Good morning! Happy Tuesday – My share today uses the 2015 Sale-a-Bration Lotus Blossom stamp set. I chose this as one of my FREE items when I spent $50 – and you can, too! Sale-a-Bration runs through 31 March. Don’t miss this opportunity to get some exclusive Stampin’ Up! products.
To tell you the truth, I’ve been a little afeered of this particular stamp set. It’s a Two-Step set (well, it actually has 3 steps), and every time I tried to make a beautiful, artistic lotus blossom, I ended up with a blob. An uneven, weird-looking, blob. And then, I finally remembered a tip I’d seen about photopolymer stamps. Are you taking notes? Photopolymer stamps don’t have a built-in cushion like the clear or wood-mount stamps. So, if you stamp directly onto your hard crafting surface, you’re likely to get less-than-ideal results (that’s code for “uneven, weird-looking, blob”). The trick is to place your cardstock on a cushioned mat – like….a piercing mat. So – I did that. And, guess what? Yup. A lotus blossom emerged!
I once again went to a Whisper White note card from the Note Cards and Envelopes set. I SNAIL’d a Whisper White mat onto a Basic Black mat, and my art piece was ready to go. I had this vision in my head of a very monochromatic card with just a bare pop of color. So, I used my Basic Black ink and my Blackberry Bliss for the lotus blossom. The first two steps, I did with the black. The third step, I inked up and then stamped off once on scrap paper with the Blackberry Bliss ink before I applied it to the flower image. And – I loved how it looked! Okay – I did that like 3 times on scrap cardstock before I girded my loins (sorry for saying loins on the internet) and stamped my card front. And breathed a sigh of relief, cause it looked great. It’s a little hard to see in the picture below, but the flower really DOES have a lovely Blackberry tint.
For the stem, I did the first stamp (the stem has two parts, too) in black. Then I hemmed and hawed a while – green? Stay with black? More blackberry bliss – that’s crazy talk!! Oh – the decisions. I finally settled on Mossy Meadow – which I stamped off lightly once and then barely, lightly, oh-so-delicately stamped over the black stem. And then I did it a little harder, cause I didn’t want it to be THAT delicate! Oh yea – still holding my breath with every stamp I make!
I cut a “You” out of Basic Black with the Hello You Thinlits Die (remembering to use my wax paper – see my previous post “Hello You” for directions) and adhered it with a little Liquid Glue. Then, I used a sentiment from the Crazy About You stamp set (2015 Occasions) in Blackberry Bliss. And also Basic Black. Dip a little in the Black, dip a little in the Blackberry Bliss. Stamp with the piercing mat. And then barely, lightly, oh-so-delicately traced the words with my Blackberry Bliss Stampin’ Write Marker – cause I didn’t want THAT to be quite so delicate either! I’m so sorry this color is hard to see in the picture – I promise my next purchase will be an Ott Lite so that my photography “studio” does a little better job of re-creating the colors. Promise.
A few Rhinestone Basic Jewels finished off the front and I popped it onto the card base with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. For the inside, I used the Good Greetings hostess set sentiment “I Love Us” – but I only inked the “Love Us” part, using the Blackberry Bliss marker again. And I stamped an irregular row of little tiny Blackberry Bliss hearts along the bottom (the heart is part of the Holiday Home stamp set). And finally, because it just…needed….something else, I made little teensy stems and grass with my Mossy Meadow Stampin’ Write Marker. And – I resolutely pushed away all my tools and decided to leave well enough alone!
This would be a great Valentine’s Day card. Or a nice little note tucked away for your spouse or significant other to find.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Shameless plug – the Happy Stampers are doing a blog hop on Thursday, 29 Jan. Be sure to check back here around 9am Eastern to see my contribution and those of all the talented stampers in this group. There’ll be some blog candy, too!
There’s only a few days left to use my January Hostess Code, so don’t tarry too long. Don’t forget that you’ll also get a free gift from me and you may qualify for Punkin Head Peppermints! And, if you’ve been waiting for the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders – this is a good week. There are 6 TIEFs on sale right now. Check out the Weekly Deals below and stock up on all your favorite folders.
TTFN
Mary
Here are the card cuts for today’s project, starting with a Note Card from the Stampin’ Up! Set:
Basic Black Card Stock: 4 7/8″ x 3 3/8″
Whisper White Card Stock: 4 3/4″ x 3 1/4″
JANUARY 1 – 31 HOSTESS CODE: RMQE9AEQ Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me! But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift for January is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!
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Another beautiful note card Mary! I’ll have to give that color combination a try, I’d never thought about adding a little black to create that image. It looks great! 🙂
I hadn’t thunk it, either. I was going to use all Blackberry Bliss. And then it just struck me. That’s why I did several practice runs, first! Thanks for the nice words, Amy!
Nice. Would be a nice ‘support’ card for someone in difficult times.
It would, indeed! Thanks!