Pretty Poppies

Today I was clicking on some blogs for some card inspiration and I found a couple of challenges that piqued my interest.  First was the  Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog,  Their challenge is to be based on an image of a beautiful field of poppies in honour of Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day last week.  I have had a lovely stack of floral papers for a while, and one of the papers is a beautiful poppy pattern so I thought this was the perfect time to use it. Next I went over to the Daring Cardmakers blog, and their challenge was to use a piece of jewelry for inspiration. On top of this my awesome husband and son gave me a Cuttlebug for my birthday so I definitely had to use that!  Hmmmm, poppies, jewelry, and a Cuttlebug....

So I searched around the Internet to see what I could find.  I eventually found this lovely necklace:

 So pretty, and perfect for these challenges!   Here is what I came up with:

I started out with an 8.5" by 11" medium-brown sheet of textured cardstock, cut in half to 5.5" by 8.5", then scored and folded in half at 4.25". I inked the edges of the card front with dark brown.  I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 5.25" by 4" and ran it through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder that reminded me of the intricate metalwork on the back of the necklace.  I used a blending tool to blend two shades of green over the cardstock to emphasize the embossed pattern. I inked the edges with dark brown ink. 

Next I cut a piece of patterned paper to 3.75" by 3.75".  I wanted to make it a bit old looking, so I crumpled it up and used Tim Holtz's distressing tool on the edges.  I used the blending tool to run a bit of dark brown over the creases and the edges of the paper. Once satisfied with my results I smoothed out the paper with the help of my bone folder and adhered it to the embossed cardstock.

To add the sentiment I first cut a small piece of cream cardstock at 1.5" by 0.75" and corner rounded the corners. I inked the edges with brown, and stamped the sentiment using a Stamp-a-ma-jig.  Mini brads were added and the sentiment was adhered using foam squares.

After adding ribbon and hemp twine, I made the poppy embellishment by trimming a flower out of the patterned paper, inking the edges with dark brown, and using my fingers to curl the petals a bit.  I added a large brad to the center of the flower, and two matching brads to the side through the ribbon.  Finally the finished piece was adhered to the card front.

Since there is an extra piece left over when making a card out of 8.5" by 11" cardstock I will often make two (or more) cards the same time.  This is helpful as if I make a mistake I hopefully have one that turned out, and if I don't make a mistake I have an extra card that I can use if I need one quickly and don't have time to make one from scratch.  This time is no different except when I got to the point of adding the brads I realized I didn't have enough black ones for both cards so I substituted amber ones:

I really love how both of these cards turned out!

Using the Cuttlebug on this project was so much fun,  I haven't had a chance to use it much yet but I find the embossing gives the card so much more personality with so little effort.  Also, the way the two greens blended together on background reminds me of the patina from oxidized bronze. 

I find that changing the colour of the brads makes a big difference for both of these cards. On the first card I like the black brads because it makes the vintage feeling card a little more sophisticated. These are the same two elements I feel the jewelry piece reflects, so I think I did OK in relating the card to the necklace. I like the amber brads on the second card because its a bit lighter, and it brings out the centers of the flowers in the patterned paper.  I really like both of these cards and it always surprises me how changing one small element can make such a difference in the end product.  :)

As far as making 'thank you' cards goes, I thought this was appropriate.  Poppies are used on Remembrance Day to symbolize the blood that was shed by those who have fought and continue to fight for us.  I am very thankful for and humbled by those who have sacrificed themselves for our countries.  Lest we forget.


Here are the supplies I used:

Cardstock:  Stampin Up!  Dusty Durango textured, Very Vanilla, K&C Company Tim Coffey Blossomwood 12 by 12 Designer Paper Pad, Recollections Kraft.

Ink: Stampin Up! Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Garden Green

Stamp Set:  Stampin Up! Pocket Silhouettes. 

Embellishments: Stampin Up! Natural Hemp Twine, American Crafts Ribbon in green, Theresa Collins Haunted Hallows Decorative Brads, Recollections Mini Brads.

Adhesives: Tombow Mono adhesive runner, Zots, Foam Squares.

Tools used:  Fiskars paper trimmer, We R Memory Keepers Corner Rounder, Ranger Inkssentials Blending Tool, Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Paper Distresser.