In today’s post, I’ll be sharing 5 card variations featuring the Gorgeous Garden background dies from Stampin’ Up!
The Gorgeous Garden dies include a pair of background dies, one with flowers and the other with foliage. My inspiration for today’s projects came from the fact that autumn is coming soon and I adore fall colors. I love the foliage die and wanted to bring it to life by using some of my favorite fall colors.
I started by adding color to a piece of watercolor paper using a large acrylic block and ink pads. This technique is like stamping a watercolor wash. I simply love this technique and can’t get enough of it! The ink pads used to make the watercolor wash are Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, and Cajun Craze.
Later in this post, you’ll find a link to a post with 7 Variations on Stamping with Acrylic Blocks!
As you can see here there’s a very small border around the die-cut piece. The cardstock piece used with the Gorgeous Garden background die on this card measures about 4″ x 5-⅜”. This is just a tiny bit less than the size of an A2 size card which measures 4-¼” x 5-½” when folded.
TIP: I recommend die-cutting a larger piece of cardstock than you’ll need and cutting it down.
This will give you decorative scrap to use on the inside of your card. Plus, it will allow for a little wiggle room in case the die moves at all when running it through the die-cutting machine.
The sentiment and die it’s cut out with, come from the Autumn Leaves Bundle. This bundle is a new item coming in the September to December Mini-Catalog which goes live on September 6th.
Do you like to decorate the insides of your cards?
If so, use the tip mentioned above so you’ll have a scrap strip to use on the inside. That’s what I did for the insides of all the cards in this post.
This second version of my card is an especially large card and I love how the extra colored layers frame the piece!
The die-cut piece here measures 4-⅛” x 5-⅜”. The Mossy Meadow layer is ¼” larger in both dimensions and the Old Olive card base is another ½” larger than the Mossy Meadow.
Note: This card size will definitely require extra postage. The framing adds so much to the card so totally worth it in my opinion!
You may also be able to tell that the die-cut piece is extra thick. I used a foam adhesive sheet behind my cardstock before it was die-cut for some additional dimension.
My scrap strip is about ⅜” wide for a nice splash of color on the inside.
Here’s my pair of cards with the autumn color scheme.
For the card on the left, the die-cut piece was colored and for the larger card on the right, my watercolored piece is in the background. I love them both! Do you have a preference?
For these next two cards, I’ve used the floral design of the Gorgeous Garden background dies.
The color scheme used here is Tahitian Tide, Orchid Oasis, Starry Sky, and Gorgeous Grape.
For this version, I eliminated the border on the card altogether.
The die-cut piece measures 4-¼” x 5-½” and completely covers the white card body.
To give this die-cut piece some added dimension I’ve die-cut a few extra layers of white cardstock using the same die. I simply attached them under the colored die-cut piece using multipurpose liquid glue.
My scrap strip here is about ¼” wide for a subtle splash of color on the inside.
The fourth version of my card is similar to my second card.
It’s a larger card and the watercolored piece is in the background. For this version, I stacked up a few of the white floral die-cut pieces instead of using foam adhesive sheets.
For this one, I chose to put the sentiment at the top. I couldn’t stand to cover up the more interesting watercolored portion at the bottom and it just looked right at the top.
Here’s a closer look at the gorgeous bands of color at the bottom of this card.
I love the strip of watercolor paper on the inside of this card too. The colors are so rich! These colors simply make me happy!!!
Here’s my pair of cards with the alternative color scheme.
Similar to my other pair of cards, for the one on the left, the die-cut piece was colored and for the larger card on the right, my watercolored piece is in the background.
This final card is the simplest of them all!
There is no added color OR layers on this one. I still think this card is striking and beautiful and I LOVE it!
Do you have a favorite card version?
For me, it’s too hard to pick! I love them all!
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my 5 card variations made with the Gorgeous Garden Background Dies and the Autumn Leaves Bundle (coming 9/6/23).
Would you like a FREE PDF Tutorial to make this project?
All you have to do is sign up to receive my weekly newsletter and you’ll get this and other FREE Tutorials as they become available! The tutorial for today’s project will be shared in my next newsletter on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. It will include, dimensions, a supply list with links to my online store, and instructions.
Want to learn more about stamping with acrylic blocks? Check out this previous post:
Want more ideas? Go to the sidebar of my blog and type “acrylic block” in the search bar. You’ll find several posts featuring projects using this technique.
Happy Crafting!
Melissa 🙂
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