Vintage Crocus (by Lesley)

Little did I know when I made today's card that Maria had also had the same idea yesterday for using Kraft as the base for her designs.  Anyway you can never have too much of a good thing so here we go.

I am so happy to be showcasing our brand new March stamps and chose the Song Bird Crocus set for this card and to create the vintage feel I added an old sewing pattern into the mix.

• To create the topper take some dictionary paper and adhere to a piece of kraft card using matte gel medium and then attach a piece of sewing pattern over the top, again using the gel medium. Mat onto a piece of plain black card
• Attach another plain piece of sewing pattern to some kraft card and allow to dry.
• Stamp the crocus image from Song Bird Crocus onto this plain background using Versafine Onyx Black. When dry cut around the image leaving a fine border. Curve the edges slightly to give it a little dimension and adhere to your background using a gel glue to give it some height.
• To assemble: Take a piece of kraft card and fold into a DL size. Attach a piece of suitable ribbon across the bottom of the card, fix the completed topper with 3d foam pads and stamp the sentiment from Sweet Nothings using Onyx Black

I quite often use dictionary paper as a background, but sometimes it can be too strong on the eye and overpower the focal point. By overlaying a piece of dress pattern it softens the image of the wording so that it is still visible. Likewise with the sewing pattern over the kraft card. Sometime this type of card can be quite porous which means it will soak up your ink and can make your stamping appear poor quality. By attaching the sewing pattern over the kraft card you have created a much more stable surface on which to stamp.

Hope you have found these tips useful and that you'll try this technique for yourself. 

As this is only the first day of March there are loads of stunning projects to follow from the Design Team girls so please keep visiting us for more inspiration.