The Greetery Mimosa Musings

I picked up this Mimosa Musings set back during the Greetery's Black Friday sale, and am finally getting around to using it.  I just love these unique flowers, so different.  I like that they work as a focal point, but because of their size can also be used to fill out other floral arrangements.

I wanted to create a simple stamped panel for my cards.  I used the MISTI to create these, so I could try a couple different color schemes.  Because I was stamping on kraft and I wanted that lighter layer of color to really show up, I stamped the initial flower layer first with white pigment ink and then with the lighter shade of dye ink.  

I used Altenew inks for the colors - Misty Morning and Dark Night for the blue card and Wisteria and Andromeda for the lavendar card.  I used Evergreen ink for the leaves on both cards.

The large spray of flowers was used first to frame two corners of the card, and then I used the smallest spray on the inside to frame out the center of the card where the sentiment would be.

The sentiments are from my old Foliage Frame set for Neat & Tangled and were stamped with Versafine.

Originally I was going to just have these be one layer cards, but I wanted a bit of accent/defiition/texture, so I trimmed down the long ends just a hair and added stitching along those borders.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamping on Patterned Paper, Christmas card set with N&T Foliage Frame

Hi everyone!  I thought I would continue working on Christmas cards this week, and pulled out my Foliage Frame set for Neat & Tangled.

The majority of the time when I'm stamping, I end up using cardstock.  Often this leaves me feeling like my stamped panel is kind of flat, so I'll add inking, splatter, or a watercolor wash.

Another great way to add some texture and depth to your background is to stamp on patterned paper.  The papers I'm using today are all from an old BasicGrey Christmas collection called Evergreen.

For this first card, I used a blue print that looks like it's been painted, and stamped the background using Altenew Silver Stone ink.  The berries and sentiment were stamped with Grapevine.  So quick and easy, but it's got such a pretty rustic feel.

On this next card, I stamped the background first with Forest Glades ink, and then, using a sponge dauber, added some darker areas around the insides/bottoms of the foliage pieces in Evergreen ink.

More red berries and a sentiment stamped with Grapevine ink complete the look.

Finally, I mixed things up a bit and stamped the frame tone on tone, but used a Hero Arts Lime to Forever Green Ombre ink pad to add additional depth.  I could have left it as is and simply added the sentiment as in the other cards, but this time I die cut the center of the frame using the Foliage Frame coordinating dies to create a window.

Using a darker piece of patterned paper from the same collection, I stamped some of the leaves so they peek out of the opening, using Evergreen ink. The sentiment was then stamped and embossed in the center of the second piece.  I also popped up the initial panel with foam tape for some extra dimension.

I really love the extra oomph you get when stamping on patterned papers and really need to do it more.  Those first two cards were so quick and easy to create too, this set is perfect for mass production.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

*Affiliate links to Neat & Tangled and Altenew in text and to Ellen Hutson below

VersaMark Ink Pad

Evergreen, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Foliage Frame, Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps

Foliage Frame, Neat & Tangled Dies

Silver Stone, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Grapevine, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Forest Glades, Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Pad

Lime To Forever Green, Hero Arts Ombre Ink Pad

Neat & Tangled May Release & Giveaways - Day 4

It's the last day of release reveals at Neat & Tangled and today we're showing off my new Foliage Frame set.  I love all my designs, but I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this one.  

It's always nice to have sets in your collection that allow you to create lovely elegant looks quickly and easily.  This one fits that bill.  There is a die set that coordinates with the set with an opening that you can cut in the center as well as coordinating dies for the individual leaf images, but I wanted to create some simple one layer cards today.

For this first card I cut watercolored a panel of watercolor paper using a single shade of of blue and instead of an ombre wash that continues across the whole panel, I created essentially two washes that faded towards the center of the panel.

Once that was dry, I heat embossed the background using Hero Arts Sand embossing powder which adds both some texture and sparkle.

I used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment so that I could stamp ifirst n color, and then directly over top again with Versamark so the sentiment could be clear embossed.

I have been plotting this second card since I designed this set.  I started by stamping the background with white pigment ink on kraft paper.

Then using Altenew inks, I stamped the individual branches on top of the white pigment ink.  I wasn't looking to be particularly precise here.  I love the look of colored ink over pigment on kraft.  When you don't stamp exactly it actually gives you some extra dimension and gives it a more rustic/vintage feel.

Once I was done with the leaves, I added some berries in red, just randomly stamping them about the panel, and finished off with the sentiment in the center.

You definitely want to stop by the Neat & Tangled blog to check out what the rest of the team has created, there are such pretty samples today!  While you're there leave a comment to be entered to win a set.

I have a set to give away too.  To be entered, just leave me a comment.  There are extra chances to win on my Instagram account too (@mprantner).  I'll be back tomorrow with a recap and winners!