{Spotlight Project} Evolution of a Card with Shirley

Hi there!  Ever started making a card and found that it wasn't matching the vision in your head? Today I thought I'd show you how this card developed, and the thought process along the way.

This was going to be a monochromatic card, with maybe a dash of colour, using the latest 5x7 STAMP Club set, Trendy Spring Blooms. I started by stamping the flower and leaves in Iced Spruce Distress Ink, spritzing lightly each time. I masked the flower before stamping the leaves, some of them second generation.

Then I stamped the sentiment in black because I was going to be using a diecut flower in pink and black.  I also decided I wanted a running stitch border.

I wasn't thrilled with the flower, so I decided to cover it up with a diecut. I put the diecut flower in place without sticking it down, just to see how I liked it.

Time to decide what colour card base to use.  I went for black.

But the flower was just 'sitting there' and didn't seem to belong to the foliage. So I used some Infusions Powders (similar to Brusho type powders but also containing walnut stain) to rub onto the leaves, spritzed and stamped ready to cut out.  The powder is so fine, and a little goes a long way. 

Now, the thing with the leaf die is that it's solid, so aligning the stamped image with the die can be a bit tricky, but I found that holding my stamped card up to the light made it relatively easy.

Time to finish the card. I glued some black paper to the reverse of the diecut flower to keep all the pieces together, then adhered it to the panel. I then adhered the panel to the black card at a slight angle.  Here's another look at the finished card.

If you try out any of the techniques from our Spotlight posts, link up your project up at our Spotlight Project Showcase.