Hey, Friends! I've got a fun post for you today! Last week, I had a FaceTime card-making sesh with a friend who is taking up card-making, so while she got a crash course in getting started, I stamped a pretty pile of die cut florals with some new goodies I ordered from The Stamp Market a few weeks back! When we finished up our FaceTime chat, I had a pile of pretties and decided to go ahead and whip up a pair of cards, so I could share them with you.
The driving force behind most of the things I make, is usually color. It usually starts there for me. And lately, even when painting with acrylics on canvas, this is a color palette I've been drawn to, so I pulled out these colors to stamp up my pretty pile.
PRO TIP: I feel like I say this often, but it's because it's one that is so often forgotten in the moment when you're stamping and need to stamp leaves. Leaves can be any color you want them to be!! If your chosen color palette doesn't include a green, don't be afraid to STICK WITH YOUR PALETTE and stamp those leaves in some other color!! Just like berries don't have to be red! If you have berries to stamp but your chosen color palette doesn't include red, stamp them in another color!! It's what will make your card unique and interesting and out-of-the-box and different from everyone else's!
The other fun thing I did, was to bust out that fun new die I got at The Stamp Market! I die cut it from a couple different papers, but thennnnnn......I discovered something really amazing! You can COMPLETELY change the look of one card stock, by layering another over the top of it!
These two cards have THE SAME BASE LAYER!! What?!! It's true! Both cards have coral card stock as the base, and then I topped them each with a different color of die cut card stock! But LOOK at the difference between those two patterns!!! Isn't it crazy how different they are?!! One is soft and lovely and somewhat expected, while the other is a bit funky and unique and the coral almost POPS peeking out from behind the rusty card stock! So, of course this discovery leads me to another PRO TIP for you!
PRO TIP: When layering colors, EXPERIMENT!! Take that die cut and lay it on top of several different papers, before you settle! Don't just grab the obvious choice! You never know when you might land on a really beautiful -- unexpected -- color combo that you'll love!
So, once the base layers were figured out, and all the die cuts were stamped, all that was left to do was arrange everything in pretty clusters and glue it all down.
I die cut and stamped three sets of the flowers/leaves from the Flora set, and I just divided that pile of three of everything up, among the two cards. I love that they're both different, but coordinated! And yet, it was still super easy, because I die cut everything at once, stamped everything at once, and assembled everything at once. But the result doesn't have to be two cards exactly the same! Hooray!
When they were done, I popped some enamel dots on, for the perfect finishing touch!
Now, you might be asking yourself, "But what about the sentiments??" When I got everything arranged, I really liked the way they looked without a sentiment! I didn't want to cover up that gorgeous die cut background detail, and there were lots of florals on the card, that I didn't want to detract from, so I skipped the sentiment....on the front, anyway!
In some cases, a sentiment may do more to take away from what you've created, than to really add to it. This is one of those times, where I think the right call was to just leave them off!
So I stamped a sentiment on the inside!
PRO TIP: The sentiment doesn't have to go on the outside of the card!! It's not a requirement! Haha! So often, we get hung up when we create a beautiful card and then think, "Well, where can I squeeze in the sentiment?" Thing is, you don't have to put it on the front! If you feel you HAVE to include a sentiment, but it's going to mess up the design on the card front, then stamp it on the inside! No biggie. But even at that, you don't have to stamp one at all! You can just write what you want to say.....you know, with your own hand and a pen....using your own words! That would be perfectly ok! ;)
In this case, I knew I wanted to use those new sentiments I'd bought, but they were way too large in scale, for the scene I'd created on the card front. So, inside they went!
I hope you've enjoyed today's cards! Do you like this fun color combo???
And also, which card do you like best? The one with the more expected background, or the one with the little bit more funky background? I'd love to hear!
I'll link up all the goodies below, that I used to make these, in case you want to get some for yourself. I'm LOVING my inks and new goodies from The Stamp Market, and I know some of you have gotten some of their inks lately, too! I'm so happy for you all!
If you're tired of spotty, splotchy inks, you might want to give these a try!! Check out my "ink comparison" saved highlight on Instagram (linked below) in case you want to see how these inks stamp in comparison to several other inks I have here in the studio! It may just surprise you!
{Floral Thank You Cards supplies -- click on thumbnails}
Have a great day, friends, and be sure to head over to The Stamp Market for lots more inspo, both in their store, and on their instagram!
xo,
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