest time finding a perfect match of peach card stock.  To this day, I find it hard to believe it can be so difficult to match specific colors.  Sometimes it can appear to be the easiest of colors to match, but you learn quickly, that which seems to be the easiest can be the hardest thing to do.

Side bar:  I purchase almost all my paper products from Scrapbook Island, (visit them in Facebook).  They have the biggest selection in solid and designed paper.  

So I used a trick of using clear vellum.  I cut the vellum a quarter inch shorter than the stripped paper.  It mutes the stripped paper, thus a perfect match is no longer an issue.

I matched the beige frame to the beige stripped.  The embossed stamp is hand painted in peach.  An offset  peach block panel adds color interest, and the card is finished with four square brads appearing to hold the vellum in place, and a pretty sheer peach bow.

For any woman who loves to shop for shoes, and like pretty girly shoes, a Girly Shoe card can hit the spot!

 

To round out the Girly Girl cards, there is the Purse card.

It's obvious I want to keep up my frame making skills, thus using the loop frame punch yet again.

Now, when I purchased the stamps online, I really didn't fully understand just how big the stamps are in real life.  You see 4" X 4" in black and white, and it doesn't seem that big.  You look at a ruler, and still it doesn't seem to be that big.  But when your card is only 5 1/2" wide, a 4" stamp is a monster.  Especially when you want to frame the image.  But I was able to make it work.

I hand paint the embossed stamp in a pale yellow.  In the cross hatch of the quilted purse I used yellow puff paint to add texture and interest.  

My only regret is, I wish I had used real boa fluff over the designed boa fluff.  I could have found an embellishment clasp as well.

I used a simple soft yellow polka dot ribbon to add more interest to the card.

It still seemed blah to me, so I added a little bling by adding three gems, offset, on either side of the ribbon.  I used a mix of clear and yellow gems.

In the end, the purse came out nice, but it's not my finest work.  The next time I use the stamp, I think I'll use the real boa fluff, and make the card smaller.  More square than rectangle.  Not so sure on the ribbon, and 86 the gems.  There'll be no need for the gems if I use the embellishment clasp.

Waterfall of Flowers

Again I found inspiration in the gallery of Scrapbook.com.


The original inspiration card had flowers made of fabric.  With my "garden" of stamps, I decided I would hand punch, layer and fluff my punched flowers to be all 3D.  So long to flat images!!!

I used two different backgrounds. One background is on a white-on-white striped card stock. The other is a textured floral embossed card stock. 

There are three colors pallets in the series: Pink, Blue or Purple. 

Each card features multiple 3D flowers, hand punched, arranged individually or in groups, held together with coordinating center brads or jewels, with a sprinkling of sparkling jewels.

Of course you cannot have a floral arrangement without a passing butterfly. Additionally, each card has a cut out leaf-laced window with it's own centered 3D flower. Inside the card, you have a surprise of a few more flat embellishments. For the embedded cards, a "greeting" insert has been added for signing ease.