More May Flowers…

I have been on quite the flower kick in my paper crafting lately! I finally got my hands on the Sizzix Accordion Flip 3-D die and gave it a whirl making this card.

This die is so much fun. It actually cuts one panel at a time and you can chain them together to make it as long as you want. You can see how they all go together in this video that Karen Burniston did explaining the whole process. There is also a companion die that goes with this, the Frame & Label die. This cuts outside frames and pieces that fit onto the center flip panels too. For my card, I cut outside frames using tan Kraft Core paper and embossed it in the Bricked embossing folder. The whole width won't fit into the folder, but it's not hard to emboss part of it and then move the frame over and run it through again. After embossing, I sanded it a bit and then inked it with various "brick" colors of Distress ink. For a final layer of color and texture, I made little puddles of Distress Paint (see colors below) on my non-stick craft sheet and then rubbed it onto the brick pattern using my finger. That made it easier to control the application and blend colors together.

Before I adhered the brick frames to the accordion panels, I did some stamping on the center panel parts. This is much easier while the whole thing is flat of course! The  images are from the Tim Holtz Visual Artistry sets Lost & Found and Flights of Fancy. The quote is a favorite of mine and pretty much sums up how I feel about gardening. =) And that brings me to a mention of the May challenge at the Inspiration Journal. You still have a few days left to link up your project that features a favorite quote. You could win $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium! Check out the link for details and see all the inspiring projects people have shared.

Most of the supplies I used for this can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE to save 10% if you go shopping.