Spring Has Sprung - I Hope

It is time for the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Maggi, our hostess for this one calls it Spring is in Full Bloom and describes it like this:

This is my favorite time of the year. Here in the south the trees and shrubs are all blooming and showing their splendor. Many are busy planting their vegetable gardens. The migrating birds have returned to build nests and raise a new family. Your challenge is to create a vintage or shabby chic project that illustrates the magic of spring in bloom!

So, where I live we won't be able to plant for another 5-6 weeks, just lost the last of the mountains of snow a week ago and the temperatures keep plunging every second day so winter coats are still fighting the spring coats for closet space. That means flowers are still a way off for us.  I decided for this challenge I would just feature my new favourite flower stamp set - Country Flowers by Wendy Vecchi.  They look more summer to me but since Mother Nature is off her meds and has no respect for the calendar, I figure we are going straight from winter to summer here.

I started by cutting a panel of card stock and using a scallop circle die to cut a window in it before I ran it through an embossing folder called Victoria.  The panel was distressed and then inked with Dried Marigold and Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).  I cut a smaller panel of paper from the Spring Farm House paper pad (Prima) and mounted it behind the scallop cut out before I added the panel to the card blank.  I cut a couple of sections from the Amber Moon paper pad (Prima) in my Funkie Junkie Boutique stash to create a couple little pieces if ephemera that I tucked inside the cutout.

Next I stamped the flowers using the solid stamp first using a lighter shade followed by the detail stamp with a darker shade.  The orange flower was stamped with Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade and the yellow flowers were stamped with Scattered Straw and Wild Honey.  I used a water brush (Tim Holtz) to smooth out the colour and add a wee bit of shading before I die cut them.  I thought they needed to be toned down a bit so I covered them with some Picket Fence DI and then used some glossy accents to add microbeads to the centres of the flowers.

The leaves were stamped in the same manner as the flowers using Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint DI.  The butterfly was stamped with Dried Marigold and Gathered Twigs DI and some little Chocolate adhesive pearls (Kaisercraft) were added to the body.  A few more pearls were scattered around to finish off the card.

I hope you will join us for this challenge.  One random winner will receive a gift certificate to go shopping at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the Design Team will choose their top picks with the overall pick receiving an opportunity to join us as a Guest Designer.

Links to The Funkie Junkie Boutique for products used to create this card:

Prima Marketing Spring Farmhouse 8x8" Paper Pad
Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp, Die, Stencil Set - Country Flowers
Distress Ink Pads
Scor Tape
Glossy Accents
Kaisercraft Adhesive Pearls - Chocolate
Tim Holtz Water Brush, Detailer Brush Tip TIP33080