Blossoms 'Bout Gone

Today is Tuesday and that means it's time for another fabulous and fun challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week the HSS #115 challenge is to be inspired by SPRING.  Be inspired by the gorgeous blooming trees in this week's challenge logo.  I do have to say that for those of us who live in California there are but only a few trees here and there that have just a few blossoms left.  Blossoms begin to burst in late January and by early March the ground is covered with a dusting of beauty.

For this card I had a good time stamping and crafting for the sake of fun and the enjoyment of getting ink on my fingers and creating a totally unplanned project.  I let each step direct and inspire me for the next stamp and embellish to add to my card.  I started with a piece of DSP from the Tea Time Simply Scrappin' kit on which I stamped and embossed the tree from the Forever Young stamp set.  Then I sponged Blushing Bride, Lucky Limeade, and Soft Suede ink all over the DSP panel.  My next step was to stamp the flourish from Creative Elements with Early Espresso ink.  I used a white gel pen to scribble in a little highlight color and then quickly blotted my scribbles with me finger tip to soften the look.

To give the card some great texture I added some "ribbon frosting" which I first cut and frayed the top long edge.  Then I used Mine Glue Dots to adhere the smallest Paper Daisies to the tree top and then I put a tiny Basic Pearl in the center of each flower.  A quick greeting from the Petite Pairs stamp set and a Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine shoestring bow finish out the card.  The DSP panel is layered on River Rock and the card panel is textured Early Espresso card stock.

Now it is your turn to stamp a little something inspired by SPRING and then add it to the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge for this week!


Happy challenge stampin', Elizabeth

p.s. I have to share this photo I took of Baxter, my very adorable Mini Schnauzer.  He had been outside licking rain puddles and came to the door with a beard full of blossoms.  He really, REALLY, needs a furcut and bath!