So here I am sitting in my hotel room, with very few supplies — not even any stamps — wanting to make a card for a sick friend. Using the corner of an envelope to hold a tea bag I was able to send a handmade greeting.

In my first blog week back in April I used envelopes to create design elements on cards. You can view these card ideas here, here, here and here for more ways to use up those odd envelopes.

Now for more ideas with one of my favorite sets. From sophisticated to eclectic, the Together Special Edition set I’ve been using all week really is versatile and so much fun.  Using a limited palette creates a more sophisticated feel.

I love layering the paper flowers. Remember the packages from my blog awhile ago? Lots of paper flower layering on the top of the bow in only cream and white.  (Did you know we are now offering packages of Art Flowers in white and cream?!)

Supplies:

• Together
• Heart Flourish
• Cotton White StazOn Ink
• ArtPrint Brown Ink
• Chocolate & Cream Notecards
• Art Flowers White and Cream
• Art Flowers Neutral
• Assorted Gemstones

Instructions:

1. Using the ArtPrint Brown inkpad, stamp two heart flourish images diagonally across the notecard. On a separate piece of chocolate paper stamp “so special” in white StazOn ink and allow to dry completely. Trim close to the stamped image and mount on cream paper.
2. Attach the mounted heart over the flourish images and add paper flowers gemstones in the middle.
3. The inside reads, “you are to me”.

Here is a tip for using the white StazOn inkpad. This pad comes with a reinker and no ink on the pad. When you ink the pad, ink only as much of the pad as you will be using. There is no point in inking the entire pad if you are using a small stamp.

Since my desk looks like many of yours, I decided to use some of my stamped pieces to make the layers on this card. Stamping on colored paper with ink a little darker than the paper creates a very different look.

Adding both pieces of the punched heart creates a larger focal point…and I am using some “throw away” pieces. Who am I kidding, I would have kept the outside shape.

Supplies:

• Together
• Heart Flourish
• Baby Blue, Kraft, Cantaloupe & Apple Green Notecards
• Brown, orange, blue and green ink
• Other: heart punch

Instructions:

1. Stamp the Heart Flourish on kraft paper in ArtPrint Brown ink. Trim in a rectangular shape. Stamp “so special” in orange ink on cantaloupe paper, mount on a piece of green paper leaving a narrow border. Stamp the Heart flourish in green ink on green paper and cut an additional smaller green rectangle from the stamped green paper.
2. After cleaning the “so special’ image, stamp on blue paper with blue ink. When the ink has dried cut around the heart and punch a heart image from the stamped heart.  Line up the blue punched heart to match the design on the orange heart.
3. Arrange all the pieces in a pleasing manner and glue to the front of the card. Add gemstones in a horizontal and vertical row.

I am having so much fun using a single set for my week, I hope you are too?  Remember, you have until this Sunday at 11:59pm PST to submit your layered cards and scrapbook pages for the challenge.  Check here for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Tomorrow Jennifer will be here to announce the winners of last week’s Thank You Challenge.

See you on Friday,

Filed under: layers

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 3:23 am and is filed under Watch It Wednesdays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.