Flora Cards

 This week I was playing around with the Two Tone Flora stamp set and the pretty Fancy Flora papers.  I had ordered them last year but have not had a chance to use them yet.  

I layered a piece of the Fancy papers under the beautiful cut out on the front of this card.  The sayings are stamped on an oval cut out and framed with a scalloped edge.  Then I stamped some of the pretty flowers using Calypso Coral and stamping off for the secondary part.  The sprigs are punched using the Bough punch out of different green designer papers.  I got the idea from Patty Bennett.  

For the second card, I sponged Soft Succulent ink onto white cardstock using the cut out from the Two Tone Flora set.  This gave the card a soft, sweet look.  I added a strip of white for the saying space and framed it with some gray designer papers and a piece of peach paper.  Then I added two of the pretty flowers that I stamped and some punched out sprigs.  

Here is the card with pink flowers stamped in Sweet Sugarplum ink.  The card is so pretty I could make them all day, trying out new flower colors and arrangements.  I got the idea from Cindi Brewer.  

For my third card, I wanted to change up the colors and use another one of the pretty papers.  I saw this idea by Jamie Barbarczy and love the set made up in pinks and purples.  I cut out a tag from the designer papers and a white one for the saying.  I love the Stitched Greenery die on the front - this is the first time that I have used it and I will definitely be bringing it out more.  

The photo looks terrible but the cards are so pretty.  I had a lot of fun working with this set.   Wish I had time to make some more!

A Friendly Hello

One of the free Sale-a-Bration stamp sets and papers that Stampin Up is offering during Jan and Feb is this sweet little bird.  The papers are pretty pastel colors and together they really do present a Friendly Hello!  For this card, I used Pale Papaya cardstock, and layered the designer papers onto it.  I teamed up the Friendly Hello papers with Beautifully Penned papers from last summer's Sale-a-Bration selection.

I love the contrast of the addition of the black and gray colors.

For this card, I used a fold-back style for the base, added the designer papers, and then added a focal point using a scalloped die from Stitched So Sweetly.  I embossed a rectangular piece to add to the scalloped white to give it more dimension.  

Then I stamped the flowers from Friendly Hello and added some sprigs that I had lying around (seriously).  The saying is cut from a die and then glued to a piece of black paper that I hand trimmed for the border.  There is Wink of Stella for a pretty shine on all of the cards, but it doesn't show up in the photos.  I got the idea for this card from Leena Girsa.

For my next bird card, I used a piece of the designer paper for the focal point from the Friendly Hello papers.  I embossed the background with Timeworn Type folder and used white embossing powders for the saying.  I colored in the flowers and the bird with the Stamping blends.  I saw this card idea from Tami Hewlett.  

For the last card, I cut up strips of the designer papers and put them onto a white piece of cardstock.  I ran the piece through the Emboss machine using the Subtle folder.  I love how it sort of melds all of the papers together.  The saying is from See the Good, an older set.  I used a punch for the black leaf accents.

I had fun using the Friendly Hello set with the papers.  I'd like to try the bird using some darker colors instead of the pastels.  What about you?  Do you like the bird?  What color would you like to see him with?