Fun Stampin' with Margaret!: Inspired by Nature, two cards

Friday, March 5, 2010

Inspired by Nature, two cards

Today's "Thinking of You" card is another one I designed for a card class last week. I was looking for some soothing colors and design for someone who needs kind thoughts because of stress in their life. What is more soothing that the soft colors of nature, grass, and animals, in this case, butterflies? I pulled out another great set that I hadn't used in awhile: Inspired by Nature.

Soft colors of nature, Bashful Blue accented with Old Olive, form the color scheme here. The card base is Old Olive with a full overlay of Bashful Blue that has been stamped twice in Old Olive with the tall grass stamp. This was wrapped by a sash of Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon then adhered to the base green card.

The greeting was stamped in Old Olive on Whisper White, punched with the Small Oval Punch then layered onto Old Olive that was punched with the Large Oval Punch. Dimensionals were used to adhere this to a Barely Banana Scallop Oval punch out which is then adhered to the ribbon.

The butterflies were embossed and cut all in one operation by using the Beautiful Wings Embosslet and the Big Shot. It actually cuts out three other butterflies at the same time also! I used a Sponge Dauber to add some color to the raised portion of the butterflies then adhered them to the card front. After stamping a saying on the inside, we were done! The ladies seemed to like this card a lot, and it was quite easy to make.

Tip: When inking a large stamp, lay it rubber-side up on the table then use the ink pad to apply the ink to it. Then carefully place your cardstock to be stamped over the inked rubber and rub all over the card with your fingers to transfer the ink to the card. You can also add a half-sheet of copy paper over the cardstock before rubbing, particularly if the cardstock is not as large as the inked stamp, to prevent getting ink on your fingers. You can also use a clean rubber brayer instead of your fingers, especially if you're doing several. Carefully lift off the stamped card and you're done!

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This Congratulations card also uses the Inspired by Nature set but instead of the grass it uses the large coneflower stamp. The color combination is a little more dramatic, using Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Baja Breeze (one of last year's In Colors) and a touch of Whisper White.

First the Always Artichoke cardstock was stamped in Artichoke ink with the tall grass stamp used on the previous card. Then a square of Always Artichoke DSP from one of the DSP 6 x 6" packs was stamped with the large flower stamp in VersaMark then embossed with White Embossing Powder and the Heat Tool. This was layered onto Baja Breeze and Rose Red cardstock and a Rose Red brad applied to the upper left corner.

I wanted to add a hint of soft color to the white images so I used my Stampin' Pastel Chalks and applied them with the little sponge applicators that come with it. I was very pleased with the result of my little experiment! : )

Next I wrapped a double layer of ribbon, Baja Breeze over Rose Red Stitched Grosgrain, around this layer and adhered it to the card.

I stamped the Congrats! stamp in Always Artichoke onto Baja Breeze cardstock, punched it out with the 1" Square Punch then layered that onto a Whisper White Scallop Square Punch-out then onto a Rose Red square. This was placed on the lower left of the image layer. Three more Rose Red Brads were added to the lower right to balance the design and complete the card.

TIP: To emphasize the Mini Brads, add a 1/4" circle of cardstock beneath them!

TIP: Even though the Baja Breeze color is no longer available in the US and Canada, one could easily substitute Bashful Blue. I did this card a while back and just realized today that I had never posted it on my blog. I was waiting for some reason, which is now forgotten, lol!

I hope you enjoyed these two versions using the Inspired by Nature set. It has lots of possibilities, plus some nice words that also come in the set. I have several other projects on my blog using this set; just enter "Inspired by Nature" in the search box at the top left of this page.