Sweet garden cards

Usually by this time of year, my sister and I are busy planting or tending our backyard garden. So far this year we've done ... nothing. Well, that's not completely true. I did a tiny bit of weeding yesterday and tried to clear out some of the Creeping Charlie from the strawberry patch (and my allergies are acting up today as the price). Part of the reason is that we've been toying around with the idea of moving, so we're not terribly motivated to put a bunch of effort into a garden. But really I think neither one of us is "feeling it" this year. I know we'll plant something eventually, whether it's a few easy vegetables or even just flowers, but I don't know how many garden updates I'll have to share this summer. For now, though, I have a cute bunch of garden-themed cards that I hope you'll like.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Gleeful Gardens (Lawn Fawn), Gnome Sweet Gnome (Lawn Fawn), Whole Lotta' Happy (WPlus9)
Paper: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Whisper White, thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, various alcohol markers
Accessories: Gleeful Gardens dies (Lawn Fawn), Gnome Sweet Gnome dies (Lawn Fawn), Wonky Stitched Circles dies (My Favorite Things), Picket Fence Border dies (Lawn Fawn), Simple Stitched Hillside Borders dies (Lawn Fawn), Grassy Border die (Lawn Fawn), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), blue sequins (Paper Pumpkin leftovers), White Perfect Accents, outline stickers (Krazy Kreations), linen thread, Dimensionals

I think they turned out pretty cute! This series of cards started on a recent craft day. That morning I wasn't sure what project I wanted to work on, and while I looking through some of my supplies, I came across several sheets of white card stock stamped with outline images from various sets. I had intended to color them (maybe during the last craft weekend), but never did. One of the sheets was filled with these images, and since I didn't have any other pressing projects, I decided to color them and create some cards.

I love these adorable garden-themed images, especially the gnomes and mushrooms, and I had a lot of fun coloring them. I used various alcohol markers; I didn't write down the specific colors, but if you have a question about any of them, leave a comment below, and I'll try to figure out what I used. I tried to work on my blending skills, which still need some practice. But I do like that the coloring always looks "good" with alcohol markers, even if you just use one solid color.

Once all the coloring was done, I used the coordinating dies to cut out all the pieces. I also cut out some additional pieces to create the scenes for my cards, including stitched hillsides, grassy borders, a picket fence and a gate. Then it was a matter of dividing up all the pieces and arranging them on the different cards.

For most of the cards I used a Soft Sky card base. It's the perfect light blue for a sky background, and I'm so sad it retired. I still have plenty of the card stock left, though, so I'm sure you'll be seeing it for awhile.

For this last card, though, I used thick Whisper White card stock for the card base, and I think this one might be my favorite of the bunch. Rather than making a scene that filled the whole card, I created a little focal point scene. I used a wonky stitched circle die to cut a Soft Sky background. Then I layered on the die-cut grass, gate, snail, gnome and flower, letting the pieces overlap the edge of the circle.

For the most part, I kept the embellishments on these cards pretty simple: a white enamel circle on the first card and a few clear or blue sequins on the next two. For the last card I again used a few light blue sequins, but I also added a strip of a black scalloped outline sticker and a simple linen thread bow. It adds a little detail to the bottom of the card without taking focus away from the happy gnome and his snail buddy.


As always, thanks so much for stopping by today!