Sunflower Card; My FIRST blog hop!

Today I made a Sunflower card for STAMPlorations “Things with Wings” May challenge! This is my first time participating in a blog hop and linky party, and maybe I’m a bit nervous, but I knew I’d have so much fun with their CUTplorations (die cutting) challenge and I of course love seeing what other crafters have created! See below for how I created the card.

Inspiration

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Today it was from my stamping friend Karen who sent me a packet sunflower seeds for my new home. How sweet is that?! These will hopefully grow quickly and look beautiful in the yard! Likewise, sunflowers always attract lots of winged creatures, so I knew they’d have to be on my card.

Color exploration

The colors of my soon-to-grow sunflowers are beautiful, but I needed to explore how I wanted my stamped sunflowers to look on the card. I brought out my full stash of ink pads, but found the Stampin Up inks worked best together for the look I wanted. Recommended: Melon Mambo, More Mustard, Emerald Envy, Island Indigo, Fresh Fig, but your rainbow is your choice! I also stamped a few using an ombre ink pad from Kaleidacolor.

Play with colors!

Designing the sunflower card

I lay out the sunflowers in the colors that I liked on the card. This took some time because I couldn’t decide which would look better: rainbow sunflowers, or the “desert heat” ombre sunflowers, so I made both!  I often make my cards in duplicates in case I change my plan halfway through my creation, and after I’m finished it seems more resourceful with my time and paper. I highly recommend this strategy.

Stamp and Create!

Using black ink for an extra punch, I stamped the butterflies and then embossed with black sparkle powder (Ranger). I then die cut with the matching sizzix butterfly die.

Next, I colored one with melon mambo markers (to match the rainbow) and the other with various greens and blues (to contrast the ombre).

Once I saw where the butterflies would be, I decided to make my cards horizontal instead of my planned vertical card. No plan is final until you glue it down! I stamped my sentiment from Colorful Seasons in Melon Mambo (I just love this color!). The other sentiment is from a MyAcrylics set with dandlions called Treasures. I thought it paired well with the butterflies.
Lastly, I adhered the butterflies using dimensionals where they felt like flying.

The embossing deserved a closeup

Please leave a comment if you liked these cards. I love to hear from my fellow crafters!

Hop over to the challenge blog to see inspiration from other stampers and die-cutting divas!

Happy Crafting!