An often overlooked source of inspiration for your crafting projects is the Stampin’ Up! catalogs. When I receive a new bundle, stamps and dies, I like to stamp each stamp with black ink and run each die on some scrap paper so that I can see what they look like. Frequently, I will be inspired and a card will pop up in my head like a picture. Other times, I feel a little overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. The Wonderful Romance stamp set and matching Wonderful Floral dies were just such a bundle. They are so detailed and beautiful, I really wanted to create a project that would show them off. Well, Stampin’ Up! had done my work for me.
My Version
Like the example, this one uses Soft Sea Foam and lots of die cut layers along with stamping. I started with a base of Thick Whisper White so that I would have good support for the floral bundle. Then I added a 2″x5.5″ strip of the Petal Pink printed vellum from the Floral Romance DSP.
Next, I used a 4.25×5.5″ piece of Soft Sea Foam and used the leafy edger die to add that lattice and leaf detail. The cool thing about that die is it only cuts the edge. You don’t have to glue the piece back on to the paper.
I wasn’t sure how the design team at SU did the big floral spray. It’s a stamp with a matching die, but their coloring was so beautifully done. I heat embossed the stamped image with Clear embossing powder on Whisper White and then colored in the image using a combination of Highland Heather, Petal Pink, Granny Apple Green, and Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blends. I have to say, at this point, I didn’t love it, but I kept going.
Lots of die cuts
When I do this type of card, I tend to cut more pieces than I think I will need. I also tend to use groupings of three. The large leaf sprays and individual leaves were cut from Pear Pizzazz. The small bud sprays are Mossy Meadow. I also stamped some small flowers in Petal Pink. The die set comes with multiple dies for this image so that you can cut several efficiently —s.uch a time saver.
Now that I had all my dies, I started assembling. First the strip of Vellum DSP, I used snail adhesive on the left side and some glue dots strategically placed in the swirls on the right side and adhered it to the right-hand side of my card base. Before I layered on the Soft Sea Foam, I stamped the large leaf spray in Pear Pizzazz twice so the tips of the leaves would be visible. I also added some texture with the background dots stamp in the same ink. I used
Next, I added the hand-colored spray. I used Dimensionals away from the edges of the piece so that I could tuck leaves in and around the spray. I used a combination of glue dots and liquid glue to get them all added. The sentiment is stamped in Fresh Fig. I used a Dimensional on the right-hand side of the sentiment and snail on the left-hand side where it would stick to the spray. This kept the sentiment level with everything else.
Finally, I added some pearls to my Highland Heather flowers and some Wink of Stella to my die cut Petal Pink flowers because It Sparkles!
I had a lot of fun making this card. If you’d like your own Floral Romance bundle, shop with me.