Let’s play with the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle from Stampin’ Up! today! It’s one of my favorite bundles from the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog! And I have 6 different card ideas to share with you along with a few easy ways to create a fun background. Plus, you can use these card layouts and background ideas with supplies you may already have on hand.
Simple Sunflower Cards
Sunflower cards are one of my many favorites to make. Typically I create sunflowers using a daisy punch. You can check out some of my past creations HERE. However today we will focus on using an actual stamp set called Celebrate Sunflowers. This particular stamp set has small and large sunflower images along with a coordinating die set. So that means you don’t have to cut your stamp images out by hand (unless you want to).
The first two card ideas that I have to share feature the small sunflower image and some simple card layouts. There is nothing better than the instant gratification of creating a simple yet beautiful card, right?
The first card features a scrappy strip layout. These are simply 1 x 4 inch pieces of different patterned papers adhered across the card front. It’s such a great way to use up any scrap paper that you have lying around. Now you can certainly adhere them side by side across the card front. However, I really love the staggered look of this particular background. Once you create the background, stamp and color in the small sunflower image using your favorite coloring tools. Cut out the image and tuck it behind a little greeting stamped on a 3/4 x 3-3/4 inch piece of Crushed Curry cardstock.
The second card features the same size sunflower image and greeting. However, the background of this card features a 2 x 5-1/2 inch piece of patterned paper with a 2-1/4 x 5-1/2 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock matte. Adhere the matted piece to the upper part of the cardstock and decorate it with the sunflower and greeting. The bottom part of this card involves a bit of paper tearing which gives a fun look to the card. Since tearing the bottom of the card front exposes the inside of the card, you need to add color, texture or a pattern to the inside bottom section of the card. In this case, I added a 1 x 5-1/2 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock.
Sponging Technique
The next two card ideas feature a bit of background sponging. For these particular cards, I used a stampin’ sponge. However, there are a variety of different tools you can use. I find that the stampin’ sponge works well for covering large areas. A sponge dauber would also work it will just take a little longer to cover such a large area. You can also use a brayer. You will get a little different look based upon the sponging tool you choose to use. However, the concept for creating this background is simply to add color.
The first card features the use of Crushed Curry and Old Olive ink to sponge the background. You can use as many colors as you like to create the sponge effect in the background. To add color, simply dab the sponge into the ink pad and swirl it around on a piece of white cardstock. Add the two different colors randomly all over a 5-1/4 x 4 inch piece of cardstock until you achieve the desired look. Then stamp the sunflower images on the sponged cardstock using Early Espresso ink and embellish as desired.
The second card features a 5-1/4 x 4 inch piece of white cardstock sponged with the same color combination. However, this time I added the large sunflower die cut as the focal point for the card. Cut a 1-1/4 x 4 inch piece for the bottom of the card and a 1/2 x 4 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock. Assemble the card and embellish as desired. The greetings for both of these cards features a little heat embossing on a 3/4 x 3-1/4 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock.
Spotlight Technique
The last two cards I have to share with you feature two different ways to use the spotlight technique. If you are not familiar with this technique, you can learn more HERE. This is a fun and simple stamping technique that basically involves adding color to “spotlight” different areas on the card.
To create the first card, start with two pieces of white cardstock cut to 5 x 3-3/4 and 2 x 3 inches. Lay the smaller piece of white cardstock on top of the larger one. You can center the small piece or off-set it a bit like I did with this card. Stamp the large sunflower image, using Early Espresso ink, on the left side of the card so that it overlaps onto both pieces of white cardstock. Adhere the stamped 2 x 3 inch piece of white cardstock to a 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock. Line up the sunflower image and adhere the matted piece to the card front as shown. Color the part of the sunflower that is stamped on the 2 x 3 inch piece of cardstock. Leave the rest of the sunflower uncolored. Embellish as desired.
The second card ideas features the same type of spotlighting technique. This time I am using a smaller stamp image and a little different card design. However, the concept for creating it is the same. Start with a white card base and a 2-3/4 x 4-1/4 inch piece of white cardstock. Randomly stamp the small sunflower image across all of the white cardstock. Adhere the 2-3/4 x 4-1/4 inch stamped piece of white cardstock to a 3 x 4-1/4 inch piece of Early Espresso cardstock. Then go ahead and adhere the entire piece to the card front. Be sure to line up the stamped images. Color in the sunflower images on the smaller white card stock piece and embellish as desired.
Celebrate Sunflowers
I had so much fun playing with the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle that it’s featured in this month’s card making tutorial. Yes, it’s a month long celebration of sunflowers! Everyone that shops with the August host code will receive a printable tutorial featuring 6 sunflower card ideas! These are additional card ideas. That means that you will have a total of 12 different ideas between the tutorial and the cards in this blog post! Here’s a sneak peek of the cards:
The August 2020 host code is RJXWYZU7 and is valid through August 28, 2020. Every month I feature a new card making tutorial. It’s my gift to you, a little thank you for shopping with me. Shop with the host code at https://lynndunn.stampinup.net to grab this month’s FREE tutorial.
I hope you enjoyed today’s card ideas. Have a fun and creative day! ~ Lynn
Supply List
Will this be a tutorial?
Hi Katheryn, there is not a formal tutorial for these cards however I did include the measurements in the blog post.