The Soft Sayings Card kit in the Stampin’ Up! Annual catalog comes with everything you need to make twenty gorgeous notecards. The cards have a watercolor look that is very sophisticated when paired with the Basic Gray ink they included. The stamp set has fourteen unique stamps with both images and useful sentiments. Initially, I made each card as specified in the instructions. Okay, I added some pearls and enamels here and there, but they’re almost identical. Then I got creative, but tried to stay within the limits of the materials in the kit. The photos below have the kit design on the left and my design on the right.
Three by Three Cards
The kit has two designs of 3″x3″ cards. This size card is perfect for tucking in with a gift.
I used the image stamps to create a quick background over the printed Lemon Lime Twist wash. The bright green and classic gray work surprisingly well together.
The second set of 3×3 cards has a Powder
Note Cards
Note cards are great because not only can you add a short note, the 3.5″x5″ size is mailable. The kit came with four notecard designs.
The graphic pattern on this card is fun and dynamic. I intended to make my card as a note card, but I glued the flower on while my card base was upside down. Oops! Instead of tossing it, I cut off the back and saved it for laying inside my kraft paper base. I like how the brown base makes the gold glitter flower stand out. A happy accident.
The Powder Pink and Berry Burst wash on this next notecard is so pretty and feminine. Now that spring is here, I was compelled to pair it with the Lemon Lime Twist accents for even more brightness. I stamped the flower and the sentiment in Berry Burst. A Stampin’ Write marker in Powder Pink was perfect to color in the petals. I did add accents of Lemon Lime Twist in the center of the image and a splash of Wink of Stella, because it sparkles!
I adore the stripe background. I’m going to dig through my stash and make more cards with stripes. The fact that they look hand drawn, more casual only adds to the appeal. Again, I fussy cut more flower images for my version. I think I stamped these flowers using Blackberry Bliss.
How feminine is this background? All the pretty kit colors, the 2017-2019 In Colors with a watercolor image effect. My card was cut in two, removing the back so I could layer it on a standard size card base in Thick Whisper White. All those flowers I stamped and fussy cut earlier were made using that discarded base. I stamped the flower and leaves over the existing printed images in the corresponding ink color. The glitter leaves, I punched those out from the scraps of the sheet of gold glitter die cuts.
Full Sized Cards
More of the gorgeous Lemon Lime Twist and Basic Gray combo for this first card. I stamped the large flower on the sentiment layer before I stamped right over it with Thanks. I didn’t stamp the additional leaves on the background, but I think the punched Tranquil Tide pieces were enough for added interest.
For this card, I flipped the laser-cut paper and put it on the Berry Burst base instead of the Tranquil Tide base. Then, I started adding a bit of everything, because more is more. The little flowers are punched from the scraps of the gold glitter sheet. I added some retired enamels to the centers. (Lots of liquid glue to make that happen.) I made sure to wrap the flowers around the sentiment so that both sides of the card were equally interesting visually.
Honest moment here, this card was my least favorite of the as-designed cards. So, when it came to making my own design, I moved from having everything layered at the top to putting things right in the center. I layered two of the sentiment pre-punched pieces. To add contrast, I sponged the bottom one with Lemon Lime Twist ink. I think if I made this card again, I would add some vellum as a second layer.
Last but not least, the laser-cut flowers. They are so pretty on the Berry Burst background, but I used that up on Happy Birthday card. I only had a Tranquil Tide base left. The white was pretty on it, but I didn’t think it had enough impact. So, I got out the Stampin’ Write markers again and colored that laser paper. Then I added Wink of
That’s it. All twenty cards. You can see that if you like to make a kit exactly as designed, this one will deliver gorgeous results. And if you like to play and get creative, the possibilities are unlimited. The great materials in this kit practically guarantee beautiful results.
If you’d like your own Soft Sayings Card Kit or any of the other current products mentioned in this post, shop with me..