A Canopy of Soft Seedlings

I just cannot get enough of the Stampin’ Up! Soft Seedlings stamp set.  This is not a bundle – just a stamp set.  But it is a wonderful image on its own, without a coordinating die set.  And this card takes very few materials – so it is a great candidate for a new stamper!

The card cuts are quite easy:

The stamping on this card is like some of my one-sheet-wonder cards published earlier – but the method has some differences.

One difference is that I stamped each panel separately – a quarter sheet of an 8-1/2” x 11” Basic White card stock sheet. 

I also started with the darkest color first.  Using Cherry Cobbler, I stamped a row of leaves across the quarter sheet in a random pattern.  I always keep a wet chamois close by so that I can wipe away ink that ended up on the stem and the seedlings.  I only wanted the leaves to show.

The other leaves were stamped on top of the darker rows.  The second row of leaves used Pumpkin Pie ink with the last row using So Saffron ink.  I liked the So Saffron color because it is yellow to the orange.  I also used a “stamping off” technique to be sure that all of the canopy was colored with our beautiful autumn leaves.

I trimmed the panel down to 3-3/4” x 5” size, being careful to trim enough along the stamped image to have a strip that I could use to decorate the inside of the card.

I stamped the sentiment on the lower right corner of the panel.  It is from Soft Seedlings as well…and there are a few others to choose from if you want.  I used the “Thinking of you” for the inside message so that I have notecards that can go to friends who are working through some health challenges. 

Now here is the “secret sauce” for this card:  I sprayed the stamped panels with a Shimmer Spray.  That shimmer spray is made up of 70% rubbing alcohol and Tsukineko All-Purpose Ink in Champagne Gold.  Stampin’ Up! used to sell this ink – but it has been retired.  Some of us bought it then – but it is readily available from Amazon, if you would like it.  Mix the alcohol with a few drops of the ink in a Stampin’ Spritzer and you are holding pure magic!

The champagne gold shimmer of this spray offers a warmth without adding color.

Once the stamped panel was sprayed, I layered it on to the Cherry Cobbler mat and the mat on to the Basic White Card Stock card base.  I used the Stampin Up! Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots

The inside of the card mimics the outside, with the Cherry Cobbler mat and a Basic White panel.  The panel is stamped and lined with a strip of the pattern from the card face.

I also decided to try this card with a Pumpkin Pie card base.

My jury is out on this one – I like them both. 

But whether the card is on a Basic White or on the Pumpkin Pie cardstock, a stamped envelope is a great finishing touch.

Thank you so much for taking a look at my card today!  I have totally embraced autumn, after a lot of turmoil to hang on to summer…how can you do other than love the amazing work of art that nature brings to us!

And with that embrace, I have entered it into the Four Seasons Challenge.

I am so grateful for these challenges as they are extremely helpful with the creative process.  One of the problems of having so many options to use in the design of cards is that it can be overwhelming.  The creators of these challenges limit our choices and ask us to create within boundaries.  I love it!  It is so helpful.

I have a list of the supplies that I used – but please remember that the Shimmer Spray is not on this list.  Please feel free to give me a holler if you have any questions about this card!  I am always happy to help!