Monday, April 4, 2022

EASTER PEONIES

This week I am featuring the Prized Peony Stamp Set.  This stamp set does have coordinating dies, but I don't own them, so I will be fussy cutting if I want to cut out the flowers.  If you own the dies, lucky you!  You can use those to simplify the fussy cutting process.


Since I am behind on creating my Easter Cards, I thought I would use the Prized Peony Stamp Set to make an Easter Card today.

I know that Peonies are not the typical flower that comes to mind when we think about Easter flowers.  It's Lilies, right?  Does anyone know why Lilies are associated with Easter?  When I thought about it, I realized I actually wasn't sure of the "why", I just knew they were.  

So, where do we go these days when we have a question or want to learn how to do something?  Google of course.  So, off to Google I went.

Google informed me that "the white lily symbolizes purity, rebirth, new beginnings and hope and is most often associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ as observed on Easter." 

Well, I guess my card is breaking all sorts of "Easter Rules", because my Easter Flower isn't white, and it isn't a Lily.  But sometimes "rules" are meant to be broken.  I wanted a bright cheery yellow flower for my Easter card.  I don't think that whoever gets it will care, do you?


I decided that my Peony needed a nice frame to set it off, so I used the two largest dies from Stitched So Sweetly Dies to create my frame.  I laid the smaller one inside of the larger one and ran them both through my Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine at the same time.  I like this little scalloped white frame.  What do you think?  I think it draws the eye to the flower.  I placed the frame at a bit of an angle so break up the "squareness" of all the rectangles going on with this card.  Between the black and white plaid from Pattern Party DSP and the rectangular layers, I thought maybe the "picture" should go at an angle.  I'm not actually sure if I like it or not.  My engineering brain keeps telling me "It's crooked."  My more artistic side says, "Get over it!"

For the bow I made a "lazy crafter" bow.  I just folded the ribbon a couple of times and then tied a piece of Linen Thread around its middle.


As I realized I needed a few more Easter Cards, I also discovered that not one of my current Stamp Sets has an Easter stamp in it!  Oh well, I dug out a set from last year (I think) called Welcome Easter.  This card could actually be applicable for many occasions.  It would be suitable for Birthday, Get Well, Thinking of You, Just Because and many others, so if you decide to CASE it, it doesn't really matter that I used a retired stamp, does it?  Choose whatever occasion you want, and use whatever stamps you have!


For the inside, I used the smallest flower in the stamp set to decorate the sentiment panel.

I used Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends to color my flowers.  To give each flower a little more depth, I also added a bit of highlighting with Mango Melody to deepen the shadows.

If you would like more details on how to make the card, I have a FREE TUTORIAL available for download.

The list of current products that I used for today's card is shown below.  Several of the products used are on the LAST CHANCE LIST, including the Prized Peony Stamp Set, the Stitched So Sweetly Dies and the Pattern Party Paper.   It was a sad moment when I saw the dies were retiring.  I love these dies and use them so much!  But new and exciting products are on the way, so I'll get over it!




Product List

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