A pair of lotus blossoms

Stampin' Up!'s annual Sale-a-Bration (SAB) promotion ends in just a few days, so I wanted to share two cards I've made with one of the popular SAB sets, Lotus Blossom.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Lotus Blossom
Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White card stock; gold paper
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Fancy Fan embossing folder, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, 1/8" gold ribbon, pearls, Dimensionals

The flower part of the Lotus Blossom set is actually a three-step image. You can stamp the flower with one, two, or three different colors. I used just one color of ink for the flower: Blackberry Bliss. I chose this color because it's dark enough to get three different tones. The first, most detailed, stamp is stamped with "full strength" ink. The second image is stamped once on scratch paper, then over the first image. The third, largest, image is stamped twice on scratch paper and then over the first two images. I think this deep purple looks great with gold, so I embellished the card with a piece of 1/8" gold ribbon tied around the card front and three gold flowers made with the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Lotus Blossom
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow
Accessories: Simply Scored tool, rhinestones

The lotus blossom is definitely the focal point of this clean and simple card. I again used just one color for the flower, this time Lost Lagoon. I wanted the flower to lean in from the right side of the card, so when I placed the stamp for the stem on the clear block, I shaped it into a curve.

The embossed border adds an elegant touch to this card, and it's easy to do. I just flipped over the stamped panel and used a stylus to score on the back of the card stock 1/4" away from each edge. (You also can make the border with the stamped panel facing up. In that case the border will be indented, or debossed, instead of raised.) For an extra detail, I stopped the embossed border from crossing over the flower stem. To do this, I used a pencil to lightly mark on the back of the card stock where the stem was. Then I simply skipped over that part when embossing.

The Lotus Blossom stamp set is perfect for making elegant but unfussy cards. These are actually the only two cards I've made with the set so far, so I'm looking forward to using it -- maybe with different greetings or different-colored flowers -- to make a set of note cards. Thanks for stopping by!