Spring Blessings

Hello crafty friends! I hope you all are safe and dealing with this pandemic the best that you can, considering. I think that we have all gone through a myriad of emotions over the last month. I myself, am finally over the shock and feeling more acceptance. This is our new “norm” for the time being.

I know that a lot of you are looking for something to distract or at least minimize the worry and news consumption. For me, that is my art and crafting. It took me several weeks before I could focus and really create though. Releasing new product seemed so insignificant under the current circumstances. I pushed it for several weeks. But then I heard from many of you that you were still looking forward to new inspiration and getting back to some semblance of normalcy. So, I have finally loaded our Spring Release into the store.

I wanted to share a couple of cards with you today featuring the new Spring Blessings stamps and dies. This set is filled with gorgeous layering images to create stunning floral vignettes perfect for spring. All of the images are generously sized, so the arrangement takes center stage.

I love that I was able to stamp and die cut a bunch of images in various colors while sitting with family and watching Netflix. This took the pressure off of coming up with a finished product and I was able to just relax and stamp. Once I had a bunch, I was able to create several arrangements ready to be added to cards. With anxiety levels so high right now, breaking the creation process up like this worked really well for me.

For this card, I added the nest filled with hyacinth, pussy willow and bird eggs to a label from the Lavinia Layers Background Die. I added a little ink blending in the background using Lake House ink and adhered the label onto a Trellis Background 2 Die die cut.

I used several different ink brands on this card. The pink Hyacinth were stamped using Wplus9 PURE Color dye inks in Shell Pink, Little Piggy and V.I.Pink. The leaves were stamped using Distress Oxide Inks in Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Crushed Olive. Lake House was used for the eggs and Pussy Willow, along with Coconut Husk. I used Distress Oxide Inks for the nest – Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs and Ground Espresso.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment, also included in the set, in Sweet Gelato and Coconut Husk. A few clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh added the finishing touch.

Next, I wanted share another card featuring Spring Blessings paired with our FREE w/Purchase stamp set, Florals & Laurels.

This time, I created an arrangement using the Hyacinth, filler flowers and the Pussy Willow in a wooden crate. You’ll notice that by stamping the Pussy Willow in different colors – green and red – they now look like little buds of flowers. This is a great way to stretch those images.

For the background, I wanted to created a rustic farmhouse-like sign. Florals & Laurels was perfect for this!

Pairing it with Wood Planks, was the icing on the cake. I stamped the laurel image and then added the signage images, stamping everything in Warm Wool. I did some haphazard inking of Wood Planks and did uneven stamping to get that nice weathered and worn look.

Finally I added the sentiment from another new set, The Little Things. I really love how this turned out exactly how I envisioned it, that rarely happens!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s cards. I know some of us are crafting like crazy and some of us a just staring blankly at our supplies. Both are totally normal, and you are not alone. I do hope that you are finding time to relax and unwind, whether that be crafting, reading, sewing, vegging out or having a glass of wine.

Big virtual hugs!