Oh So Succulent

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday I played with the Oh So Succulent stamp set..............and loved it! 

It's a two-step stamp set and contains an amazing thirty photopolymer stamps! 

As always, I tested the stamping on scrap paper to see how easy it is to line up the two steps, and to see if I needed to stamp off the colour on the body stamps first!  

The stamp set has a co-ordinating die set called Succulents Framelits Dies, which is on offer as a bundle which saves 10% off the price - see pages 20-21 in the new Spring catalogue.

I have seen some fabulous creations by other crafters where they have used the dies to make succulents and then arranged them in a bowl, or as a wreath. 

The creations were stunning and yes, it's on my To Do List! 

To make today's card I took half a sheet of Whisper White Cardstock (CS), and stamped four of all the images I wanted, using Sweet Sugarplum, Mint Macaroon and Old Olive Inks. 

For the large and medium sized flowers I stamped the outline stamp and inked the full flower stamp with the same colour, stamped off once, lined up with the outline image and stamped down. 

I found it amazingly easy to line the two stamps up but glad that I tested it first because I'd worked out what I needed to look for! 

Next I did four of the little individual succulent that appears on the card in Mint Macaroon and   again, I stamped off the main body stamp. 

Finally, using Old Olive ink, I stamped four of the thin-branched succulent and, as with the other images, I stamped off once with the body stamp.

I die cut all the images, doing one of each at the same time which was really easy using my Magnetic Platform.

To create my card, I started with a base of Whisper White CS, then a layer of Mint Macaroon CS and a top layer of a deisgn from the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper (DSP). 

I adhered all the layers together using Tombow. 

I chose the sentiment from the stamp set called Big On Birthdays, and stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White CS using Sweet Sugarplum Ink. 

I layered this onto a larger piece of Mint Macaroon CS. 

Then I was ready to start playing with how I wanted to arrange my succulents! 

You may be surprised at how difficult I found it, trying to get the right balance! 

I feel that maybe I should have put the sentiment up on Dimensionals or  possibly made the Mint Macaroon layer a bit bigger. 

I used Glue Dots to adhere the four large flowers first, one in each of three corners and an extra one in the middle of the long side. 

For all the other images I added Dimensionals and added them in a sequence i.e. the three medium sized flowers, three of the Mint Macaroon succulents and all four of the thin-branched succulent. 

I lined the inside of the card with a layer of Mint Macaroon CS and a top layer of Whisper White CS. 

As I said earlier, I added Dimensionals to all the die cuts but there was one medium flower and one Mint Macaroon succulent not used but I couldn't remove the Dimensionals! 

I gave up trying and adhered them inside the card anyway!

I think this would make a great home decor idea with a sentiment in the centre and flowers arranged around all four sides! Just another idea!
That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.