Some Two-Tone Floral Self-Care in a One-Sheet-Wonder

Whenever I am feeling a bit stressed, or rushed, or whatever, I look to do something that is free form…like a One-Sheet Wonder.  I love doing this type of stamping and experimenting with color and design without any particular end goal.  And when I received the new, beautiful Two-Tone Floral Stamp Set, I knew that it was made for my favorite type of stamping!

If you select the One-Sheet Wonder in the category search in the right-side bar of this blog, you will see several of these projects.  And if you are interested in the truly PRO version of these projects, Ruth from Artfulstampin is truly a most creative and innovative stamper!  In fact, she actually takes “requests” during her YouTube live broadcasts and her audience chooses colors and stamp sets for her to do these impromptu projects.  And they are gorgeous!

But my regular style shows up…I need to work on that innovation thing!  (Perhaps I should try one of these with a Color Challenge to do that stretch…)  But for now, this is a stress reliever for me.

The card cuts are pretty standards – but it is important to note that these are the final measurements.  I always start with a full sheet of 8-1/2” x 11” piece of Basic White card stock.

Start with the 8-1/2” x 11” Basic White card stock and lightly score at 4-1/4” and 5-1/2”.  I do this to be sure that I know where the middle of the panels is.  (I used to draw a light pencil line to do this…but then I needed to erase it.  This is much easier.)

Using all but one of the floral images, I stamped flowers in Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Fresh Freesia, Balmy Blue, and Mossy Meadow for the leaves. 

I started with toning the stark white background down with a random pattern using one of the “masks” or stencils from the Stampin’ Up! Artistic Mix Decorative Masks.  Using Blending Brushes and Balmy Blue ink, I tried to be sure that these were brushed as lightly as possible.

The steps that I used to create this pattern followed these steps:

My last step was to use what Ruth refers to as “Dottage” – those images that Stampin’ Up! offers in a number of stamp sets that are dots or spots …or sometimes even splotchy.  These stamps add a lot of texture to card panels…although, honestly, it has taken me a bit of time to even think about using them.  (It’s a habit, though…and once I discovered them, I use “dottage” on LOTS of designs!)

I love gold embossing and the Two-Tone Floral stamps are a perfect vehicle for heat embossing!  Using Versamark Ink and the gold powder from the Metallics Embossing Powder set, stamp the second “tone” of these floral images.

Cut the 8-1/2” x 11” sheet in half and then in half again.  I chose to trim these 5-1/2” x 4-1/4” panels along the long, stamped side to the final width of 4” so that the 1/4” strip is available to decorate the inside message panel.

The Happy Birthday sentiment for the face of the card comes from Stampin’ Up! Artistically Inked and the inside sentiment comes from the Charming Sentiments stamp set.  Both of these were heat embossed with gold.

The Happy Birthday sentiment was die-cut, using one of the banner dies from the Stampin’ Up! Stylish Shapes die set.  The stitched detail is a great addition to this card’s overall style.  It was adhered to the face of the card using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The cards that this bit of “stamping self-care” produced were separated by those that I thought would be best as a portrait format or a landscape presentation.  I also experimented with different color backgrounds to highlight the colors in each of the panels.

Give this technique a try.  I find it to be very relaxing because I don’t really have a vision for the end result.  I just work on the image itself and freeform it.

But that being said, I really need to try this technique with a color scheme that is out of my comfort zone!  Stay tuned…I will be looking for a Color Challenge that will push that agenda!

Thanks so much for stopping in to see this card.  I love doing these…and I will offer more in the future!