Hello everyone, welcome back to the craft room and today’s Thank You and Color Challenge post. One of the advantages of my day job is a fantastic discount on hotel rooms. When I do take advantage of that, I always leave a tip for the housekeeper. Recently, to add an element of surprise, I’ve added that tip to one of my handmade cards. Today’s project is a card for an upcoming weekend away that I’m planning. The inspiration for this card came from the current Color Throwdown challenge #769. Click on the Throwdown image below to check out this weeks challenge and to see some amazing ideas.
Floral Focal Image
I love the combination of pink and gray and with the added color of green, I had to create a flower. Rather than stamp and color a floral image, I chose to create a 3D flower. Reaching for my collection of Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies, I chose the beautiful Arianna Blooms flower and the Classic Leaf dies. The Arianna Blooms set includes both a stamp and die, however I decided to only use the die for today’s card. One set of the flowers and two of the leaf clusters were cut from 65 lb. Recollections white card.
There are many options for coloring these pretty flowers. Today I decided to bring out the Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, a 100% pure odorless mineral spirit. I wanted the flowers to be a light shade of pink; this technique is perfect for that. The colors I chose were Pink and Grass Green. I began by adding a light layer of pink to the flowers and a little bit darker layer of green to the leaf clusters.
Using a paper blending stump with the Gamsol, I was able to blend the colors perfectly. Leaving the tips of the petals and leaves white, I can get the amount of color I want by moving it with the Gamsol.
Shaping the Flower and Leaf Clusters
The fun part of creating 3D flowers is the shaping. There are many different ways to achieve the 3D affect. Today I used my McGill Flower Shaping kit for the majority of the technique. Starting with the flower I used the large 8mm and 5mm stylists to add dimension the back of each petal. In the image below you can see the before and after. There is a little bit of height, but not too much. This four layer flower will still be able to fit in a regular envelope.
To add dimension to the leaf clusters I began with the 1mm stylist and the Leaf Pad by Susan’s Garden. I drew a single vein down the back of each leaf. Turning the cluster over, I then pinched the leaves to shape them before using the stylist to add smaller veins on each side of the leaf. You can see the detail in the image below.
Creating the Thank You and Color Challenge Card
The assembly began with the card base. As usual, I have a piece of 110lb Recollections white card for the base. Rather than creating a mat layer, I chose to stamp the background directly to the card base with Lost Shadow Distress ink. The stamp is from the You’ve Got This set by Stampin Up. The sentiment, from the Card Phrases stamp set by Stampabilities, was stamped with Black Soot Distress Archival ink.
To glue the flower layers together I used Art Glitter Glue. To add an extra touch, I glued in a small silver crystal to the center.
I just love how this Thank You and Color Challenge card turned out. You can never go wrong with the color combination of pink and gray. I just know this card is going to add a smile to the face of whoever cleans our next hotel room. Have you ever left a thank you card for the housekeeping staff while traveling? Has it ever crossed your mind too? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments below!
Interested in checking out more 3D Flower posts? Click this 3D Flowers link. Until then, have a fantastic week and I will see you again real soon!
PIN THIS POST FOR LATER!
