Bold etched flowers

When I was in Iowa with my aunt back in October, we stopped at a fabulous scrapbooking/stamping store. There were so many amazing products that it was easy to get overwhelmed, so I focused my energy on the wall of stamps and dies. I found the Etched Flowers stamp set, from an Australian company called Darkroom Door, and new immediately that I had to get it. The stamp set includes three etched-type flower images and four wonderful all-occasion sentiments in a font that looks handwritten.

Supplies:
Stamps: Etched Flowers (Darkroom Door)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Sea Glass, Tranquil Teal, Lucky Clover, Key Lime, Wild Dandelion (Gina K Designs); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Shimmer mist (made with Shimmer Liquid Watercolor [Taylored Expressions] and alcohol), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

This card was so easy to make, but I think the blocks of bold color are really eye-catching. I chose one of the images in the set and started by stamping the light green image in the middle of a piece of white card stock. Then I just switched ink colors and continued stamping the surrounding images, staggering the top edge of the images. I just eyeballed the placement of the images, so they're not perfect, but I think that works just fine with the style of the stamp.

Once all the flowers were stamped, I added the sentiments using black ink. I love that these two sentiments could be used alone or combined, as I did here. I coated the whole panel with shimmer spray and then adhered it to a white card base. For a simple finishing touch I added a scattering of clear sequins that follows the sentiments from the top left to the bottom right.

Supplies:
Stamps: Etched Flowers (Darkroom Door)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Sea Glass (Gina K designs), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set 40 (Stampers Anonymous), blender brush (Picket Fence Studios), black and white twine (Stampin' Up!), black enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet), Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), foam tape (3M)

For this card I stamped the daisy image on white card stock using Sea Glass ink and then die cut it with a stitched rectangle die. I stamped the sentiment in black right over the flower and then set that piece aside.

I struggled with the background for this card and couldn't decide what to do. Finally I pulled out some stencils and used a blender brush and Sea Glass ink to create a circle/diamond pattern on part of the white card front. (I'm curious, which pattern do you see first? My eyes are initially drawn to the white circles, and then I see the blue diamonds.) It has a little more of a retro feel than I was going for, but it's a nice contrast to the focal image.

I wrapped some black and white twine around the card front a couple of times and tied it off in a bow. Using foam tape, I adhered the die-cut rectangle over the twine. I added a few black enamel dots to finish the card.

I think I'm finally getting caught up with my Christmas prep. I finished making ornaments today, so I'll post those soon (although it may not be until after Christmas ...), and I have all my cards and packages mailed. I'm waiting for a couple of things to arrive on Monday, and I've got some wrapping to do, but the end is in sight. I am looking forward to a little time to relax!

Thanks for stopping by!