Clean and Simple Magnolia

Hey guys! Welcome!  Today's card was created by combining a few new products and techniques for me.  Coloring with alcohol markers, which means learning how to blend and layer, and stamping with a die. 

I fell in love with this Mondo Magnolia stamp and die set from ellenhutson.com.  It just begs to be colored and I love to color.

Another product I had to try out is the Ink Transfer Film and Ink Transfer Pad from Sizzix.  It allows you to use your dies as if they were stamps using your big shot. I'll link to a YouTube video demonstrating it here. 

 I don't typically make clean and simple cards, but I really enjoyed the simplicity of this one.  Each element is allowed to stand out while harmonious as a whole.

This card started out with the Magnolia.  I recently purchased a large set of Spectrum Noir markers and this was my first foray into coloring with alcohol markers.  It was easier than I expected and I really liked how it turned out.  The flower was stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black ink - use a dye ink with alcohol markers to avoid smudging/bleeding of your image.  I googled magnolia flowers to make sure I was using a palette that was botanically accurate, die cut it using my big shot and set it aside.  I don't use a lot of patterned paper and therefore have quite a bit stored up from card kits.  I challenged myself to use more of it and loved the gold dots on this sheet.  The paper is from the May 2015 Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I trimmed it down to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 to fit a standard card base and used a gold ink transfer sheet and "beautiful" die to impress the image along the bottom edge.  I added a strip of the paper trimming across the card towards the bottom third to add more of the gold dot pattern for more interest.  The "hello" was die cut from Die Cuts With a View glitter paper and adhered with Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue.  I popped up the magnolia with foam squares for a bit of dimension and it was complete.

This is a versatile stamp set and card design.  It is suitable for birthdays, miss you, hello, encouragement and thinking of you.  If the sentiment was changed to "thinking of you" it would make a lovely sympathy/empathy card.  I hope you enjoyed spending a little time with me! Feel free to ask questions and let me know what you think.

Much love!
Jasmine