Perfect Pairs, Expanded | Blooms & Sunshine with Vicki

A coordinated collection can make cardmaking easier, but that doesn't mean you have to stop with the products in the pair.

STAMPgirl Vicki is taking Perfect Pairs: Blooms & Sunshine into extended style, combining the coordinating stamps and ephemera cuts with other supplies from her stash. The result is two very different cards that show how easily a Perfect Pairs collection can become the starting point for a more layered, personalized design.

Build a Background Around Your Ephemera

For her first card, Vicki started with a panel from the Junk Journal Collage card fronts and added texture with the Delicate Links stencil. She then layered one of the floral ephemera pieces from Blooms & Sunshine over the background and finished the card with a sentiment from the Floral Magic clear stickers collection.

The combination of the vintage-inspired collage background, stenciled texture, and floral focal point creates a beautifully layered look without overwhelming the design. The ephemera gives the card its focal image, while the additional paper goods and stencil bring in more texture and visual interest.

Let One Element Inspire the Design

For her second card, Vicki took a completely different approach. She used the digital Sketched Blooms for the background and added the splatter from Perfect Pairs: Blooms & Sunshine to the centers of the flowers. She liked the way this simple addition gave the coloring an artsy look.

Vicki then added texture with the Circles All Over Texture Cover Plate and created a dimensional focal point using several pieces of ephemera from the kit. She adhered the small tags together before adding them to the background with dimension tape. A sentiment stamped onto vellum completes the design.

The result is a wonderfully eclectic floral card that combines stamped imagery, texture, ephemera, and dimension while still keeping the coordinating Blooms & Sunshine elements at the heart of the design.

One Perfect Pair, More Possibilities

Vicki's two cards are a great example of what happens when you take a Perfect Pairs collection beyond its basic formula. The coordinating stamps and ephemera cuts give you a natural place to begin, but adding other products from your stash can completely change the direction of the finished card.

Start with a beautiful piece of ephemera. Build a background around it. Add texture with a stencil or cover plate. Or take one of the stamps and use it in a way that brings your own style into the design.

That's the beauty of the extended style: the pair gives you the foundation, and your stash gives you room to make it your own.

Discover What's Possible

Perfect Pairs: Blooms & Sunshine combines coordinating stamps and ephemera cuts designed to work together, giving you an easy starting point for creating cohesive cards. But as Vicki's projects show, you don't have to stop there. Add a stencil. Bring in a card front. Layer in a cover plate. Mix in clear stickers or digital stamps. Take the coordinating pieces and see where your own supplies lead you.

Explore Blooms & Sunshine and the other Perfect Pairs collections in the STAMPlorations store.

Until next time, keep creating, experimenting, and finding new ways to make your supplies work together.