"Arranged with Love" Tip Sheet

Everyone loves to receive a bouquet of flowers, and they are appropriate year round. With "Arranged with Love", now you can have a stamped bouquet anytime, complete with a place to add just the greeting you need. You will be stamping out cards in no time that look like you spent hours, no need to mask, or worry about a layout or where your embellishments go! Beautiful when stamped and left uncolored, or approached with your Copics, watercolors or pencils, your creation is sure to get a "wow!"

This card was done with several shades of brown Copics after stamping the image in Vivid Coffee Bean on to Pure Luxury Ivory. I went over it with the Crackle image from "Bold Flowers" and mounted onto Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss and the new Soft Sand.

Next up, my favorite tips for the new set! :)

• There are many ways to trim the image after stamping! Cut on the line and mat on colored cardstock as you normally would, or leave a 1/8" border around it to layer on your card base, that leaves a 1/8" inch of your card base showing. This second way creates the illusion of lots of layers, in only two!


• Cut along the outside of the border with a pair of decorative edge scissors: following the line makes it easy to get it straight and a scalloped, zigzag or postage stamp edge adds a lot to your design!


• Cut it shorter or narrower and run a marker the same color as the ink you stamped it with along the edge to frame it up again, easy!


• Pop up blooms from "A Year of Flowers" over "Arranged with Love". This gives more dimension, allows you to add more of your favorite blooms, and customize it even more according to the season (ex: adding tulips in Spring and sunflowers in Autumn).


• Layer "A Year of Flowers" bloom directly over the matching flower in the "Arranged with Love" layout to have its edges extend outside of the border, a great look! (Ex: a lily over the second lily from the top, will peep just outside the frame but still fit on the A2 card)


• Stamp the frame onto DP for a subtle pattern. Color over the flowers with light colors to make them pop but leave the pattern showing through.


• Stamp in color on a neutral cardstock and mount on a base to match the ink color for a soft monochromatic look. Stamp the little card onto white or ivory CS to layer over it like paper piecing to really make your greeting "pop".


• Stamp the image over a printed "Summer Fabrics" page(the freebie digi pack from Gina K Designs) which will look like rich floral tapestry over the canvas, twill and gauze backgrounds!


• Stamp the image onto acetate in Stazon and color the back to create a stain glass look!



• Stamp the crackle pattern from "Bold Flowers" to create a vintage style card.


• Sponge the edges with a distressing link to give it a beautiful, time-worn patina.


• Stamp over the page of a book "a la Gina K" and then color the blooms to allow the words to show through for a really romantic "love letters and flowers" feel!


• This image would be gorgeous with the cracked glass technique!


• Paper piece just the background around the flowers or certain flowers the background with DP.


• Embellish the little card nestled in the flowers with brads, rhinestones, flowers or piercing in the corners or underneath the greeting.


• Create a square card by cropping the image smaller and layer onto square card base.


• Crop the image with a large die to create a smaller version of the image for a focal point you can use to layer into a completely different sketch.


• Add a little bow to the side of the card.


• Cut out the little card like a window on your card front and have the greeting stamped on the inside of the card base so it shows through.


• Personalize your special delivery by handwriting your own greeting on the little card, "xoxo" the recipient's name, or add a real lipstick print, ooh la la!


• Substitute a die cut Nestabilitie over the little card to add a fancier shaped card to the layout, like the Labels One or labels Four. Try a heart for your sweetheart!


• Watermark with Versamark on colored Cardstock or use an ink similar to the cardstock color for a beautiful tone one tone pattern.


• Decorate your envelope flap and inside of card with "A Year of Flowers".


• Emboss in black or white and color.


• Emboss it with a metallic powder for a card that shouts "elegance"!


• Stamp in a waterbased colored ink and run your waterbrush or wet watercolor brush over the flowers to blend the ink and give a soft colored look.


• Use a craft knife to cut around some of the leaf tips or petal ends and gently pull them outward, adding dimension like they are growing off the page.


• Use a card base that is smaller than the image and cut around the flowers to make them extend off the card as if they are growing.


• Add punched corners or flourishes to the corners of the frame to make it even fancier.
  


• Add drops of Crystal Lacquer to the petals to make your bouquet look "fresh cut from the garden"!


• Add some ladybugs from "A Year of Flowers" or butterflies from Gina's "Take Flight".


• Stamp the image twice and cut blooms from one to layer onto the other for a paper tole effect.


• Stamp the image on an envelope and hand write the person's name in the little card in the center.


• Cut out just the flowers from a corner or side to add to the corner of your card, it works to decorate your card like a flourish would, like a little cluster or border of flowers!


• Color just one flower for a spotlight on that bloom.


• Layer a mat with another image over the little card if you want to use the large image like a background. If you use a single image from "A Year of Flowers" you already have a custom mat like matching DP to match behind it!


• Make an extra large card with this extra large stamp by layering it onto a 5x7" base. This way it looks like a smaller focal point and you can go to town adding more layers and designer papers to match for a different sketch.


• Color ideas: look to nature for some great color combos when coloring your arrangements or grab color challenges and add a green if it doesn't have one for leaves. Your favorite combos will be very striking. using several different colors will be very eye catching or a one color bouquet (like all white) says "Luxury!".


• Choose all pastels for a very springy card, earthy tones in the fall for Thanksgiving, an "all pink" or "blue" color scheme for a baby's arrival, etc.


• Search the Internet of floral sites and find the meanings of different colors in flower arrangements to really customize your bouquet.


• Color the bloom you really want to "pop" with the brightest color.


• The 10 greetings in this set will get you through the entire year of occasions: "Congrats" for a new baby, engagement, promotion, "On Your Special Day" works for any of those as well as a shower, anniversary, or Mother's or Father's day for moms and dads! These also work well in combination with each other to lead into the inside of your card, for example, "Beautiful Friend... Happy Birthday!" Sending Prayers...Feel Better Soon" "To the Mr. and Mrs. ... Congrats!" "On your Special Day...Thanks So Much!"


• These large classic script greetings are a beautiful new option to go with "A Year of Flowers" images or any other images in your collection , sized to fit almost all shapes of Nestabilities and Tags.


• The majority of the greetings from "Say it with Flowers" fit on the little card, which measures 1 1/2" by 2". Have fun going through your other greeting to see what you can add to that little card! The new "Free with Three" "Many Wishes" are a beautiful match, in both size and font, and fit!


• Stamp an initial on the little card for a monogram, perfect for gift sets or to frame for someone's room!
  

Projects:

Frame it in a 5x7 or 8 x 10 mat for piece of giftable art work. For a girl or woman's bedroom night table, write her name on the little card in calligraphy.

Slide the colored stamped image into a small acrylic frame to make a little message board, the little blank card space is perfect for writing the phone number or "I'll be back later, I love you!" :)

Place a small photo of yourself and the recipient over the card in the center instead of a greeting.


Create a quick set of matching cards using someone's favorite colors and add the different greetings to the centers for a gift she can use year round. Put in an acrylic box and tie a ribbon, you're done!

Stamp the image into Polyshrink and color, then shrink down to create a keyring or suncatcher.

For the brave: stamp the image onto canvas and embroider! :)

Use the image to alter the cover for a personalized blank book journal. Make it a book to keep track of birthdays using the "Happy Birthday!" stamp or any time gift with "Beautiful Friend".