Encre, papier, ciseaux: Handmade Flowers and Sequin Clutters

Inspiration: Card Maps April 2020 + Inspired By #123

YouTube has been keeping me company a lot during our time at home. Crafters are crafting up a storm and sharing a whole lot, so I keep seeing cool new things that I would generally have to add to my Tutorials playlist in the hopes to come back to it later, but these days, I get to test it out almost right away.

Tonight, I found a video of a crafter that was doing rolled flowers. Those are not new to me as I have a die to make some, but I liked how this version was using a punched circle and cutting it up into a spiral, so I started making some. Her next video was sharing how to do sequin clusters. This is the second time I'm seeing something about this technique, so I decided to give it a try, as I hadn't yet. I've mentioned that I've recently pulled older DSP packs for a challenge with my team and my Berry Blossom pack is almost empty, so I played with the scraps.

I was basically just playing, but I got curious to see what I could make with the pieces I had put together. I remembered I had a big butterfly chipboard piece in the stack I had recently placed in a box, so I pulled it out and started arranging the rolled flowers on it. I covered the butterfly with Silver texture paste to color it. This is where I have a little bit of regret. I think I should have done a base colour and then used the silver paste with a stencil to add some pattern and texture to it. Or I could have done some stamping with StazOn ink to add a bit of pattern, but my glue gun was still hot and I got a little too excited to put the card together, so there we are.

After putting together the butterfly, I started looking at sketches for ideas and when I saw the April Card Maps sketches, I found one that was perfect and in very little time, I had my finished card. I pulled out the Darling Doily die and vellum for the background, and the Sweet Essentials stamp set for the sentiment ("Thinking of You"). I also used my very last Love Note die cut for the envelope. Feels good to go through the stash and use up some stuff!

Because the card was so thick (those rolled flowers are cute, but they add a lot of bulk), I made an oversized envelope with the Envelope Punch Board - which was also a good way to go through the remaining paper faster. I added a cluster on the envelope and another one inside the envelope. If I'm to mail this card, I'll probably slip the envelope in a clear envelope to protect the cluster. As long as you add the stamp on top of the clear envelope so that the post office can stamp it, it works just fine.

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tendres basiques (Sweet Essentials)
Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Berry Blossoms
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Darling Doily Die, Sending Love Notes Hugs,
Assorted Sequins, On Board Chipboard, Silver Texture Paste,
Envelope Punch Board, Circle Punches, Liquid Glue,
Silver Glimmer Paper, Stampin' Dimensionals