Aloha, all!
I just love this stamped greeting: "Sending Springtime Smiles." It's so different from traditional sentiments for stamped cards but it really expresses what I feel when I'm sending out greeting cards at this time of the year, especially to friends for whom Easter is not a time they celebrate. And it also gives me a lovely greeting for those times when I'm just sending a card to write a note.
Today's card features the Springtime greeting and also the little girl stamp, both from the stamp set, Easter Blossoms, from Stampin' Up!'s 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. I've seen her stamped in a number of ways, but I've like this stamp best when it's part of a square motif, so a square card is what I made!
The 5-1/4" square card was one that was part of my class this past weekend, and I wanted my class to use as many different sheets from the Designer Series Paper Set, Springtime Vintage, too. Normally when I layer up an image as I did here, I made 1/16" or 1/8" borders all around. But I wanted the Designer Paper to show more in this card, so I have 1/4" of it showing around the central motif, and much more than that shown in the corners. The corners, by the way, are oh so easy to make because they are punched with the 1-1/4" Square Punch (printed paper) and 1-3/8" Square Punch (card stock).
Besides the Very Vanilla card stock for the base card, the two solid colors are Rose Red and Always Artichoke. I stamped the little girl using Always Artichoke Classic Ink. The decorative touch for this creation are four of the Rose Red Vintage Flower Adornments, which are resin flowers that you can purchase in an assortment of 3 colors. Tomorrow I'll share another card with the same basic design but a couple of different techniques – and it will have the Baja Breeze Flowers. If you are going to mail this card, I suggest that you use one of Stampin' Up!'s Padded Envelopes. An alternative is to use the satin Vanilla Rosettes, which won't break through an envelope. I'll show how those look in tomorrow's card also.
For a final bit of texture, I made two parallel scored lines (using the Fiskars Paper Cutter with the scoring blade inserted) along all four sides. Just a small touch of elegance to set the whole thing off!
Here's the sketch for today's card – and remember not to be put off by those little squares in the corner. They're punched with Stampin' Up! Square Punches! I should also note that this size card fits just perfectly inside Stampin' Up!'s Medium Square Envelope. But refer to the note, above, before you put one in the mail.
I hope you'll try out one of this week's sketches using stamps and papers of your choice. And I'd love for you to share them with me if you'd like.
