Hello, Crafters.
The idea of making greeting cards using fruit has never appealed to me but I bought the Sweet Strawberry Bundle which has a matching punch called the Strawberry Builder Punch. I decided to buy it when I chose the Berry Blessings Stamp Set and Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper (DSP) as a gift from Sale-a-bration. There are some really gorgeous designs in this DSP pack which includes Pacific Point as one of the matching colours! I would love to see this colour used more frequently and not just in masculine designs.
When I first started my card I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do. The only thought in my mind was that I want to make a masculine thank you card but I wanted to move away from typical masculine images. I started by stamping the strawberry image using Poppy Parade Ink and the calyx leaf using Granny Apple Green. This is a two-step stamp set and I used the infill stamps for both images but stamped off once.
I didn’t think the Granny Apple Green was a strong enough green to go with the Poppy Parade so I tried again but using Shaded Spruce Ink and it worked a treat. I stamped three of each with the idea of making them a into a bunch and for this I didn’t want my images to have the white edging all around so I fussy cut them rather than using the matching punch. Fussy cutting the strawberries was a walk in the park but the calyxes needed a bit of patience!
I couldn’t get the three strawberries to look good as a bunch, so I went for one line of them down the left hand side. When applying the strawberries to the card front I decided I wouldn’t use Dimensionals because the stem of the calyx was very thin and it needed to be glued to the top layer! I chose the HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU SWEET THING from the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set and stamped it using Shaded Spruce Ink in the bottom right-hand corner on the top Whisper White Cardstock (CS) layer.
Rather than having a large expanse of white on my card front, I embossed it using the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder. This was after I’d stamped the sentiment but before I’d adhered the strawberries to the front top layer. Using Tombow I adhered the bottom strawberry first, then the second one above it but before I added the third, I measured the space between the first and second strawberries which helped me make sure the third strawberry was also the same distance from the second strawberry!
Where I had fussy cut the calyxes, I was left with some small white areas on the edges. I coloured these in using my Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Write Marker Pen. If you watch my videos, you will have seen how I do this by holding the brush end pointing up with the reverse side of the image facing down to the brush. I do it this was just in case my pen slips and goes onto the image. If your pen is below the image you won’t spoil the front of it!
Next I adhered the top decorated layer of Whisper White CS to a middle layer of Shaded Spruce CS layer and then onto a Whisper White CS card base. I took another Whisper White CS top layer for inside the card, and stamped a strawberry in the bottom right-hand corner. Using a scrap of Whisper White CS I also stamped a calyx in Shaded Spruce Ink, including the infill stamp and then fussy cut it. I adhered it on top of the strawberry and then adhered this top layer onto a middle layer of Shaded Spruce CS and then onto the card base.
To finish my card, I adhered one of the Ladybird Trinkets on the top strawberry! I’m pleasant surprised and pleased with the finished result of this card as I’ve never really used fruit as the focus of a card (as far as I can remember)! I look forward to being back with you tomorrow and in the meantime, please take very good care and stay safe! Happy crafting! xx
JanB. xx
Products used for this project: please click on any of the links to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. The Hostess Code for JANUARY 2021 is DQ7YY4BZ. Thank you. xx
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Cardstock Layer Sizes: A4
Card base 8¼” x 5¾” scored and folded at 4 1/8”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5½”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5 3/8”
Cardstock Layer Sizes: Letter-size
Card base 8½” x 5½” scored and folded at 4¼”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 4” x 5¼”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
Evening Jan. Thanks for the tip about using the markers to fill in the “white” area of a die cut. Never knew or even thought about this trick. Also thanks for the tip about greeting first and then embossing as I tried embossing first and then stamping the other day and it did not turn out well!!!!! Blessings to you and Othman. Stay safe. XX M
Many thanks, Mal. Using the marker pen makes so much difference. xx