Avant Garden

I've been feeling very unmotivated to be crafty lately. I'm not exactly sure why -- various work, life and the-world-has-gone-mad stresses, I think -- but it's been a struggle to create anything. This weekend, though, I was actually fairly productive, and even better, I really like the cards I made. I focused on using some of my new Sale-a-Bration and Occasions stamp sets, and today I'll share a couple of cards using the Avant Garden set.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Avant Garden
Paper: 110-lb Solar White card stock (Neenah Paper), Basic Black card stock, gold paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, colored pencils and blending pencil (Prismacolor)
Accessories: Dotted scallop ribbon border punch, black/white baker's twine, gold Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, gold sequins (The Makery), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

This card makes me so happy; I just love the toile-style background and the black/white/gold color combination. To make the background, I stamped the two line-art images repeatedly, changing the orientation each time. I added splatters with the gold Wink of Stella glitter brush pen (squeeze a bit of extra liquid into the tip of the pin and then flick the tip of the brush on the edge of the pen cap).

For the focal image I stamped the flower stem on white card stock and colored it with colored pencils. I stamped a birthday sentiment on the bottom of the card stock and added a baker's twine bow on the flower's stem. (The one thing I would change with this card is the placement if the focal stamp. Originally I forgot I wanted to add the sentiment, so I centered the flower on the white panel. If I were to make the card again, I would stamp the flowers higher so there was more room for the sentiment.) I matted the piece with gold paper and added a scalloped strip of black card stock on the left side. I adhered the whole panel to the card with Dimensionals and finished it off with three gold sequins.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Avant Garden, Delicate Details
Paper: 110-lb Solar White card stock (Neenah Paper), Calypso Coral card stock
Ink: Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Linen thread, Subtles enamel dots, Espress-o Yourself mini prills (USArtquest), Simply Scored tool, clear-drying glue (Art Institute Glitter), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Since I used the line-art images in the first card, I wanted to use the bold images for the second one. I stamped two flowers with Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz and added mini prills in the flower centers for texture. For the bow I looped linen thread around two fingers and used a smaller piece of thread to tie a knot in the middle of the loops.

To make the background I stamped four of the images from the Delicate details set along the bottom third of the card base. I couldn't decide what to do on the top of the card base, so I used the Simply Scored tool to score a border of two lines around the un-stamped portion of the card. I layered the focal piece onto Calypso Coral card stock and adhered the whole panel to the card base with Dimensionals.

I'm looking forward to my next stamping session, and I'm grateful for that. Thanks for stopping by!