
This card was inspired by the greeting: Hope is a beautiful thing that flutters in the soul. When I read it I was reminded of the wild orange-red poppies that grow against old buildings and in sidewalk cracks. The tenacity of these fragile flowers is remarkable, along with the fact that they seem to spring up in the ugliest of places. So I attempted to recreate that spark of brightness in this card.
Supplies
Spotlight on Nature Stamp Set
Labeled With Love Stamp Set
Labeled With Love Dies
Sketched Butterflies Stamp Set
Exposed Brick 3-D Embossing Folder
Basic Gray Card Stock
Basic White Card Stock
Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper
Stazon Jet Black Ink
Basic Gray Stampin Pad
Smoky Slate Stampin Pad
Watercolor Pencils Asst. 1
Watercolor Pencils Asst. 2
Multipurpose Liquid Glue
Stampin Dimensionals
Water Painters
Stampin Brayer
Blending Brushes
Paper Trimmer
Cut and Emboss Machine
Directions
Card Base
Cut a card base from the Basic Gray Card Stock, 21cm x 14.85cm (8-1/2 x 5-1/2″) Score half way at 10.5cm (4-1/4″), fold closed and burnish.
Card Layers
Cut three card layers from the Basic White Card Stock, 10cm x 14.35cm (4″ x 5-1/4″) One will be used inside of the card as a writable/stamp-able surface.
Card Layer 2

The second will be used as the first layer of the front of the card. Using the blending brush, put a small amount of the Smoky Slate ink on the edges of this layer to ‘age’ it a little bit.
Card Layer 3

For the third piece of white card stock we will be embossing it using the Exposed Brick Embossing Folder.
Using the brayer and the Basic Gray Stampin’ Pad, ink up the embossing folder. Be sure you are inking the side that has the Stampin’Up label on the outside. Inking up this side will create a dark de-boss which is what gives the illusion of dark bricks and smeared concrete. If you inked the other side you would have white bricks with dark mortar.
While you have your brayer out I urge you to try inking both sides (not at the same time of course). As soon as you have run the folder through the machine take the folder to a sink and rinse well. Because there are so many little nooks and crannies on this folder I found I needed to use a soft brush to get all of the ink out. Be sure to let the folder dry completely before trying to ink the other side.

Tip: I found drying the piece on the outside and then putting a piece of kitchen paper inside of the folder and running through the machine did the trick to completely dry the folder.
Measure your finished embossed piece, you will probably need to trim it a little, it should be 9.7cm x 14cm (3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″). Distress the edges using a scissors and brush some of the Smoky Slate ink on the edges as you did for the white underneath layer.
Place the white layer on the card base front, I chose to tilt it a bit but the size also allows for it to say straight. Place the embossed piece on top and again tilt it (or not). To me both placements looked good but since I usually make cards with straight layers I did this one a bit different.
Focal Point
The next step is to stamp your main image and greeting onto the Fluid 100 watercolor paper using the Stazon Jet Black Ink. The fluid water color paper is not a ‘white’ as the white card stock, so I stamped the greeting onto this paper because I knew it would layer on top of the flowers. A very white layer would stand out on top of the ‘less white’ card stock beneath it.
The greeting label was cut out using the Labeled With Love die/or punch. I placed a twish of the Pebbled Path ribbon on the back of the lable before attaching dimensionals. Note: I forgot that this ribbon has been discontinued, however the twine in the same color is still available and look good here too. Hold the lable asside to place on the card last.
Flowers
I photographed the coloring process for the flowers and butterfly (you can click on the pictures to enlarge):





After coloring the flowers and leaves with the pencils it is time to take them to the next level. Add some water to the smallest brush in your water painters set. Squeeze the barrel in the indicated spot and squirt out some water onto a piece of kitchen paper. You want your brush wet but not dripping.
Using the very tip of the brush start in the pumpkin pie color at the petal edges. With one stroke drag the wet brush from the top of the petal to the base. Clean your brush after each stroke onto the kitchen paper. The object is to lightly blend the colors. Do each petal separately, some petals are wider so you will have to repeat the brush strokes side by side until the paper is evenly wet. Try not to go outside of the lines but this is water color and some spreading is expected so no worries. When you finish with the flower repeat with the leaves dragging from the top to the bottom.
Butterfly



Blend the color on the butterfly in the same way as the flowers, starting from the outside of the wings and dragging the brush to the body. Remember to place your brush strokes side by side and clean any pigment off the brush before doing the next stroke. If at any time the image seem too wet or about to run you can blot it with the kitchen paper. Be sure to enlarge the image of the finished card (at the start) to see the blended watercolor effect.
The last step is to fussy cut out your flowers and butterfly. Apply dimensionals to the back of each and place on the card front. Apply the label with it’s pre-attached ribbon (or twine) on top of the flower stems.
Thank your for reading with me today. My hope is that you will give this card a go and post a picture in the comments or on social media and tag me @loriothen. My other hope is that I have inspired you to have hope and creativity in your life today and every day.
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