Say it with...A Year of Flowers! (& embossing Robin's Bandanna Technique)

I'm always floored by by Melanie Muenchinger's designs, her ingenuity, & her wicked tutorials. (How does she do it?) So, I'm SOOOooooh excited to be stampin' with these gorgeous new sets that she designed: Say it With Flowers & A Year of Flowers.

Not only are they ultra perty, I was also blown away by the quality of the rubber (This was my first time using Gina K Stamps & they stamp like a Dream!) The sentiments in Say it With Flowers are incredibly adaptable & poignant. I had a hard time choosing which one to use, but I loved:

When words escape,
Flowers speak.
--Bruce W. Currie.

Isn't that lovely? I had a hard time picking just one flower from A Year of Flowers to stamp too, but I knew I wanted to repeat one and there's something extra aluring about the shape of this particular flower. (It could be a Dahlia, a Mum, or any number of varieties) but really I wanted it to be a waterlily...

I loved it stamped repeatedly to make a pattern for this wee mini purse. The flower makes a nicely nesting shape for backgrounds because of the petals unfolding on the underside of the bloom:

I liked the petals sans colouring but wanted to accentuate 'em, so I dotted them using Robin Beam's Bandanna technique. I got impatient waiting for the Inkssentials pen to dry (it dries but I'm infamously impatient, hehehe) so I thought why not emboss it?

Turns out it takes embossing powder like a Dream! And the texture after is so sweet, 'cause you can get teensy little dots. I can't wait to try this with every flower in the A Year of Flowers set! I could stamp 'em all year! LOL.

a step-by step how-to for the purse:

Template linked here.

• Step 1: Print the template (on cardstock to make a pattern to trace) I used the first of the 3 sizes. I just omitted the handles.
  

• Step 2: Cut it out
  

• Step 3: Make alcohol ink paper:
  

(To make the purse paper, I used glossy cardstock from Stampin' Up! with alcohol ink daubed on) To colour the glossy cardstock, I used Stream alcohol ink from Ranger (Tim Holtz) with these accessories (blending solution, applicator & felt)
OR
You could use any precoloured or or inked-up glossy/shimmery cardstock (lets the inkssentials pen stay wet)

• Step 4: Trace the template onto the alcohol inked paper & cut it roughly to shape (not cutting it right to the template line gives you extra area to hold onto)

• Step 5: Stamp the flower in a pattern onto it:
  

• Step 6: Dot around the flowers with Inkssentials pen
  

• Step 7: Emboss with clear embossing powder as you go (I like to do one flower at a time to prevent smudging):

• Step 8: After embossing, cut away the rough excess and then assemble it:

For how to make wire handles please see this post

The Card Image:

I wanted the colour a little somber. I find the sentiment great for many occasions but perfect for a sympathy card, so I was after a toned-down look. Here's how I got the shades of colour with one alcohol ink colour: Wild Plum (I only have three) :O)

Underpainting (to get various shades
with one alcohol ink colour):

• Step 1: Make alcohol ink paper; this is Patterned Gesso cardstock (tutorial for gesso c.s. here) Coloured with Stream alcohol ink.
  

• Step 2: Stamp the two flowers onto it. (Love that there are two sizes for stamping dimensional scenes.) & Stamp the stems (There are two sizes of those too!) :O)
  

• Step 3: Draw lily pads with a permanent marker
  

• Step 4: Add an underpainting of white craft ink (from SU) on a waterbrush:
  

• Step 5: Paint over the white with the Wild Plum alcohol ink
  

• Step 6: Add white dots with embossed version of Robin Beam's Bandanna technique (tutorial above)
  

• Step 7: For the leaves I used colour from 3 green Close to my Heart markers on a waterbrush & painted them until some of the alcohol ink showed through.
  

Other card details:

RIBBON: Velvet May arts rick rack (dry brushed with Stream alcohol ink on applicator & blended with the blending solution) then sewn with embroidery thread and seed beads. Edges sealed with Crystal Laquer & finished with gem brads.
SENTIMENT: Say it With Flowers embossed onto alcohol inked glossy cardstock; punched with Stampin' Up!s key tag punch; dotted with inkssentials white pen & black Stampin'Write marker (both embossed with clear embossing powder)


Melanie (& lots of other great stampers) have been making magic with these sets, so check out her fab blog if you wanna be inspired: Hands, Head and Heart.


Thanks for stopping by for a visit!



P.S. As you can see from the pic of the card, I'm still trying to perfect the nighttime lighting (needs work); will post more about that halogen work light soon. :O)

ETA P.P.S. Melanie has a tip-sheet here (for both these sets) with tonnes of original ideas. :O)