Stamped Flower Birthday Card

Where do you find the inspiration for the cards and projects you make?  Sometimes I look in magazines or online and sometimes I need to look no farther than my bathroom cabinet.  Yes, my bathroom cabinet.  The packaging for some Pampers baby wipes was all the inspiration I needed to create this card.  Let me show you how. 

I was using this packaging as inspiration for both my color choices and as my stamping inspiration.  First, I started by getting out some inks in the colors I wanted to use and pulled out stamps that had circles and dots.  I had a lot of these stamps!  That gave me a lot of options to stamp my flowers with. 

I wanted this to be mainly a one layer card so I knew that my sentiment would have to somehow stand out against all of the stamped flowers.  I used some masking paper and stamped a border that my sentiment would fit in.  I cut out the shape and then applied that to my card where I wanted the sentiment to go.  Now it was time to start stamping!

I had this huge circle stamp that I love but I wanted to be able to stamp the outer circles and inner circles in two different colors.  I could have very carefully inked only part of my stamp or if I had stamping markers I could have colored on my stamp.  Both of these seemed too time consuming so I took a different route.  I cut my stamp.  Yes, I cut my stamp.  Did you know you could do that?  I used a sharp razor blade and carefully cut apart my stamp into two stamps.  I now had an inner set of circles and an outer set of circles.  This allowed me be able to stamp the four rows of circles in two different colors very easily!  If I want to use my stamp all as one I just have to put the inner piece back in and the stamp is as good as new. 

I then started stamping!  I used different stamps and colors of ink varying the height of the flowers to cover the front of the card.  I used some post it notes to cover the back of my card so it could lay flat while I stamped.  Some of my stamps were a little blotchy because I hadn't used them before and I should have sanded them a little.  I was on a time crunch though so I just let the whole look of the card be a little more distressed than crisp.  

Once I was happy with my stamping I removed the masking paper.  Now I had the perfect place to put my sentiment!  

I stamped the same shape that was on the masking paper right on the card by lining up the stamp using my Fiskars Stamp Press.  I next got out my Stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped my sentiment inside the border.  I love how it looks like it is standing out from the card but is really at the same level.  So fun!    

I needed one final touch to my card so I got out this little butterfly.  A little stamping, ink, and some gems and it was ready to fly.  This butterfly is in a little stash I keep on my craft table of left over supplies from other projects.  Bits of string, pieces of chipboard, and other cut out items are in a bowl and ready for me to grab.  Why throw it away when it may be perfect for another piece of art!  I attached the butterfly only on the middle with Glossy Accents and lifted it's wings up so it appears to be flying.  A little hand drawn flying trail finishes it off.   

Here is the whole card.  I love how it turned out!  I hope you will look around your home and find some unexpected inspiration.  If you find something great I'd love to hear about it.  Thanks for stopping. 

Supplies:

• stamps- Close To My Heart (Beauty W2007, Star Struck D1237), Recollections (Circle It), Inkadinkado (Circle and Dots), My Minds Eye (Dilly Dally "Adventures" Stamps), Fiskars (Garden Borders), Martha Stewart (Half Labels), Great Impressions (background stamp on butterfly), Stampin' Up! (sentiment)
• ink- Close To My Heart (Baby Pink, Sunkiss Yellow, Key Lime, Heavenly Blue), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China, Frayed Burlap), Inkadinkado (Cool Pastels Pigment Ink- Sea Green, Aqua)
• tools- Inkadinkado (Stamp-a-ma-jig), Fiskars (Stamp Press), We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper 3/8"), Imaginisce (I-Rock)
• misc- Imaginisce (I-Rock gems), Ranger (Glossy Accents)