Papertrey Ink May 2012 Blog Hop Challenge

Here's another wonderful photo for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge:

As soon as I saw this photo I knew I wanted to use:

+ a splash of green.

+ something 'polka dotty'

+ my newest Garden Variety II stamp and die set 

+ black and white gingham ribbon from my stash  

So ... combining all of these features, I designed two cards  ... 

 GARDEN VARIETY SYMPATHY

It's always so hard to create sympathy cards when you really need them and I rarely make them, so I thought this challenge would be a good opportunity to design one. 

Nichole suggested two colours (Simply Chartruese or New Leaf) as the option for green in the inspiration photo. I don't have either of these colours in ink, but I have a card stock sampler with both colours. I was able to colour the leaves from the Garden Variety II stamp with a Tombow marker and then stamp onto the white card stock. It didn't give a solid clear transfer, but the colour was a closer match to Simply Chartreuse than any other green inks in my collection. (SC ink is on my next shopping list!!)

From there I decided to add the small floral image using Spring Moss - it sort of reminds me of my sister-in-law's hydrangea bush - the white flowers have a light green tint.

I also added some light green rhinestones onto the floral images for a bit of contrast. The flower pot was stamped with Smokey Shadow and then the image panel was mounted onto a Simply Chartreuse Tag Sale #4 die cut. The black gingham ribbon was attached to the top of the tag.

The upper portion of the white card base was embossed with Swiss Dots embossing folder. A white strip of card stock was stamped with the polka dot block from Bitty Background Blocks and layered over several Heart Border die cuts in black and Simply Chartreuse, to create a small scalloped edge.

The sentiment, (Through the Trees) was heat embossed with black embossing powder below the focal point. Since I did not emboss this section with the polka dot, it was easy to add the sentiment.

Card Details: (PTI unless noted)

Stamps -  Garden Variety II, Through the Trees, Bitty Background Blocks

Inks - Versamark; Smokey Shadow, Spring Moss

Papers - Stamper's Select White, Black, Simply Chartreuse

Dies - Limitless Layers 2 1/2" Circles, Tag Sale #4, Heart Border Die

Other - Tombow #126 marker; green rhinestones; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder; Texture Trios Black Gingham Ribbon; Stampendous Detail Black Embossing Powder.

GARDEN VARIETY VIOLETS

The violet image from Year of  Flowers Collection was coloured, cut and sitting on my desk for the longest time. Even though the inspiration photo doesn't contain any purples or lavenders, I knew that it would look very dramatic with black, white and New Leaf Green. Since I had a lot of the  supplies out for the first card I went ahead and created a second card for the challenge:

 Here's how I incorporated some of the features from the inspiration photo:

Gingham: I used the gingham block from Bitty Background Blocks to stamp the Picket Fence die cut. The horizontal strips were stamped diagonally so that they would stand out against the pickets in the background. Little black rhinestone pearls were added to the slats at each end.

Green: I used New Leaf as the background mat for the focal point and then repeated the colour in the seed packet heading and flower title, as well as the single green butterfly. The green also is center stage in the leaves of the violets.

Black/White: The Seed Packet Frame #2 was die cut and then stamped with the coordinating stamp from Garden Variety II onto white card stock. This was mounted onto a black mat using foam dimensionals.  

The sentiment (Garden Variety) was stamped in the bottom corner in black ink.

The price image was stamped in black and then added to the bow on the picket fence.

Textures: The Vineyard Impression Plate was used to create texture on the card front; the Linen IP was used on the seed packet frame, as well as the two mats (black and green) to create dimension.

Other Details: The flower was coloured, cut and then popped in the opening using foam dimensionals. Winter Wisteria card stock was used to cut 2 butterflies and they joined the green one in the top corner. To finish the look, a small lavender bow was added to the picket fence.

Card Details: (PTI unless noted)

Stamps -  Garden Variety, GV II, Year of Flowers Collection, Year of Flowers Titles, Bitty Background Blocks II,

Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Close To My Heart: Clover Meadow

Papers - Stamper's Select White, Black, Winter Wisteria, New Leaf.

Dies - Seed Packet Frame #2, Picket Fence Die, Linen IP, Vineyard IP; SSU Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Other - Copic markers; black rhinestone pearls; Offray Ribbon; Sakura Yellow Gelly Roll pen; foam dimensionals  

Thanks for stopping along the way .... enjoy the rest of the Blog Hop!!

Karen C.