Signs of Spring

One of the signs of spring I look forward to most  is the blooming of the Cherry Blossom trees. My childhood home had a weeping cherry in the backyard and I had a tire swing hanging from it. As a kid I could just disappear behind those flowering branches and feel like a princess.

Looking out my window, the snow from earlier this week has all melted but there are few (if any) signs that spring is around the corner. If I look closely at my maple tree I can see buds. With today’s 60+ degree weather(!!) it was the perfect day to open the windows and tackle the SoShelli.com Creative Challenge for this month: Spring! Because I can’t make things easy on myself I decided to also do this week’s Cupcake Challenge.

I’m so pleased with the result, I have to make the picture extra big!

Since Spring=Cherry Blossoms for me, Eastern Blooms was the obvious set to use. I decided to make the branch look like it was set against the sky. I started with Baja Breeze card stock (3.5″ square), and used a sponge dauber and Whisper White Craft Ink to create the clouds. I used my Heat Tool to help “set” the Craft Ink (perfect for when you don’t want to wait for it to dry!)

For the image I used Stampin’ Write markers to ink up the stamp (Bravo Burgundy and Regal Rose), and a Certainly Celery marker after the image was stamped to create leaves. I then smooshed the whole paper with versamark, sprinkled the whole thing with Clear Embossing Powder and heat embossed it so the whole paper looks shiny, then repeated one more time. Glassy Glaze Enamel would have been a better choice than Clear Embossing Powder, but I gal has got to use what she has on hand. I set it aside to cool off  and moved on to the rest of the card.

For the lower layer, I used Certainly Celery card stock and tore the bottom off using The Tearing Edge.  To make the background I stamped the tree branch image several times on the bottom using VersaMark. I then cut the top layer into 9 squares (appx 1 1/8″ squares) and used Tombow Multi to adhere them to the card. I used Tombow because I wanted to have a couple seconds of slide time to make sure it was positioned well…SNAIL wouldn’t have given me this room for error.

After the top part of the card was done, I tied a bow in the 5/8″ So Saffron Ribbon that is available in the Sale-A-Bration Ribbon Bundle. Isn’t it beautiful?? It is only available during Sale-A-Bration, so I may need to order another $50 in product just to make sure I have lots of this on hand!

“blossom” was created with the Big Shot using the Stampin’ Up! Billboard Decorative Strip. This alphabet die is perfect for cards because the letters are pretty small. Although it is hard to see in the picture, the letters were cut out of one of the light pink Candy Lane DSP papers.  I then glued the letters onto the ribbon using Tombow. Then everything was glued onto the Close to Cocoa card base using SNAIL.

Once I’d finished all that (phew!) I realized that the card still needed something. So I stamped the branch image on Whisper White card stock using Regal Rose. I then used Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds to create shimmery centers to the flowers. I then cut out several and glued them onto the card.

I typically scan my cards because it is easy and the light in my house is terrible. But I love this card so much that I couldn’t bring myself to take that short cut so I took the card outside and took a real photo. I even gave it a nice plush springy backdrop (IKEA curtain scraps…I knew I was saving them for a reason).

Recipe

• Card Stock: Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Candy Lane DSP
• Ink/Markers: Bravo Burgundy, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Whisper White Craft, Versamark
• Stamps: Eastern Blooms
• Embellishments: Clear Embossing Powder, 5/8″ So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds
• Adhesives: Sticky Strip, Tombow Multi, SNAIL
• Tools: Heat Tool, The Tearing Edge, Big Shot, Stampin’ Up! Billboard Die, Paper Snips, Craft & Paper Sissors