Paper Bouquet & Process
This process was about designing for the recipient, little details, and a trick for fixing a problem.
The starting point: the Paper Bouquet Die Set from Concord & 9th
I cut flowers and greens from cardstock colors, and used ink blending of those same colors to add some depth and variation to the die cuts. (Doing this on a grip mat is a great way to ink those small pieces without having to worry about how to hang onto them.)
Once the flowers were ready, I gave them a couple of spritzes of shimmer spray.
I die cut the paper wrap with the die for that, stamped a greeting on the front, and then folded it and glued it together with the flowers.
The problem - and the trick to fix it:
I came back to finish the card later and realized the ink I’d used for the paper wrap had smoothed out and settled into the cardstock and was not very visible. Yet, I didn’t think I’d be able to re-stamp on it because it was rather lumpy with the floral stems inside. Since it was all glued together, it would have been hard to add a new one. I should have paid more attention while I was making it, but I was in my zone and just creating. I considered just adding a new front flap to cover it up, but then had an idea. I decided to try the stamping with a darker color, though, as I expected, it stamped only the center area.
But, these stamps are flexible, so maybe I could use that flexibility to wrap around the bulk on my card piece. I knew I wouldn’t be able to line it up well enough to use an acrylic block (which I could have rolled around the dimension and might have worked), I wanted to keep it in the MISTI for position. I just needed to get the sides of the stamp on a different plane than the center. I found some scrap strips of thicker cardstock, layered two up, and stuck them behind the sides of the stamp - lifting up the area I needed to stamp.
It worked! I did one side at a time, just inking up the section that was elevated by the paper strips. This photo shows the detail of that on my MISTI door.
I needed a background, and wanted to use something different than the ones I’ve recently used on cards. The recipient is a quilter, and I remembered a cover die that a friend had recently given me, but I hadn’t used yet. I also knew that the angular shapes of this die would be a good mix with the organic shapes of the flower arrangement. I used the cover die for the background, and some of the smaller detail pieces to layer up for interest. I added the flowers, but felt it needed something. I inked the brush with Tidepool ink (same color as the cardstock) and brushed some around all the edges, and especially at the corners. This added some needed depth to bring the focus to the center of the card where I wanted it. See the side-by-side comparison of these two photos to see the before and after of that inking, and the difference it made.
Thank you for visiting! I hope you get some time to create something soon.
Links are below if you’re interested in any of the products I used.
Supply list*:
(Listed by company, with links to Simon Says Stamp)
Concord & 9th -
Paper Bouquet Die Set
Pinwheel Quilt Top Dies
Weekend Market Clear Stamp Set
cardstock: Dragonfruit, Briar Rose, Honeycomb, Eucalyptus, Juniper, Tidepool, Grape Soda, Wheat
Ink: Briar Rose, Tidepool, Blueberry, Nutmeg
Gina K Designs -
Imagine - Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray - Sparkle
*Affiliate links have been used with no cost difference for you.