A variety of Rustic Botanicals

For the past couple of weeks I've been busy making valentines to donate to Meals on Wheels, so I haven't had much time for blogging. Well, I finally finished all those cards last night (yippee!), so I'll be sharing them in upcoming posts. But first I want to share a few cards I made with a new stamp set I got for Christmas, Rustic Botanicals from Ellen Hutson.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Rustic Botanicals (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Old Olive
Accessories: Rustic Botanicals dies (Essentials by Ellen), Large Stitched Rectangles Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, burlap trim, Morning Dew Nuvo Crystal Drops (Tonic Studios), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, Dimensionals

To make this card and the next one, I started with about half a sheet of white card stock. Using six images from the stamp set and three ink colors, I covered the whole sheet with images. When I do this technique, I always start with the largest image and gradually work down to the smallest image, filling in open spaces. Once I was happy with the result, I cut the piece of card stock in half and used half for each card.

Here are a few additional details about this card:
- I applied clear Wink of Stella glitter on the Bermuda Bay flower on the focal layer.
- I used clear Nuvo Crystal drops on the Basic Gray stamens of that flower. Those were also a Christmas present, and so far I really like them!
- The burlap trim behind the focal layer is actually two pieces. I really wanted to use that trim, but the piece I had left wasn't long enough. So I cut it in half and adhered a piece behind each side of the background.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Rustic Botanicals (Essentials by Ellen), Birthday Messages (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White card stock; Bermuda Bay glimmer paper
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Old Olive
Accessories: Splatter embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), Large Stitched Rectangles Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), Citrus sequins (Craft Medley), Dimensionals, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

For this card I left the stamped background panel as the focal point of the card. I did add a little bling with a few green sequins and a small strip of blue glimmer paper behind the sentiment.

Since I didn't have a separate focal image, I decided to add some detail to the card base. Texture was the perfect way to go, so I used a splatter-style embossing folder to emboss the card front.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Rustic Botanicals (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Cucumber Crush, thick Whisper White, Basic Black card stock
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Gelatos (Lime, Margarita Mix; Faber-Castell)
Accessories: Leaves 3-D embossing folder (Sizzix), gold thread, Go Green sequins (Craft Medley), gold Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, Aqua Painter, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

This card was my first experiment with Gelatos, another Christmas gift. (I must have been good last year, because I got lots of fun crafty stuff!) I'm not crazy about the end result, but I don't hate it, either.

I scribbled some color from the Gelatos on an acrylic block and then used an Aqua Painter to pick up color and paint it over the stamped leaves. The colors look a bit washed out in this photo, but in real life they're bolder.

I added some gold with loops of thread and behind the stamped panel and splatter from a Wink of Stella brush pen. I also added a strip of black card stock behind the bottom of the stamped layer and three light green sequins. The background was made with an embossing folder I got quite awhile ago and had never used. But I think it works perfectly with these leaves.

Thanks for stopping by!