Two Pretty Beautiful Friendship Swap Cards

The Beautiful Friendship stamp set has a lot of little floral images and layers, which can sometimes be intimidating.  Don't let the pieces overwhelm you!  Simply CASE (copy and share everything) one of these cards so you can get a feel for how the images work together. In no time, you'll be experimenting with different colors and flowers to create beautiful bouquets with ease!  Kelly Acheson's swap card is a great place to start because it is a fairly simple design. 

Background Basics—Kelly started by texture embossing a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Terracotta Tile cardstock with the NEW Scripty Embossing Folder. While this is a 3D folder, it's a little different than others you may have used.  This one is done in the new folder style that will eventually work in the yet-to-be-released die-cutting machine from Stampin' Up!  The difference is the detail!  The script writing is subtle, yet intricate, so it's a perfect background texture for a sweet, feminine card. Kelly mounted it onto a Crumb Cake card base.

Fabulous Floral—Kelly stamped the Beautiful Friendship bouquet onto a 4-1/4" x 2-3/4" piece of Whisper White.  She started by stamping the largest flowers in Petal Pink ink, then adding the tall flowers in Terracotta Tile ink.  Next, she stamped the flower centers in Terracotta Tile, then finished by stamping some leaves to fill in the bouquet in Garden Green ink.  You can't really go wrong—these beautiful images look great no matter how you combine them!

Sweet Sentiment—I love the way Kelly created the sentiment!  She stamped the Beautiful Friendship greeting in Terracotta Tile ink onto a 3" x 3/4" piece of Petal Pink cardstock, then she snipped the end with the Everyday Label Punch. Remember, you can punch only one side of the strip when you thread it through the punch, so that the other side is not under the blade when you punch.  Too Cool! She popped up the sentiment onto the focal point with Dimensionals.

Finishing Touches—She finished the focal point by wrapping some Linen Thread around it twice and tying it into a bow. The piece is popped up onto the card front with Dimensionals.  The sentiment is adorned with a copper colored, adhesive-backed Designer Element.  I can't wait to share this Too Cool card with my "Last Thursdays" stampers!

Swap card from Mikaela Titheridge at The Crafty Oink Pen.

Mikaela's Beautiful Friendship Masked Sentiment Card

I think this card, created by Mikaela Titheridge from the UK, is absolutely gorgeous!  Although I did not go on the Greek Isle Cruise, I was able to send my swaps to Greece and participate in the cruise swap, so that I could be inspired by several of the trip achievers!  (Thanks to Kim Vogel for so willingly assisting my swaps on their journey!). 

Background Basics—Do you ever make square cards?  They do take a little extra postage, but I love this different size canvas!  Mikaela started with a 10" x 5" Seaside Spray card base, scored at the 5" mark.  

Masked Focal Point—Mikaela used the Masking Technique to create a Beautiful Friendship bouquet encircling the sentiment!  First, she stamped the greeting from the Woven Threads stamp set in Pretty Peacock on the center of a 3-7/8" x 3-7/8" piece of Whisper White. For the mask, she stamped the sentiment again onto a sticky note, then trimmed around the words and positioned the mask over the stamped sentiment.  Next, she stamped the floral images around the words: the rose in Rococo Rose, tall flowers in Seaside Spray and leaves in Old Olive. Then, just lift the sticky note and you have a lovely white outline around the phrase—Too Cool!

Finishing Touches—Mikaela mounted the stamped layer onto a 4" x 4" piece of Silver Foil for just a hint of color around the edge, then popped it up onto the card front with Dimensionals.  Finally, she added three Pearl Jewels floating around the blooms. Stunning!