As always, Nichole has provided us with a beautiful inspiration image for today's blog hop! There are so many bright and vibrant colors in the image along with lots of texture and sparkle as well. When I saw the image, the first thing I did was to sit down and start pulling cardstock so I could see the color palette I was using. Even though I wasn't using most of the cardstock, it helps to give me a visual representation of the colors I'm working with since Papertrey has Perfect Match Papers and Inks. My colors are slightly different than the photo, but I love how they all work together. I chose cardstock in True Black, Smokey Shadow, Olive Twist, Plum Pudding, Autumn Rose, and Lavender Moon along with some Antique Gold Embossing Powder and some Sparkle Shimmer Mist. For my stamping, I used all but the True Black and Smokey Shadow inks. For one of the colors, I achieved it by stamping one layer in the the Plum Pudding and then a 2nd layer on top of that in the Autumn Rose to get the mix of color that I wanted for the bouquet. I should probably also mention here that Lavender Moon is much more pink than it is purple in real life but it is always so lovely with Autumn Rose. It's the cardstock at the very front of this group.
Fresh Bouquet is a recent release designed by Nichole Heady (December 2016) and is second only to Tulip Time in terms of being a favorite. The genius of the stamp set and coordinating die is a style that I would love to see Nichole repeat in future sets. To begin my card, I cut a few of the die cuts from Stamper's Select White Cardstock which cuts the entire bouquet in one pass. This set is a layering set which I love, but I'm using it in a different way than probably what most people would do. I stamp the complete outline stamp in Versamark and then heat emboss that with Antique Gold Embossing Powder. This provides a framework or outline to stamp into once I start using my colored inks. I place the negative of the die cut into my MISTI Tool and line the stamp up in it. I place each stamp layer in it's place and then pick it up with the MISTI door. I like the way the images look when double stamped (more vibrant, saturated color) and there is no way I could do it without the MISTI or a similar stamping tool.
This is what the stamp set looks like. You stamp the outline and then each of the flowers or leaves is a different stamp. I absolutely love that I can heat emboss the outline because I love having that touch of gold on my projects. It's rare that I don't use gold embossing powder on a card and I don't see that changing any time soon. It's part of my signature style. Because I am heat embossing the outline, I don't need to stamp the flower centers as it's part of the outline image.
The largest bloom was stamped in Autumn Rose. The 2nd largest blooms (3 flowers) were stamped in Lavender Moon, the buds or berries were stamped with 1 layer in Plum Pudding and a 2nd layer in Autumn Rose to give it a different color more in line with the Pomegranate color of the inspiration image. There just isn't a Papertrey Ink in that color yet.
I also created a background panel for my card using a favorite method lately; scoring. First I did a bit of ink blending on a panel of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper in Lavender Moon with a bit of ink pouncing in Plum Pudding for added texture using a Mini Round Ink Blending Tool. With the super soft pink, I felt like the card really needed that extra bit of color and texture. I could have made the second softer but I wanted a few of the hard edges in there for the texture. Once the ink blending/pouncing was finished, I misted the panel with a tiny bit of Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and a liberal spritzing of Sparkle Shimmer Mist as well. When it was mostly dry, I scored it on the diagonal every 1 inch to create the Harlequin Diamond Background Pattern. The slight bit of moisture helps to make the score lines a bit deeper and I gently folded them (but did NOT crease them) in the proper direction. That also helps to enhance the score lines. Before assembling the card, I put a drop of White Opal Liquid Pearl at each intersecting point on the background and let it dry. This is much easier and less frustrating for me than using little pearls. After that it was simple assembly onto a card base made from Smokey Shadow Cardstock. I wanted to use one of the pre-printed signs from the Make It Market Garden Gate Kit which I die cut with the coordinating die and also the sign holder die from that kit. That allowed me to bring in another small touch of gold to help make the whole design cohesive.
Thank you so much for stopping by today and be sure to stop over at the Papertrey Blog to check out all the beautiful projects there. I'll be back soon with a new project to share.
