Cardmaking, Die Cutting, Heat Embossing, Spring, Thinking of You, Watercolor

No-Color Coloring with Papertrey Ink

Hi, there! Today I am back again to share another project I created as a guest for Papertrey Ink this month. If you missed my first project, you can see that HERE. Today, I’ll share with you one of the ways I like to color my images without actually coloring anything. Let’s get started…

Step 1: Emboss & Cut

The first image I went for with the new Towering Stems set was the bouquet wrap. I love how this image has several layers, so you have options to chose from. As you can see, I stamped it in brown on kraft and also in black on white before settling on white embossing on vellum.

Step 2: More Embossing & Cutting

I searched through my patterned paper pads & scraps and found several smaller patterns I thought would work for the blooms and went to town stamping, embossing, and die cutting a ton, so I would have plenty to work with.

Step 3: Assemble

Once I had several little blooms, I glued them to the stems and started piecing together the bouquet as if they were real little flowers to arrange.

I found using my tweezers quite helpful for handling the tiny bits as well as holding the paper while heat embossing since they’re also heat resistant. (Another cheaper & ergonomic option I have my eyes on is this pair.)

Step 4: Secure

Once my bouquet was perfectly positioned, I laid a piece of low-tack tape over the bouquet, so everything would stay in place while I flipped it over to add adhesive.

(I like this tape in particular because it has never torn my paper, doesn’t leave dents when I roll through my die cutting machine, I can tear it by hand quickly, use it for masking techniques, and it’s sturdy enough to use several times before it needs replacing.)

Step 5: Base Layers

The base of my card is a top folding A2, so I trimmed a layer of striped patterned paper to 4.25″x5.5″. I couldn’t bear the though of wasting the whole sheet, so I quickly cut a tag I can use in the future from the center before adhering it to my card base. I then gave a bit of watercolor paper a wash of watercolor before trimming it out with the medium sized die from the Double Cuts: Rectangles die set.

Step 6: Stitching

Now I was ready to start assembling the layers together. Since I don’t like my stitching to show through to the inside of the card, I opted to add decorative stitching at this point. I also added a bit of white twine around the bouquet.

Step 7: Assembly & Embellishment

For assembly, I layered the striped pattern directly onto the A2 card base while the watercolor layer & bouquet are popped up with a bit of foam adhesive. For a sentiment, I layered one of the Don’t Forget to Write labels over a white stitched die cut circle and popped it up with foam adhesive as well. And for the final touch, I added a bit of iridescent sequins.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this card as much as I had creating it. I have one more project to share with you from this month’s Papertrey Ink release, so I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog or visit again very soon.

If you’d like to check out more of my projects, please visit me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and now YouTube as well. Until next time… stay crafty!

– Laura Evangeline

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