Friday, July 22, 2016

Thoughtful Branches for Freshly Made Sketches and The Paper Players


Writing fewer blog posts, as I have been, I'm just not getting to play as many challenges unless I combine them, so I'm going to have to get smarter at doing that. Today I am combining a sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches:


with a technique challenge over at The Paper Players:


Luckily, both of them are Clean and Simple (CAS) challenges, so they should go well together. Now, I just have to keep my card clean and simple, and you all know what a challenge that is for me!

Awhile back, I saw a picture in a seed catalogue of a Strawberry Hydrangea! I've always been a fan of hydrangeas, but this was the most beautiful bloom I had ever seen on one. I had it in mind when I used my new Thoughtful Branches Bundle*, the stamp set and thinlets that will be available August 2, only for the month of August.



For this card I used the Thoughtful Branches* stamp set to help me with the watercoloured background, and the Beautiful Branches Thinlits* to make the hydrangea for the front:
*Available August 2 until August 31


  • I used Watercolour Paper for the watercoloured background. I was really saturating it and I didn't think the Shimmery White cardstock would hold up to that much water. The water colour paper flattens out so much better as it dries as well, and you can use the high speed of the Heat Tool on it.
  • I spritzed the Watercolour Paper and used an Aqua Painter to add some Peekaboo Peach to one area, then dried it with the Heat Tool. I repeated the process with Flirty Flamingo and Watermelon Wonder, drying each time until the paper was covered, with only a few white areas. I then used the small dotty blossom stamp from Thoughtful Branches* (that's the best I can do describing it - hope you can figure out which one), inking it up with one of the three colours and spritzing only the stamp with water and stamping the image 2 or 3 times before reinking. I did that with each colour, spreading the colours around to add depth to the background.
  • I die cut the hydrangea blossom from the foliage thinlit in Flirty Flamingo and the leaves and stem from Pear Pizzazz cardstock, which also forms the card base.
  • I used the Banner Framelits to die cut a banner from Whisper White and stamped the sentiment, also from Thoughtful Branches* on Whisper White with Memento ink. I used the Banner Triple Punch to flag the end and add it on with dimensionals.
*Available August 2 until August 31

You're going to see just how versatile this bundle is in the coming days, so prepare to be inundated! It will be well worth it and you can earn some coupons toward it now during Bonus Days for every $60 you spend! Here's the info on Thoughtful Branches* again:


Well, enjoy this summer weekend! Leave me a comment and let me know what your plans are!


Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.



Product List

6 comments :

  1. Beautiful background! Love the colours and effect it gives.

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  2. Thanks, Gwendolyn. It kind of evolved as I was doing it.

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  3. Beautiful card! Love the background! Glad you shared it at the Paper Players~!

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  4. Ingenious idea to use that image to create your "watercolored" background...looks perfect with this gorgeous bloom! Thanks for sharing this with us at the Paper Players this week!

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  5. Beautiful card! Your background looks amazing! Thanks so much for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches.

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  6. Gorgeous background. I love the colors you chose! Thanks for playing with my sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

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I love to read your comments and get to know you better! Thanks for adding one!