Hi All!
I'm back today with a set of Anniversary or Wedding cards (depending which sentiment you choose to emboss!) using the Garden Picks die set from Altenew. This is the first of several blog posts I have dedicated to this die set.
First off...I love die cutting. I love stamping too, but there is something about the dimension of layered die cuts that is pretty special! When I first got this die set, I made a TON of these flowers, trying out different colored cardstock combinations until I found groups I was happy with. Then I made as many flowers as I could from the cardstock scraps I had on hand. That took quite a while, I'm not going to lie. But I do love repetitive tasks that don't require a lot of thought in the evenings after work - I find it helps unwind.
For this card layout, I began by spattering a card base made from 110lb Neenah solar white cardstock with a diluted mixture of Rocky shores and Industrial Graphite inks by Altenew. Next, I cut several Creative Edges: Lace dies from vellum cardstock, and heat embossed the sentiments from the Vintage Roses stamp set in white embossing powder on black cardstock. I find it fastest when making multiple cards to do everything in stages - cut all of the die cuts at once, assemble all the flowers, then cut the edges, emboss and cut sentiment strips, etc. etc etc (you get the idea).
I then spent a great deal of time fussing over where to lay out the flowers. I take forever to decide what color sentiment strip, what background, where to lay flowers and embellishments, so I try to make a couple similar cards when I finally find a layout and combination I like.
After deciding on a combination I liked, I glued everything down. I used liquid glue to adhere the vellum border to the bottom of the sentiment strip, and the sentiment strip to the card. After that, I used a combination of thin foam squares and foam tape to mount the flowers, and tucked the leaves underneath with more liquid adhesive. For some of the leaves, I cut the grouping apart and adhered them in different locations to break up the symmetry and make them look unique. I finished the card off with a few sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh adhered with Glossy Accents.
I'm really happy with how these cards turned out! I think the clean and elegant design makes them great for many other occasions as well, including birthday cards, retirement cards, or even sympathy cards. I hope you give this a try. Have a great week, happy crafting!
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