The world turns green on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th. I love green everyday, it is my favorite color. Green is often a supporting color in cardmaking, seen as frogs, summer leaves and pine trees. But today it takes over beautifully in ever so elegant green cards.
Green With Envy
Stampin’ Up! offers 53 different colors in their spectrum of coordinating collections. And they do green very well, as 11 of the 53 colors have green tendencies. That speaks loudly of the importance of green in cardmaking.
Light Green:
Soft Seafoam, Pear Pizzazz, Mint Macaron
Medium Green:
Granny Apple Green, Old Olive, Call Me Clover
Dark Green:
Garden Green, Shaded Spruce, Mossy Meadow
Blue-Green:
Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay
Beautifully Braided In Green
Soft Seafoam and Mossy Meadow marry in spectacular fashion for elegant green cards. Instead of the typical colorful flower petals, I chose to make the leafy version of this stamp from the set Beautifully Braided. The Scripty 3D embossing folder in one of my personal favorites, and mimics a print from the 6×6 Designer Series Paper color collection, quickly crafted from a circle punch.
Greening Positive Thoughts
Grays and greens have more in common than the letter “G”. They are earthy tones and transition well with other colors. This elegant green card, featuring the Positive Thoughts stamp set and coordinating product release, Nature’s Thoughts Dies, is supported by Gray Granite and Basic Gray. The fabulous DSP comes from the 12×12 Garden Lane, a green lovers must have!
Garden Lane DSP, item #149488
Spring Green Timeless Tulips
Flower cards are often very elegant, but green usually takes the back seat to lively colorful arrays. White tulips look natural with the abundance of green in this stunning card. Notice that the circle punched from this DSP was used in my card above! And the ribbon used here is from the retired green, Wild Wasabi.
As you can see, it is easy to make elegant green cards. Stop by my online store, https://www.juliemakson.stampinup.net, and add some green papers and inks to your order. Then make the world a greener place in your own crafty way!
The stamp set, Beautifully Braided, is new to the Stampin’ Up! January-June 2020 Mini Catalog. With so much focus on other flower stamp sets and bundles, Beautifully Braided could be considered by some to be a bit of a sleeper. You can combine the purchase of Beautifully Braided with the Braided Border Punch for a 10% bundle savings.
Unlike most bundles, the stamp set can certainly stand on its own. Similarly, the punch does not specifically require the stamp set. The connection between the two is a single dotted stamp in the pattern of the punch design. Regardless, each component makes wow cards, and who doesn’t love a bargain?
*Full disclosure, I bought this bundle for the punch and fell madly in love with the stamp set. When in doubt on a purchase, you should always go for the bundle.
I applaud a large stamp image that can be used frequently. This generous sized flower stamp from Beautifully Braided requires clear block f, the big daddy! Consider it for birthday, sympathy, thinking of you, congrats, Easter, Mother’s Day cards, and more. The sentiments are unique and refreshing, speaking to us of friendship and kindness.
Card Design
This flower stamp looks clean and crisp done in black and white. When you add color, you add endless possibilities. For you doodle fanatics- grab those markers, blends or watercolor pencils and go for it. Hello quick stamp and go peeps or newbies- this is designed for you. My technique freaks- heat emboss, watercolor, spotlight.
Stamp direct for a deeper color or stamp off for a subtle look. The filler stamp is not an exact match, so stamping is super easy- no perfect alignment needed for this artsy look.Add additional color with blends or markers. Then tap the uncapped end of either with your bone folder over your stamped image. This creates a sporadic and delicate splatter effect.
Braided Border Punch
Border punches are not new to Stampin’ Up!. Yet the directive to punch, align and repeat can be tricky. It takes a little practice and patience to get it right. Therefore, I have a few tips that may help you in creating an awesome border.
Choose the correct paper size for the punch. Bigger is better!Steady your punched paper as you align and punch again. Make sure the paper edge on the right remains flush against the punch lip (all the way to the back).
Are you still having trouble making perfect punched borders? A simple solution is to hide the imperfections. First, add ribbon thru the lattice style opening, then knot or tie a bow. Next, tuck the border behind some pretty top layers.
My less than perfect punched border. Coverups are in the works. Make your border long and wrap the ends around the back when layering. Supermarket shortcut: secure with ordinary tape. No messy adhesive required in the front!
Sentiment Use
Do you love the sentiment, but have no room to stamp all of it? You should mask and condense. Here, I used the word “smile” from the stamp “your smile brightens my day”. Certainly you could stamp the complete version to the inside of the card for continuity.
No need to ink the entire saying, just the portion needed. It’s okay to get ink on surrounding words as long as you don’t go crazy, that’s where the next step takes effect.Painters tape masks unwanted images, and removes easily from the block and stamp. Use the straight edge of the tape (not jagged) against your inked selection.Align and stamp. The painters tape keeps unwanted ink off your project.
Colorful Cards
Above all, the beauty of the Beautifully Braided stamp set is its simple versatility. The Braided Border Punch can be used in limitless ways. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram as I share additional cards made with this great bundle.
Be sure to shop my online store and add the Beautifully Braided Bundle to your collection. Most importantly, start creating your own colorful garden projects. Share with others, and make them smile. You’ll be glad you did!
My beautiful garden, created using Lily Impressions Designer Series Paper (free with a $50 purchase during Sale-A-Bration) and coordinating color families.
