Nature studies

Happy March! In case you're wondering, it's still snowing. Well, not at this exact moment -- at least it wasn't the last time I looked out the window, but with the way this winter is going, anything is possible -- but we had another good snowstorm yesterday. It's just snow piled on snow piled on snow. I can't wait until everything is green and growing again. Until then, I'll have to make do with these cards:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: 80-lb natural card stock (Cougar); Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze, Hello Honey, Peach Parfait, Lavender Lace, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Petal Pink, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Funky Foliage Thinlits dies (Sizzix - Tim Holtz), Stitched Rectangles Thinlits dies (Sizzix), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Artist-tac adhesive sheets (Grafix), foam tape (3M)

I bought the Funky Foliage dies way back in October during my birthday crafting weekend. I loved them as soon as I saw them, but with all the craziness of holiday preparations, I didn't have a chance to play with them until January.

When I did sit down to create, I didn't have an end project in mind. I just pulled out a bunch of scrap card stock and started cutting shapes. I love all the detail and texture created by the layering shapes (although some of those tiny pieces were hard to keep track of!). I glued them together as I went until I had a pile of leaves, flowers, mushrooms, and acorns.

From there I decided to make a few simple "nature study" cards. I die-cut stitched rectangles out of cream card stock and started adding and arranging pieces until I was happy with the layout. Then I glued down all the shapes.

When I was done with the three panels, I chose colors for the card bases and attached the panels with foam tape. I stamped sentiments inside the cards, but you also could leave an open space to add a sentiment on the front of the card. Or you could skip the sentiment altogether and have a great all-occasion card. I think a set of these cards would make a great little gift.

I hope it's not too long before we start seeing leaves and flowers around here. Come on, spring!

Thanks for stopping by!