Hello friends! If you follow me on Instagram, you know I love making cute critter cards. While I also love flowers, I have always felt a little intimidated by large floral card designs. Not small florals or die cut flowers, but those large stamped images that fill an entire card. Coloring them always felt overwhelming to me.
When I saw Altenew’s Majestic Roses stencil set, I decided it was time to give a large floral a try. I loved how big the design was and how it filled the entire card panel. Since I love roses, this set felt like the perfect place to start!
Inks and Color Choices
Up until now, I have mainly used Distress Inks and Distress Oxides for light ink blending and scene building. One thing I did not have in my collection was ink colors that ranged smoothly from light to dark within the same color family.
For a while, I had been eyeing Altenew Fresh Dye Inks because of their coordinated color families. I spent several days studying the different colors, watching my favorite cardmakers, and thinking about which colors I would use the most for florals before deciding which ones to purchase. When the inks and stencil arrived, I was so excited to get started!
To help choose colors for the roses, I looked at reference photos online and decided on a yellow orange base with hints of pink. These are the Fresh Dye Ink colors I used.
- Pinkalicious from the Cherry Blossom family
- Sunray, Chamomile, Snapdragon, and Terracotta from the Golden Sunset family
- Bamboo, Olive, and Moss from the Tropical Forest family
Ink Blending Over The Stencils
The Majestic Roses stencil set includes seven stencils and a helpful layering guide. The first four stencils are used to color the two roses.
I placed a piece of white cardstock that was 6″x6″ onto a sticky mat and began with stencil one, lightly blending Sunray ink. For stencil two, I used Chamomile and worked on one rose at a time. This stencil has an etched line that separates the two flowers, so you need to ink the top rose first, then shift the stencil to ink the second one. This is the only stencil in the set that requires this extra step.
Stencils three and four line up with both roses, which made the process easier. I used Snapdragon for stencil three and Terracotta for stencil four.
Once the roses were finished, I cleaned my stencils and moved on to the leaves and stems. I used Bamboo for stencil five, Olive for stencil six, and Moss for stencil seven.
To add a little extra interest, I placed stencils one through three back over the roses and selectively added Pinkalicious ink. I took my time during this step and carefully lined up each stencil before adding small touches of pink.
Creating the Arch Shaped Card Panel
After finishing the ink blending, I was left with a large floral image that I absolutely loved. To create the card panel, I looked a few different dies from my collection and decided on an arch shape, which I have been enjoying lately.
I placed the second largest die from the Spellbinders Essential Arches Etched die set over the floral image and ran it through my die cutting machine. Then I cut three additional arches from white cardstock and glued them behind the floral panel to add dimension. Using the largest arch die, I cut one more arch and layered the dimensional floral panel on top to complete the card front.
Sentiment and Finishing Touches
Altenew also offers cardstock that matches their ink colors, but since I do not own any yet, I searched my stash for a coordinating pink. I chose Concord and 9th cardstock in Dragonfruit.
I die cut the word hello three times from the Timeless Sentiments die set, glued the layers together for dimension, and adhered the sentiment to the card panel. To finish, I added a few dew drops for extra texture and shine.
To finish the card, I created a custom card base by cutting another arch from heavyweight cardstock using the largest arch die. I scored the top of the arch about half an inch down, folded it over with a bone folder, and adhered the folded tab to the back of the card panel.
Final Thoughts
I had so much fun making this card and was surprised by how approachable the process felt. Using layering stencils and ink blending made working with a large floral design feel much less intimidating. I cannot wait to try more of Altenew’s large stencil sets! Do large floral cards feel intimidating to you, or are they your favorite to make? I would love to see what you have created with floral stencils!
Supplies Used:
- Altenew Majestic Roses stencil set
- Altenew Fresh Die Inks: Pinkalicious, Sunray, Chamomile, Snapdragon, Terracotta, Bamboo, Olive, and Moss
- Altenew Timeless Sentiments die set
- Spellbinders Essential Arches Etched dies
- Concord & 9th Cardstock: Dragonfruit
- Neenah Classic Crest Solar White – 80lb and 110lb
- Altenew 9″ x 12″ Ultra Sticky Mat
- Clear Dewdrop Water Droplets Embellishments
Thanks so much for stopping by!
