Nature's Beauty - Stampin' Creative Global Blog Hop

Happy Blog Hop Day!  Each month my friends and I from around the globe bring you projects around a common theme, in hopes of inspiring you to try a new layout, learn a new technique and/or put ink to the stamp set you bought but haven't used yet!  This month the theme is "Nature's Beauty".  Here is what I came up with ...

Can I just pause for a moment to say ... I.  LOVE.  THIS.  CARD!!!!!!

Thank you.  

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program ...

I wanted to create a card with elements of nature in it but wasn't feeling the "animal", "mountain" or "leaf" sets we have.  I've been using those a lot lately and was craving something different .. and something that stretched me a little.  I'm also on a mission to "use what you buy .. BEFORE it retires!" lol.  This card ticks all the boxes and I just love how it turned out.  Yes, it was time consuming (I think it took me two hours from start to finish!) but a LOT of that was just playing with colours and embossing folders.  Having said that, it's NOT a card you want to mass produce, for sure, but it is so pretty and very worth while when you need a special card to send.

The colours I used are Basic White, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake and Poppy Parade.

The Basic White layer measures 3 1/2" x 4 3/4".

The Crumb Cake layer measures 3 5/8" x 4 7/8"

The circle die is the largest of the Layering Circle dies

The mushrooms and leaves are from the Iconic dies

The sentiment is from Hand-Penned Petals

The time consuming, "fussy" part comes from changing out the colours of the spots on the mushroom.  Yes, you COULD add them one at a time with glue, the putty end of your Take Your Pick tool and a LOT of patience ... but I found an easier way.  I'm not sure how well this will translate in written form but I'll try ... here goes ...

I wanted white dots on my Poppy Parade mushroom ... so ... first you need to cut out your Poppy Parade mushroom.  KEEP THE SPOTS - you will need a few of them later!

Next you need to cut out your white mushrooms ...

Yes, my cutting pads are disgusting ... but that is actually a GOOD thing for this hack.  Dirty plates often are a bit sticky ... and we want that because the next step is to carefully remove the white mushroom from the plate, whilst leaving the spots in place!

One or two of the smaller spots moved each time I did this, but the majority of them stayed in place, which is what we want.  

With your white dots still in place on your cutting plate, carefully place your Poppy Parade mushrooms over the white spots ...

Here is the "hack" on how to pick these pieces up and transfer them to your card.  Head to your kitchen and grab a piece of "Press'n Seal".  This is a sticky cling film (usually used to cover food/bowls - like Saran Wrap).

Lay your Press'n Seal on top of your mushrooms and press it down firmly, especially on the spots.

Now you will be able to lift the Press'n Seal and the mushrooms (complete with dots) will lift up all as one piece ...

We now need to secure those spots!  Grab your Tear and Tape and tape them in place ...

Ta-Da!  Mushrooms with different coloured spots ready to go!  Here are the ones I did in Crumb Cake and White ....

I used my paper snips to cut a white stem to add to my Poppy mushroom and I added a red spot to each of the mushrooms.  The rest was pretty straight forward and a mere two hours later I had my final card ...

If you're more of a visual learner, I will have a video showing this "Press'n Seal" process on my YouTube Channel "Tamara's Paper Trail" this week.  Check it out and then TRY it out!  It's a fun way to "paper piece" without all the work!

So that is my "Natures Beauty" project for you.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

Thanks for popping in - now hop along and see the beautiful projects my friends have put together for you ... and have a stampy day :)

Tam

Product List

Iconic Dies

[155965]

$39.00

Hand Penned Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set

[155070]

$30.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.25

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[120953]

$12.00

Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[121043]

$12.00

Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119793]

$12.00

Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad

[147050]

$10.25

Bark 3 D Embossing Folder

[155431]

$13.50

Layering Circles Dies

[151770]

$48.00

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$14.00

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[138995]

$9.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$5.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$5.50

Stampin' Seal

[152813]

$11.00

Bone Folder

[102300]

$9.50

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$34.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$163.00