Encouraging cards

Today I'm sharing three more cards made with gel prints. Gel prints make great, easy backgrounds for cards because all you really need to add is a focal image and/or a sentiment. That's what I did for this group of encouraging cards.

Card on the left: The two colored leaf/flower images on this card were ones I made last summer as part of a mini online watercolor class. I wanted to use them together, so I looked for a gel print with coordinating colors. I die cut the gel print with a stitched rectangle die and adhered it to a burgundy card base. I placed the images near the upper left corner of the card. It felt like something was missing, so I looked through my dies and found a few small flower and foliage dies that I cut from copper card stock and added around the painted images. The colors of this card have a very autumn/Thanksgiving vibe to me, so I chose a sentiment about gratitude. I stamped it on vanilla card stock, tore the side of the card stock to add a little texture and adhered it near the bottom right corner. I finished the card with a copper flower by the sentiment and a few cream sequins.

Card on the right: I started by -- you guessed it -- cutting the gel print with a stitched rectangle die and adhering it to a lavender card base. I could trim the gel print with a paper cutter instead of using a die, but many times the pattern on a gel print (if I used a stencil) is slightly crooked and not lined up straight with the edge of the paper. That means I end up trimming the paper at a slight angle and then trying to get an even rectangle. It's easier to place a die where I want it, tape it down so it doesn't move and then die cut the gel print. Anyway, I used a die to cut a heart outline from black card stock and another gel print. I layered the hearts together, slightly offset so the black heart looks like a shadow, and glued them to the middle of the card. I stamped a sentiment on white card stock, cut out the individual words, and glued them down the middle of the card. I finished with several tiny black and white clay hearts.

For the last card I started with two more watercolor leaves I created last summer. I found a coordinating gel print, cut it with a stitched rectangle die, and adhered it to a blue-green card base. I stamped the sentiment on a wide strip of white card stock and then ran my bone folder along the edges of the white piece to distress them just a bit. I glued the strip about an inch above the bottom of the card base and added the leaves to the left side. I finished the card with some cool greenish/bluish/purpley sequins that pull together all the colors in the gel print and leaves.

There are a couple of things I would change about this card if I could make it again. First, I think the white card stock is a little too stark; I think I would try a very light blue or green instead to make it a little softer. Second, I would stamp the sentiment a little more to the right. I didn't realize until I glued down the strip that the words were going to be so close to the leaves. I could have pulled it off and made a new one, but I didn't want to wreck the gel print, so I left it.

I've got one more group of gel print cards to share, so stay tuned for my next post. Thanks for stopping by!