Regarding Dahlias

I'm not much of a gardener.  I've had periods of my life where I've taken pleasure in cultivating, planting and nurturing plants and flowers, but those periods never lasted.  I'd start out all enthusiastic, but in the end it became a chore that I couldn't wait to be finished with.  So my knowledge of showy blooms isn't all that great, and I set out today to learn the difference between them.  Since Stampin' Up has a beautiful stamp of a dahlia I wanted to be able to recognize one when I saw it in real life!!  And to be able to tell it apart from a peony, a gardenia or a hydrangea.  I think I have it all together now.

Dahlia

Gardenia

Peony

Hydrangea

I was pretty sure which were gardenias and hydrangeas, but I always got confused between peonies and dahlias.

The reason this came up is that I wanted to enter the Dynamic Duo's Challenge #64 using Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight.  It is such a pretty combination that I felt it needed a garden theme to show it off.  And I had not used my Regarding Dahlias Stamp Set yet - it was high time I did!

Oh, my, I love that stamp!  There is so much you can do with it!  I've seen it embossed and water coloured, white embossed on darker colours, layered, triple timed.  I've seen it used so often, that it's hard to know if my design is original or not, but then, as they say, art is knowing what to copy sometimes.

• The card base is Strawberry Slush and I've stamped the dahlia stamp on Whisper White cardstock several times in Daffodil Delight and mounted the white onto Daffodil Delight cardstock.
• I used a piece of Daffodil Delight polka dot paper from the Brights Design Series Paper Stacks and stamped the sentiment on it in Strawberry Slush.  The sentiment is also from Regarding Dahlias.  I matted the DSP with Strawberry Slush cardstock with a 1/16" margin.

• I stamped the main image 3 times in Strawberry Slush and cut them out, each a smaller and smaller portion of the flower.  Then I popped each level up on dimensionals to give more of a 3-D effect.  I really love the way it looks.

I hope you feel cheered by this card, and I hope you feel you can now go out into someone's garden and be able to exclaim with an air of expertise, "  Oh my, Ethel, your peonies are simply breathtaking!  And look at your dahlias, dahling - superb!"  

My job here is done!

                                                   
Stamps:  Regarding Dahlias (w130324; c130327)
Paper:  Brights Collection Design Series Paper Stacks (130134); Strawberry Slush (131295), Daffodil Delight (119683) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock
Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Daffodil Delight (126944) and Strawberry Slush (131178)
Tools:  Paper Snips (103579)

Regarding Dahlias Stamp Set

Brights Designer Series Paper Stacks