Serene cards with the Dandy Garden Suite

 

Have I mentioned how much I love the Dandy Garden Suite? Thought so. But is that going to stop me telling you again? No way! Here are some of the projects I’ve been making with this Suite lately.

I needed to replenish my stock of ‘Thinking of You’ cards after my Mum totally cleaned out my last batch. She said she needed two cards so I sent her everything I had so she could choose and the box came back empty. 

 

This set is just perfect for simple, understated cards for such an occasion, so I made a handful by stamping the tall flowers image from Dragonfly Garden onto white cardstock and lightly colouring the image using Stampin’ Blends. The greeting on this card comes from Peaceful Moments. 

On most of the cards, I adding some background using our fabulous new Blending Brushes. These are so easy to use and create lovely soft backgrounds. On top of this I flicked some clean water to create a speckled effect, a technique I love for its simplicity.  The greeting on this card some from Field of Flowers. 

 

I mounted them onto some card blanks I’d made previously (I keep a box of these on hand from leftover Make & Takes and projects where I change my mind partway through) and soon rustled up a batch of these landscape cards, finishing off with a greeting from Woven Heirlooms and some Linen Thread.

For something a bit more complex, I used a big chunk of my craft supplies, starting with the Dandy Wishes Dies. These coordinate with the Garden Wishes stamp set and are available as part of a bundle, too.

The image panel is created using Tasteful Labels Dies, which are probably the most-used dies in my craft room since they were released last summer. The greeting here is from Happiest of Birthdays, which is probably my most-used greeting stamp set of the past 12 months, too. The background is one of the Greenery Embossing Folders, another much-loved product in this house. 

Inside I used Happiest of Birthdays again, along with a dandelion image from the
Garden Wishes stamp set. 

  

The entire Dandy Garden Suite is a must-have, in my opinion! If you’d like to order any of the items shown here, or indeed any other Stampin’ Up!® products, please head on over to my store and, if you use the host code YK2NNMYW, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in February! 

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Keeping it simple with Dandelion Wishes

Keeping with the #simplestamping theme, these cards really could not be more simple. Well, I suppose they could if you stamped directly onto the card inestead of creating a layer. Oh, and I’ve used two stamp sets because the greeting I wanted was not included in Dandelion Wishes. But you get the idea... just stamping onto white cardstock with two ink pads can give you striking results.

Dandelion Wishes gift box

A project from the (not-too-distant) archives which I knew would come in handy one day!

It uses the delightful Dandelion Wishes stamp set and was the 3D demo I made at a party a few weeks ago. I refrained from posting it as I felt I’d overdone the Dandelion Wishes projects.

However now, with my All-Day Craftathon tomorrow, I need a post and have nothing to show you without ruining the surprise for 12 lovely ladies who will be joining me for a full day of crafting.

Come back on Monday to see some of our Craftathon projects. I think you'll love them!

Blueberry dandelions

Let’s start the week with another Dandelion Wishes project - and why not? It’s proving to be the most popular stamp set from the 2018 Annual Catalogue so far!

I used the Stamparatus to stamp the image in Blueberry Bushel, then stamp again on top in Versamark so it could be embossed. Clearly some of the embossing missed the mark as the blue ink has spread when I watercoloured in Lovely Lipstick, but I don’t mind as the result is quite effective.

I know some people are resistant to the new In Colors, because they’re rather bright, but I think they are a great addition to our collection, and can be quite tasteful when separated from the crowd!

Sponging with Dandelion Wishes

Friday was my monthly Crafty Friday event and, for the first time, we took things outside onto the covered patio.

The theme was sponging and we used the popular Dandelion Wishes stamp set to make two projects; this delicate emboss resist card and the one you see below.

For the card above, we stamped in Versamark and then embossed in clear or white (it really doesn’t matter when you’re using white cardstock) before sponging over the top in Bermuda Bay. Well, I used Bermuda Bay – the ladies could choose as the rest of their supplies would go with absolutely anything. The only stipulation was that it had to be in my trolley which I’d wheeled outside! The background is Softly Falling, but showing the “debossed” side for a change.

Next we moved onto this project...

This time we punched a circle from a sticky note and used it to mask the cardstock, which we sponged in a circular motion. On top of this we painted light strokes with water, to create a vague Vincent van Gogh-ian effect. We stamped in black on top.

Again, everyone made something slightly different – they had the choice of any colour... as long as it was an In Color, as that was the DSP pack I had.

Dandelion Wishes - two colourways

I’m finishing off my Dandelion Wishes week with the same card in two colourways – but which do you prefer? The pink or the green?

This was the first time I’d cracked open the Merlot... the Merry Merlot, that is. I used it to stamp the ‘thank you’ (from Tropical Chic) on the card on the left.

These are the first cards I’ve made with Bokeh Dots, too. This is from the new Distinktive range, which are highly detailed stamps. They give you lots of depth and texture but I do have a few tips for you:

So, what do you think? Which colour combo do you prefer? Green or pink?

I hope my week of Dandelion Wishes projects has convinced you that this is an excellent stamp set to add to your collection. I absolutely love it, and can see me using it frequently.

Dandelion Wishes - embossed on a watercoloured background

Another day, another Dandelion Wishes project for your delectation. This time I have another watercoloured background, with the dandelions embossed on top using Granny Apple Green and clear embossing powder.

The Granny Apple Green came out a lot darker than I expected - this is probably because I stamped two or three times in the same position to get a full image on the watercolour paper. Stamping like this is really easy with the Stamparatus - I am now a complete convert to this amazing piece of kit!

Dandelion Wishes - CAS card in retro Pool Party and Poppy Parade

Seriously, it took me longer to photograph this project than it did to make it. It’s clean and simple all right... and no less effective for it.

All I did was stamp on a piece of Whisper White in this lovely retro combo of Pool Party and Poppy Parade, add a strip of Poppy Parade cardstock and pop it up onto a notecard, with some bling to finish it off.

Yes, I have done a U-turn on Poppy Parade, which I was never keen on last time around. And with a brand new Pool Party ink pad to play with, I think you’ll be seeing a lot of this combo.

Dandelion Wishes and Northern Lights

Do children still use dandelion clocks to tell the time? Do they still use buttercups to find out if you like butter? And daisies to find out if he “loves you, loves you not”? Or have these innocent pastimes gone the way of scrumping and fishing for tiddlers?

Here’s another fun background technique to show off the Dandelion Wishes stamp set. This time it’s the Northern Lights technique - which is simply sponging in dark blue in with some streaks of Lemon Lime Twist thrown in. You finish it off simply by dotting with the Chalk Marker, freehand.

This background has been sitting in my UFOs (unfinished objects) box for some time, so this was the perfect opportunity to use it.

I stamped the image in Whisper White Craft Ink and then embossed in white embossing powder on top. I find this doubling up gives the crispest images.

Very little else was needed so I finished off with my last remaining pearls (must order some more!) and some white Baker's Twine. Hope you like!

It's Dandelion Wishes Week at All Things Stampy

I have a little treat for fans of the Dandelion Wishes stamp set. This week I will be posting a Dandelion Wishes project every day, from Monday to Friday.

We begin with this intensely coloured card with a bright watercoloured background, with a bit of salt technique thrown in.

On top of this we have the dandelions and greeting, embossed in Blackberry Bliss, using that oh so clever Stamparatus technique. This is where you stamp with the Stamparatus - in fact, I did this twice as it can be quite tricky to stamp onto watercolour paper, so stamping again gives you a sharper image.

Then, with the stamped cleaned off and the paper in the same position, you stamp on top with Versamark so you can add the clear embossing powder and heat it up for these stunning results.

And that’s just about all you have to do – with a background like this and such a beautiful image stamped on top, all you need is a piece of ribbon to finish things off.