Spring is here in the garden

Hi everyone.  Here is my Design Team card for the latest challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More #42 - Make Your Mark.  Any style of card is welcome for this challenge as long as you use markers (any kind) on your creations.  Today I made a step card ... something I haven't done for a long time.  And I added lots of die-cuts to create a spring garden scene.  I again used an image from this month's sponsor, Heather Ellis.  I love all the Pure Innocence images and had a lot of fun creating cards with them over the past four weeks.

Here's the info on the challenge:

This challenge's sponsor is

Prize:  Two digis from Heather Ellis Collection

(please follow rules of challenge to be eligible for prize)

Stamps:  PI-017 (Heather Ellis), Spring is Here sentiment (Penny Black)

Paper:  White, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette (SU!)

Ink:  Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Marina Mist, Sahara Sand (SU!); Copics:  E000, E00, E01, Y21, E44, E49

Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Picket Fence die (Memory Box), Grass Border (large profile from Cheery Lynn); C.C. Designs dies:  Grass Border (small profile), Flower Border, Leafy Branches, sponges, red chalk, glue, adhesives, and dimensionals


I made a step card ... it's a bit hard to capture the essence of the card in photographs, so I am including a few below that will (hopefully) give you an idea of how it looks.  Instructions for the step card base are included under the Tutorial tab of this blog.

Once I had the base cut, I cut two more panels ... one to fit over the left side and one for the right side.  This gave me panels to work on, rather than trying to sponge and glue down elements on the base.  Once I had put everything in place, I adhered the panels to the base and it made the card sturdier as well ... a bonus!

I sponged the sky using a hand-cut, randomly sized scallop template that I made.  I used a very light touch and Bashful Blue ink to create a very soft, cloudy sky.  Next I attached a piece of picket fence to each panel, just at the bottom so that the top of the fence is loose ... that made it easy to glue trees behind both (leafy branch dies).  I glued a large grass border, followed by the flower border.  The flower border is two layers, green for the leaves, with pink card stock for each flower glued on top, with the edges sponged to add more interest and yellow centers colored with my Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write marker.

I cut another layer from the bottom card front (1" x 5 1/2"), sponged around the border with Certainly Celery Ink and stamped the sentiment in Wild Wasabi ink.  It was adhered to the card front, just covering the bottom edges of the grass and flower borders to hold them in place.

Pure Innocence is a digital stamp that I printed onto Whisper White card stock and colored with my markers (along with her watering can).  I fussy cut the two images and popped them on top of the card front.

Here's another photo of the step card ...

... and here's a close-up of Pure Innocence ...

I hope I have inspired you to join us for this fun challenge.  Check out the other fabulous creations by the Design Team at ATS&M!

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A warm welcome to two new members, Lisa S and Susan ... thanks for joining us!!