Tropical Chic, ombré style

Hello and welcome to my blog. My crafting over the weekend was influenced by Kylie Bertucci and Patty Bennett. I saw projects that they had made and that set me thinking and inspired to try my own projects using their ideas as a starting point. I had a wonderful time! Thank you to Patty for sewing the seed for an ombré background and to Kylie for reminding me to use the decorative masks. It seems appropriate to share one of these projects today because I am excited to be taking part in Kylie Bertucci's Blog Highlights for September.

The idea is to create a card for someone who needs a little encouragement and to let them know that you are thinking about them. Making and sending a card is such a pleasure and it really can make the world of difference to the person on the receiving end.  

The fun bit about this Highlight is that you can vote for your favourite five projects in the gallery. At the end of the voting the top ten winners will get the chance to be part of an international blog hop that will happen at the end of September. I would love to take part in the hop, so I would really appreciate it if you would visit the gallery and vote for my card.

My sentiment is simple; with much love, but that says it all really. Together with the personal note on the inside you are sending a hug in the post as a reminder that you are keeping them in your thoughts. 

The ombré background is created using a sponge brayer over the Basic Pattern Decorative Masks (available in the Autumn Winter Catalogue from 4th September). I used three shades to create the gradual change in colour; Petal Pink, Grapefruit Grove and Calypso Coral. I placed the mask over a quarter sheet of Petal Pink card and used a sponge brayer to add the lightest colour of ink to the top third. The colour was built up, overlapping the progressively darker shades to completely fill the sheet. When the mask is lifted a beautifully graduated backgroung is revealed.

I used the Stitched Rectangle dies to cut the ombré background and a rectangular frame from Grapefruit Grove card. The added extras are quite minimal because I wanted to leave plenty of the background on show, allowing it and the sentiment to shine. I used the Tropical Chic stamps and coordinating Tropical dies to add the extra details. This set is new to me, and I'm not sure why it has taken so long for me to use it because it is such fun to use!

I have a couple of tips and tricks for how I altered the appearance of the sentiment. The changes were achieved with the aide of my Stamparatus and some post it notes. The whole sentiment in the set says 'with much love and thanks', so I covered up the 'and thanks' with a post it note before applying the Grapefruit Grove ink. When the post it note is removed, the only portion of  the stamp to have ink on it is the 'with much love'. Next, I used my Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker to add a darker shade to the word 'love' before stamping it on to Petal Pink card. Since the stamp was attached to my Stamparatus I could re-ink the word 'love' with the marker and repeat the stamping to deepen the colour. Voila! A two tone sentiment which was then cropped out using the Stitched Rectangle dies, underneath which I added a small piece of Scalloped Lace Trim.

Finally, I couldn't resist using a couple of the Happiness Blooms enamel dots to add to the centre of the flowers.

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I hope you approve of my card and that you'll visit the gallery and vote for me! Perhaps I have inspired you to make a card, send a card. Go on make someone's day a little brighter and show them that you are thinking of them.

If you want to purchase the items used for this card, or any other supplies, please take a look in my online Stampin' Up! shop.  You can follow the link or click on the pictures below of the products I have used today.

As always, happy crafting,

If you would like to order any supplies, and you live in the UK, I would love to be your demonstrator.  Use the hostess code YS92ESJG to get some free product (it will follow in the post after the end of the month). If your order is over £150 do not use the code as you become the hostess and get rewards.  To place an order please visit my online shop HERE.

If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com

Click on the images below to purchase them in my online shop: