Tag: Botanicals

Botanicals · Clean and Simple

Simple Thoughts of You

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One of the things that I really love about crafting is the variety of projects that you can create. From the simplest to the most advanced designs, each one is beautiful in its own way and never fails to deliver a smile to its recipient. This week, we’ve been exploring designs using a number of different botanical products from Stampin’ Up!

Today’s card design is borrowed from a fellow demonstrator over at Stampaholic. She made a series of cards that spanned from easiest to advanced using the Planted Paradise stamps and this same soft color palette. I love the combination of earth tones with the botanical images. For my card, I swapped out a few elements and added a few too. And that’s the beauty of finding inspiration for your designs — they don’t have to be exact, but they certainly can be.

The base of this card is Early Espresso cardstock. The Calypso Coral strip of designer paper in the middle is from the Sale-a-Bration paper pack called Softly Stippled. I added a strip of the natural wavy trim to the center. The image panel is diecut from white cardstock using the Everyday Details dies. The clay pot is stamped upside down to more resemble a vase and then each of the twigs is stamped to come out the top. The sentiment from the Botanical Layers stamp set is stamped on Crumb Cake and then diecut using the Thoughtful Expressions dies. A small bow of linen thread is added to the top of the vase to dress it up and add a layer of the natural brown that ties together with the wavy trim and sentiment panel to complete a visual triangle. I added fine shimmer gems to finish things off.

This card design can easily be simplified or dressed up. And that’s what makes the layout on for the inspiration folder. It comes together beautifully and quickly and is lovely whether it is simple or more ornate.

Next week, we’re going to go flying. I hope you’ll come along as we take to the skies!

Products used in this card:
Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Basic White cardstock
Softly Stippled DSP (retired SAB)
Planted Paradise, Botanical Layers stamps
Everyday Details, Thoughtful Expressions dies
Natural wavy trim, linen thread
Fine shimmer gems (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Botanicals · Clean and Simple

Garden Prayers

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Ever since I can remember, I’ve had an interest in plants and insects. I’d like to think that I got that from my grandparents, who both loved to garden and my grandfather was a beekeeper. As the seasons change, I love going to the local nursery and buying new seasonal annuals. I love the challenge of finding plants that will do well despite the scorching summer heat. And I definitely have my favorites. Right now, I’m enjoying the new spring plantings and the lovely pops of color they bring to the barely-green landscapes. So naturally, I love crafting products that incorporate flowers and plants.

This week, we’re looking at some of the current products that Stampin’ Up! offers that feature plants of all sorts. Today’s card pairs stamps and an embossing folder.

We start with a base of Moody Mauve for this design. For this soft color palette, I embossed white cardstock with the Elegant Eucalyptus embossing folder and then matted the entire panel with Pool Party. I stamped the focal image separately using the Planted Paradise and Botanical Layers stamp sets. I cut them out with paper snips and then mounted to the embossed base with dimensionals. The sentiment from the So Sincere set is stamped on white cardstock and diecut using the Thoughtful Expressions dies. I added some Pool Party fine sparkle gems to finish things off.

Tomorrow I’ll be showing you a sneak peek of a brand new background stamp. Hope you’ll come check it out!

Products used in today’s design:
Moody Mauve, Pool Party, Basic White cardstock
Botanical Layers, Planted Paradise, So Sincere stamps
Thoughtful Expressions dies
Fine sparkle gems (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Botanicals · Clean and Simple

Hello Planter

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

While I’m always inspired by designs with florals or botanicals, in spring, cards with these images always seem to jump out at me. And lately I’ve saved so many wonderful ideas using the variety of sets Stampin’ Up! has to offer.

Today, we’re using two of my current go-to all-purpose botanical sets — Botanical Layers (soon to retire!) and Planted Paradise. I’m sad to see the Botanical Layers stamp set go. It has a combination of images of common potted plant varieties and some lovely sentiments. And this set pairs beautifully with the Planted Paradise stamp set, which is comprised of just images of leaves and stems (mostly succulents) and some pottery designs. The pottery is mostly larger in scale, so you instantly have a really nice focal image.

Today’s design starts with a base of Pebbled Path. This is one of the current 2023-25 In Colors, and I’ve only just come to discover how very versatile it is. Pebbled Path is a lovely mix of brown and grey — the perfect neutral. The focal panel consists of a mat of Moody Mauve (another 23-25 In Color) and a background panel of Soft Sea Foam. I used two of the largest nesting sizes of the Deckled Rectangles dies to cut them. Using the Planted Paradise stamps, I created a falling leaf pattern and used it to stamp the background on the Soft Sea Foam panel. To keep the background stamping light, I used the stamp-off method with my Garden Green ink.

For the focal image, I stamped the pottery image from Planted Paradise in Cajun Craze ink on white cardstock and then fussy cut it with a very narrow border. Next, I stamped two snake plant images from Botanical Layers in Mossy Meadow on white cardstock and fussy cut them, as well. I made sure to cut out the white background between the tall fronds to allow more of the background to show through and give a more realistic look to my potted plant. I then stamped the Hello sentiment from the Heartfelt Hellos stamp set in Early Espresso onto white cardstock and cut it out with a narrow border.

I added dimensionals to the back of both the pottery and plant images. Before adhering, I added two longer strips of natural wavy trim on either corner of the pottery and strung it over the top of the panel to create a hanging basket look. I gave an additional layer of dimensionals on the back of the sentiment to ensure it stood above my focal image.

TIP: if you find that your stamps, particularly your photopolymer stamps, are giving you a blotchy-looking image, try adding a layer of Versamark ink first and then your chosen ink color. This will give you a nice, smooth stamped image. That’s what I had to do here for the pottery.

I personally find that I don’t use my botanical sets often enough. Perhaps it’s because, on their own, they’re not the flashy, eye-catching images that we’re drawn to. BUT when we spend a little time with these stamp sets, what we’ll find is very versatile images that make gorgeous card designs — just as eye-catching and appealing as the immediately flashy sets that we’re drawn to more often. I hope that I can show you more of what I mean through this week’s series of botanical cards. I hope you’ll tune in each day!

Products used in today’s featured card:
Pebbled Path, Soft Sea Foam, Moody Mauve, Basic White cardstock
Botanical Layers, Planted Paradise, Heartfelt Hellos stamps
Deckled Rectangles dies
Natural wavy trim
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesive

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