Project | Spring Cards with Graphic 45 & Stampendous

Spring is well underway here in Florida (well, it's really almost over). This gave me the urge to play with pretty flowers! And I had just the items in my stash to make some spring cards to satisfy my flower craving - stamps from Stampendous and the Graphic 45 Botanical Tea collection!

[Disclosure: This site is a participant in the Amazon.com affiliate program. Some links in this article are affiliate links that pay this site a commission when a purchase is made after a click.Some products used in this article were generously provided to me by Graphic 45, Stampendous, Ranger, and Buttons Galore. I am the social media manager for Buttons Galore. This is not a sponsored post, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.]

Graphic 45 and Stampendous products

This was also an opportunity to play with my Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box watercolors that I'm obsessed with!

I stamped the flower stamp with a Ranger Archival Ink by Wendy Vecchi called Tree Branch. It's an orange-y shade of brown that looks almost gold. In an application like this, it adds an almost gilt edge to my flowers.

I did the dark areas of my flower first with my Koi watercolors and a water brush, and then filled in the lighter areas and did some blending with the water brush.

Stamped Stampendous Flower with watercolors

After the rose was colored, I used the leaves from the same stamp set with the Tree Branch ink to stamp on green patterned paper from the Botanical Tea collection. Using patterned papers for the leaves gave them a variegated appearance and created the feeling of texture and light on them. The matching dies for the stamps made it easy to cut these out on my Sizzix machine.

I stamped the sentiment on a journal card cut out. In the 12x12 collection, these cards are 4" x 6" sized. But in the 8" x 8" sized pad, they are 2 2/3" x 4" - the perfect size to put on a card front!

Graphic 45 spring cards

Supplies:

• Stampendous Cling Bird Blossom stamp set

• Stampendous Bird Blossom dies

• Stampendous Happy Greetings stamp set

• Graphic 45 Botanical Tea 8x8 paper pad

• Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box watercolors

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Tree Branch

• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink

  • Ground Espresso: SB.com & Amazon

  • Antique Linen: SB.com & Amazon

• Strathmore Ready Cut 5x7 Series 500 Hot Press Watercolor Paper (140b)

• Buttons Galore Haberdashery buttons in Pearl/Ivory

• 28 Lilac Lane embellishment kit by Buttons Galore in Let It Snow

• Embroidery Floss

The card is all flat paper elements so I reached for my favorite new embellishment kits to add some dimension! Working with Buttons Galore to help launch May Flaum's new 28 Lilac Lane collection has been so exciting. I just love playing with these products! I adhered a random selection of pieces to the several areas of the card with clear glue to "frame" the main elements.

28 Lilac Lane close-up

For my second card I started by coloring this adorable bird stamp. Can't you just hear him singing?

Stampendous bird stamp watercolor

I stamped the tree branch and leaves on patterned paper, and then once again used the die cut machine to cut out my pieces. (The small leaves don't have a matching die so I had to fussy cut those pieces.)

Stampendous Bird Card

Supplies:

• Stampendous Cling Bird Blossom stamp set

• Stampendous Bird Blossom dies

• Graphic 45 Botanical Tea 8x8 paper pad

• Graphic 45 Botanical Tea Banners

• Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box watercolors

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Tree Branch: SB.com & Amazon

• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Ground Espresso: SB.com & Amazon

• Strathmore Ready Cut 5x7 Series 500 Watercolor Paper (140b)

• Fiskars Squeeze Punch (2")

• 28 Lilac Lane embellishment kit by Buttons Galore in Tropical Twist

The stamp strips on both cards are cut from a patterned paper sheet in the Botanical Tea collection.

Graphic 45 spring cards

I hope you enjoyed this dose of spring via my spring cards!