Stampin’ Up! Botanical Easter Cross

Good Easter morn’ to you all!  Rejoice in this day! 🙂

I have an Easter Cross card to share today – but it’s a bit of a cautionary tale!  It could be titled: Check Supplies Twice Before Beginning.  Or: Always Finish Your Card Front First.  And the main character in this decidedly NON-fiction tale is….Gold Foil.  You’ll see why shortly!

I used several flower makers for this card – the Botanical Builder Framelits, Petite Petals punch flowers and Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack flowers.  And I went back to the In The Meadow stamp set.  Just a reminder – this set is in the Occasions catalog – and is only guaranteed active thru the end of the sale period – 31 May.  Which seems like a long way away – until you realize it’s practically APRIL!  Can you even believe that??  So if you’re wanting this lovely stamp set, get it soon!

Anyway – take a look-see:

So, I started by building a background on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock that evokes my mind-image of where the Cross would have stood.  I used Soft Suede and stamped the mountain image from In The Meadow and then grabbed my mask from yesterday’s card (you can see it here if you haven’t already) and laid it over that image.  Then, without re-inking, I stamped another couple of mountains over the top.  That builds you a real quick range of mountains, giving the illusion of distance!

Then I stamped the tree image in Crumb Cake – stamping it twice without re-inking and letting the second image go off the left side of the panel.

Finally, I made Crumb Cake grasses all over the foreground of the panel, using the grass image in In The Meadow – and stamping a few times without re-inking.  And that was it for the In The Meadow set on this card.

I built the Cross by stamping the Hardwood image in Early Espresso on Whisper White card stock.  Then I used my Brayer to cover the panel with Soft Suede ink and cut the two arms from the colored panel.

I cut a bunch of flowers to adorn the Cross.  All are from Whisper White card stock.  I made flowers from the small flower in the Botanical Builder Framelits, the Petite Petals punch and the flower in the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.  For each flower, I folded each petal to give it some dimension and then lightly sponged all the edges – with Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo or Blushing Bride ink.  For that, I used Sponge Daubers that had been used previously with these colors – so whatever ink was left is all I used.  I was just trying to tint the flowers – not change them from being essentially white.  I also cut some tiny flowers in Gold Foil.

To construct the Cross, I just used some Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue and adhered the cross piece to the vertical upright.  Then I wrapped a length of 1/8″ Gold Ribbon around the back of the upright – securing it in the back with a dab of Liquid Glue – and letting it lay draped on the front of the Cross.

Then I started building my flower arrangement, using Liquid Glue to adhere everything in place.  I made sure that my Ribbon sort of wound in and around the flowers.

When all the flowers were on and dry and stable, I popped the Cross on with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Then I added Pearl Basic Jewels to each flower center.

The sentiment is cut – twice – using the Christmas Greetings Thinlits (these are from the 2015 Holiday Catalog – but were continued in the 2016 Occasions Catalog – so you can still add them to your stash!!).  I cut one from Blackberry Bliss and one in Gold Foil, then I adhered them together with Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue – letting the Gold one be offset just the tiniest bit to create a glimmer shadow.  I adhered it under the Cross with a little more Liquid Glue.

Finally, I sponged the edge of the card front with some Crumb Cake and then edged it with my Gold Wink of Stella Glitter Brush.

And then I moved inside!  Please note that this is where I start the screw-up.  I did not, at this point, SNAIL it to my Gold Foil Mat.  I did, however, believe that I’d cut two Gold Foil mats.  Do you see the train coming?? 😉

For the inside, I sponged in Crumb Cake and edged in Gold Wink of Stella another Very Vanilla mat.  Then, using the sentiment on the bottom of the Easter Lamb stamp, I heat embossed Happy Easter in Gold.  I covered the Lamb with Sticky-Note tape, inked the sentiment in Versamark, removed the tape, and stamped it in the center of the liner.  Then sprinkled it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and heated it up with my Heat Tool.

I SNAILd the panel to one of the Gold Foil sheets, and then to a second mat of Blackberry Bliss.

And then….

I went to SNAIL my card front onto its Gold Foil mat, but….ruh roh!!  No second Gold Foil mat.  I’d have bet money (which I would have lost!) that I’d cut two mats.  But I hadn’t.  Only one.  So, I should have used that on the card front.  But I didn’t.  And I’d done a really good job of burnishing my inner liner to the one and only Gold Mat that I did have.

So…I improvised.  I took a Whisper White panel and colored the edges of it with my Gold Wink.  And used that as the first mat for my card front.  And…it’s okay.  Not what I was going for – but okay. 😉  Then I SNAILd the whole thing to a Blackberry Bliss mat and onto the front of my Very Vanilla card base.  I added the liner to the inside and the card was done!

For the envelope, I cut several little Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack flowers from White and Gold Metallics Glitter Tape (only available while Sale-A-Bration is going on – thru the end of March – which is next week!) and stuck them on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.  I used my White Stampin’ Chalk Marker to make “pearls” in the center of the Gold flowers and my Blushing Bride marker for the White flowers…

…and then I used a piece of Gold paper from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack and cut it with my Envelope Liner Framelits.

Et Voila!  A beautiful Easter Cross!  From just a few punches and framelits.  And a Brayer!

And a lesson for all of you – be sure you’ve got all the “stuff” you think you have before you get started!! 🙂

Hey – Sale-A-Bration and my Ordering Special are winding down faster than the end of the weekend arrives!  So, now’s the time to pull the trigger – get your goodies and free stuff!

TTFN!

Mary

HOST CODE FOR 15 Mar – 31 Mar 16: J9VBU4KX

Use this host code when you order and receive a free gift from me! But, if your order is over $150, please don’t use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift for March is your choice of any item valued up to $8.00 in the 2015-16 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog.

STAMPS-N-LINGERS ORDERING SPECIAL

GOING ON THRU THE END OF SALE-A-BRATION!

1. Order $50 in product – get your free SAB item.  AND – get FOUR peppermint points! When you get 16 peppermints, you’re going to get to pick any $40 worth of product(s) and I’ll ship to to you for free. Here’s more info on my Rewards Program.
2. I’ll also send you a MYSTERY GIFT. On top of my regular ordering gift.

This is only going to last until the end of March – which is also the end of Sale-A-Bration – so, don’t be slow!! 🙂

WEEKLY DEALS FOR 22 Mar – 28 Mar 16!! Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store. The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 28 Mar!

STAMPIN’ UP! PRODUCTS USED IN TODAY’S CARD 

CARD CUTS USED IN TODAY’S PROJECT

Very Vanilla Card Stock: 4 1/4″ x 11″ (card base, scored and folded at 5 1/2″); 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″ (card front and inner liner)

Blackberry Bliss Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (card front and inner liner mats); Christmas Greeting die cut

Gold Foil: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (inner liner mat); Christmas Greeting die cuts; flowers

Whisper White Card Stock: 3/4″ x 2 3/4″ (horizontal piece on Cross); 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ (vertical piece on Cross); flower cuts; 4″ x 5 1/4″ (card front mat – colored with Gold Wink of Stella)

Neutrals DSP Stack: Envelope Liner

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

ALMOST TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO THE 2014-2016 IN COLORS!

Don’t forget to stock up on these 2014-2016 In Color Supplies – once they’re announced as retiring (coming up in the not-too-distant future!) these are the things that fly off the shelves like Krispy Kreme Donuts when the “HOT” Sign is lit up!

2014-2016 In Color Supplies

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!