Loco for Lotus

I've gone a bit crazy with Lotus themed cards this week. I couldn't decide whether I liked the new Lotus Card Front Die, or the larger images in the Layered Lotus Stamp, Die and Stencil Kit best - so I got both and have been having a fun time using it all!!! I made 4 different cards with 4 different techniques and I honestly can't decide which I liked best!

I started with the Lotus Card Front Die and die cut it from Evergreen card to create a base. I popped that onto a Powder base as I wanted to have yellow flowers and they pop so well from the pale blue. I then used the separate dies that cut multiple petals at once - one with 3 points and one with 2 so you can layer them up for that lotus look. I cut the base from Stardust and the top layer from Buttercup.

I then decided I wanted to layer the leaves too - I'm not sure the intent is for there to be a leaf layer, but I used the double petal to cut Parsley leaves - they are the same shape as the leaves but at a different angle so if you want to cover the leaves exactly, snip them in the middle to get the point of the leaves onto the lines, but I like the result I got just dropping them as they were. Gives you more options that was is all.

To finish I cut the sentiment frames from buttercup and evergreen and then stamped a sentiment from the Lotus Kit stamp using Versafine Clair Spruce

For the second card, I stuck with the same die but I wanted to see if I could do it as a single layer. So I simply cut the card front die from white card and used Altenew Alcohol Markers to colour everything in.

I started with a pale blue for the "trellis" then used a pale pinky purple for the flowers. Once I'd flat coloured the whole flower I went back over with a darker tone to colour just the two petals that would be layered if you used the die. Finishing with a green for the stem and leaves. It's a slightly quicker way to fill it in than layering the pieces and is flatter for posting. I decided I didn't like the edges as my colouring overlapped the "edges" too much, so I just covered it up with a frame cut using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Rectangle Frames Die. Finished with a heat embossed sentiment using the frames and sentiments from the Lotus Kit on the same card as the frame.

It was Rick's sister's birthday on Monday so I thought the large die cut image would be perfect for a card for her and wanted it to be a single stand out image so I used a couple of tricks to make a single image pop as the focal element on the card.

I started by cutting a frame from gold card using the exquisitely detailed Decorative Frames 3D Embossing Folder and Die set from Altenew. This was one of those products that made me clap my hands with glee the first time I used it. You die cut the frame (one of two options in the kit) then pop it in the embossing folder and the WOW - an antique looking frame - you could even rub some wax on for an even more detailed antique look.

I had an unused scrap of card that had been embossed in the Pretty Picado Embossing Folder so I used that as some extra detail in the frame.

For the flower itself, I die cut from a scrap of pale pink and used saltwater taffy and picked raspberry oxide inks to add some ombre shading. Once in the frame I added some Ombre Glitter Drops from Pinkfresh Studio for a bit of extra bling.

The sentiment is another from the kit, but to make it match the flower I ombre stamped it. I used versafine ink to give it extra cling, then cover the whole stamp with saltwater taffy, before gently tapping picked raspberry just to the bottom of the stamp so you get a gentle two tone look when you stamp it.

The SISTER sentiment is die cut from Altenew's Creative Cuts: EZ Arrangement Antique Leaves Layering Die using the same gold card as the frame to tie it altogether. This is my favourite style of card - CAS in design but with lots of extra details that make it special.

For my final card I wanted to play with the stencil from the kit. It's a lovely big flower - same size as the die so you can use that to colour the die if you cut it from white and it's big enough to be a single image on your card.

I stencilled a full panel using oxide inks (antique linen, dried marigold, peeled paint, rustic wilderness, wild honey, ripe persimmon and salvaged patina). I trimmed the panel down (I have a single strip of flowers for another project in my scrap drawer) added some tonal blues to match the patina element in the stencilled image and finished with a sentiment from Kristina Werner's Bold Stripes Greetings Stamp which is full of sentiments for when you need to send a hug in the post, something I'll be needing a lot at the moment.

The stencil is really easy to line up and makes for quick panels - great if you need to mass produce a lot of cards at once.