Floral Tea

The challenge for today's smART Cookie Tea Party, comes by way of hostess, Heidi Kingery, of Sweet Somethings:

"Use flower rubber by smARTworks."

Since this is already one of my favorite things to do, it didn't really feel all that challenging to me, sooooo I went ahead and tacked on additional criteria "just for me" -- No black... ANYWHERE!

Now, some of you might not see this as much of a challenge either, but for me, this is, and forever will be painful... very painful... very, very painful... I LIKE the look of black ink, especially for sentiments... Almost can't bring myself to use anything else... So now I'd set myself up for some serious growth...  Here's the result:

My initial inspiration for this creation came from a card I saw awhile back on one of the die cutting websites... Their card had used real gingham ribbon for flower stems with die cut hearts as flowers. There weren't any leaves on their flower stems, and I can't remember if words were incorporated or not...but what had stuck in my mind were those ribbon stems... and the thought, "I think I can do that with rubber."

A secondary wave of inspiration came from one of the sample cards smART Cookie, Susan Liles, recently submitted... A color scheme of green - pink- white, which really impressed me... so fresh, so uplifting, so S-P-R-I-N-G!  I haven't been able to get it out of my mind.   

Okay, now for the nitty-gritty --

Please Note: Most stamping on this card was aided by use of the Stamp-a-ma-jig positioner.

Using Memories coral ink, I stamped and clear embossed the smaller bloom from Blossoms Lg. twice on a white panel with rounded corners.  Then I simultaneously cut two masks -- done by stamping an image once on a stack of post-its, and cutting several layers together -- and covered the flowers. 

Using Memories apple ink, and the gingham ribbon stamp from ACCENTS #7, I added the stems.  Since unmounted rubber is so flexible, I was able to arch the "ribbon" when mounting it to the acrylic, and thus, could achieve the curved image.

The masks were removed and the blossoms were colored in with marker.  In real life the color is more coral than true pink, but for whatever reason the scanner refused to differentiate...

Next came the sentiment from WD-106 LB Thoughts stamped in coral, the layered punches (PBMD2 and PBS2), and the sparkly green rhinestones (picked up years ago from some bargain bin -- a bazillion for less than a dollar).

The leaves along the flower stems were really an afterthought.  One of those, "Hmmmm... I wonder if..." ideas --
 
I stamped the ribbon image on white scrap and cut it out.  Then I stamped the reverse side.  To be more specific - I laid the stamp face up on my work table, inked it up, then guided the white side of the cut-out down onto the stamp... Worked like a charm!  Much, much easier than I initially anticipated!

Once the "ribbon" was dry, I cut it into three sections, and folded each section in half (a creased loop).  Each loop was then sized individually, with its loose ends were glued closed, then cut at approx. 45' angles. This created a miter effect where the leaves join the stem.

Finally, using just a tiny bit of tacky glue, the leaves were adhered to the card.

So there you have it -- my smART flowers, no black, tea card.  Wonder what floral wonders the other tea gals created???  To find out, let's take a peek at: 
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Dee's Studio
Tah Dah!
SusieStampALot

Comments

[Donna]

Ooooh...I love the faux ribbon stems and leaves. Genius, I tell you, GENIUS!

[Linda C.]

Beautifully done! What a great idea not to use black. It makes the colors pop. You'll brighten someone's day w/this beauty!

[Susan Liles (susiestampalot)]

hey susan, now see aren't you glad i sent you that batch a little early? ha!! i have to admit though, too, that i get a little stuck on using only black for my sentiments!!! this is lovely, and thanks for the mention!!

[Trish D]

Ooh, how fun!! Guess it was a good day to play with blossoms :)

[Heidi K]

So cute Susan! I really like the 'no black ink' challenge you gave yourself!