Dragonfly Garden Week – Project #4

Happy Thursday!

When I went for my ashes yesterday, I chose my Lenten Promise. Do you make Lenten Promises? People tend to think that you need to give something up for Lent, but that’s not all you can do. For my Promise I decided to send at least one “Smile” each day during Lent. Yesterday I sent out 9 and today I have sent out 3 (I ran out of stamps!).

Typically I send cards to my pen pals, family, and friends, but during Lent I will be sending cards to those who are less fortunate, who may not have family, or who just need a hug to make it through the day. If you know someone who could use a Smile, please let me know and I will send one out that day! Everyone deserves some Happy Mail and to feel as though someone is thinking about them. We get so busy in our lives that we forget to make daily contact with those who do not live in our crazy household. While working in residential homes, I see many people who feel as though their family forgot about them except for holidays. It breaks my heart.

Today’s sentiment is “You are an Inspiration”. Who has inspired you? Did you recognize them for it? A simple note of thanks could be just what they need to hear. Recognition builds confidence, helps them create a good image of themselves, which leads to happiness, which can spread to radiated happiness that will touch other lives. I probably need to make a few hundred of these, if not more!

I started out with a Smoky Gray card base measuring 8-1/2″x5-1/2″, scored at 4-1/4″. I ran the front half of the card base through my embossing machine using the Brick and Mortar 3D Embossing Folder.

The next layer, measuring 4-1/4″x3″, was embossed with Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, then inked with Melon Mambo using a Blending Brush.

TIP: When you use a blending brush, try to use a glass mat if possible. Ink your brush then place it on the glass mat next to your cardstock and, in circular motions, brush the ink onto the cardstock. Each time the brush comes back to the glass mat, it will pick up any ink from the previous passes. This technique also eliminates harsh lines that the brush can create.

Attach the Melon Mambo layer to your card front at an angle.

Next I stamped the flowers using Blushing Bride on a scrap piece of Basic White. Then, using the Stitched So Sweetly large rectangle I cut out the focal layer of the card. Using Smoky Gray, I stamped the sentiment onto the lower right hand corner. Before gluing it to the card base I ran a single 6″ piece of ribbon between the Basic White and Melon Mambo layers and trimmed to size. I also used Dimensionals on the Basic White layer to adhere it.

My lovely dragonfly was stamped in Melon Mambo and Blushing Bride for the wing filler stamp. What is a filler stamp? It is the second stamp in a two-step stamping process. See photo below.

You will notice that it looks like it is only for the right side of the dragonfly. However, when you punch out the dragonfly using the Dragonflies Punch you cannot really tell if you turn it upside down and use it on the left side. It just looks artsy 🙂 There is also a technique called Stamp Kissing, which is another topic for another day, but you can do a search on YouTube and find some excellent tutorials.

After adding a bit of Wink of Stella pen, I glued it down with Dimensionals.

So far, I am really liking the versatility of this set. I have used bold colors with it this week to make eye catching cards and today, I used softer colors for a sentimental card. This set has truly been worth the money!

I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Make sure to subscribe to Let It Snow Stamping so you never miss another blog post. Every week I pick a stamp set and make one project (possibly two) every weekday. As an added bonus I also make videos for new techniques. The techniques can also be found under the Technique Corner tab.

Make sure you find LISS on:

Twitter (@LISStamping),

Facebook (#LISStamping, @LetItSnowStamping),

Instagram (@LetItSnowStamping),

and Etsy (LISStamping)