Southern Magnolia – Creating Dimensional Flowers That Pop!

Hello friends! Today I bring you one of my favorite cards I’ve made thus far. After completing the In the Mood for Color course through Altenew Academy, I grabbed one of my Craft-a-Flower die sets called Southern Magnolia. I’ve been itching to do something with this set. I’m so looking forward to spring when the trees and flowers start to wake up so I wanted to create something that reminded me of that.

I ended up making two cards which was not my original plan. In the class, which was taught by Stephanie Klauck, we explored the different colors and how they make us feel. I set out to use pink as my color inspiration but when I got started, I didn’t like the results I was getting. When that happens to me, I put what I’m working on aside and then I’ll come back to it at later time when I’m not as frustrated. :) As a pivot, I switched to yellow because traditional Southern Magnolia trees can have a yellow tint to their flowers.

After taking a deep breath, I used the die set to cut another set of floral and greenery pieces from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb cardstock. To create some dimension, I chose to ink blend with some Altenew Fresh Dye inks. I used Golden Honeycomb on the flower petals. The darkest color was at the tips and in the very center of the petal and then blended outward toward the middle of each petal. I did a very light blend over the whole petal just to knock back some of the stark white color and soften the look. The dark color on the tips and centers creates the look of dimension. For the leaves, I covered the entire die cut with Moss ink and then added some hints of brown with Toasted Mauve randomly on the leaf. All the colors I used are listed below.

I assembled each flower with liquid glue according to the guide that came with the set. I curled each petal up a bit with my fingers to make the flower even more dimensional. I left the leaves to place once the flowers were adhered to the card. This is a keyhole die set and if you haven’t worked with these before, I urge you to give them a shot. Altenew has created a genius way to help us assemble the flowers. Each set of petals has a tiny keyhole cutout. When assembling, you line up the keyholes so you get the right alignment every time. More information on the keyhole system can be found through the link to this die set.

I wanted the flowers to be attached to a branch so I used the branch layer die from my Berry Branch layering die set. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used this set just for that branch. It’s so versatile! I cut that from the same white cardstock as the flowers and ink blended with Toasted Mauve ink. I didn’t focus too much on the blending because I knew most of it would be covered by the flowers.

With all my die cut pieces ready to go, I needed to create a card panel. I’ve never created a shaped card outside of the traditional square or rectangle but I thought these flowers could use something a bit unique. I kept picturing and arched card so I grabbed my Essential Arches set from Spellbinders. Using the largest die, I cut a panel from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb. Using the same die, I cut my card base as well. To do this, you start with your A2 card base already folded. I used a side-folding card base meaning it opens like a book. I lined up my die so the left side nested right up next to the fold on my base. You don’t want to cut your folded edge. You only want to cut the top of your card base to create the arch. I ran that through my die cutting machine to get my shaped card base. Super easy!

For the card panel, I pictured my branch against a stone wall backdrop so I pulled out my Stone Wall stencil along with some Limestone Fresh Dye Ink. I adhered my card panel to my sticky mat and then placed my stencil over top. If you don’t have a sticky mat to use for stenciling and ink blending, I highly recommend. It just holds your paper and stencil in place so well. I ink blended over the whole stencil with the Limestone ink and then removed the stencil. The non-inked areas were very bright so I then went over the whole panel with Limestone and a very light hand just to tone down the brightness. That completed my background.

I adhered my branch to the panel with liquid glue as though it were coming in from the left side. Then I placed my assembled flower onto the branch as shown in the photo. To adhere it, I placed liquid glue on the bottom just in the center to allow the petals to stand up a bit from the card. Once the flowers were adhered, I placed the leaves around the flowers and adhered once more with liquid glue. At this point, I adhered my panel to my card base. All that remained was my sentiment and embellishments.

The sentiment is from the Essential Sentiments hot foil plate set. You can create quite a few sentiments in one pass which I love. I used my Glimmer hot foil machine and some Satin Rose Gold foil. The bundle comes with a die that cuts all the sentiments out at once. For this card, I used the Thinking of You sentiment because I thought that paired well with the soft yellow color. It just felt quiet and calm. I placed that onto my card with some foam squares. For the embellishments, I chose the Champagne and Strawberries Rose Gold Confetti from Trinity Stamps. That completed my card front.

Time to finish the inside! I simply cannot create a card without doing something to the inside to make it feel complete. For this, I used the third largest arch die to cut another panel from Neenah Classic Crest 80lb. Then I ink blended with my stencil just on the bottom third of the panel. I could have stenciled the whole panel because the ink was light enough to still write over. Just a simple touch that was really quick to do and it makes the card feel thought out and intentional. I encourage you dress up the insides of your cards as well.

Remember I told you I created two cards? Well, I went back to the pink flowers I had originally started with and I fiddled with the ink blending a bit more. Turns out I just needed some space from them because I actually did like what I ended up with. I created another card in the same way as the first but just altered the layout a tiny bit. I grabbed the Happy Birthday sentiment this time from the pile I had already created. The pink just had a more fun vibe to me like a birthday party. The Fresh Dye inks I used are listed below.

Pink Card

I hope you feel inspired to try out a Craft-a-Flower set for yourself. You can create so many looks and the keyhole system is just…..chef’s kiss. And remember, it’s okay to just walk away sometimes when things aren’t going the way you want. Give yourself some space from your project. When you come back to it, you might have a different perspective. Thank you so much for stopping by today. Now go get crafty!

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