Work Out Wednesday :: Flower Power

Ready for a stretch this week?  I know it's arriving in some parts of the world, but it's still a bit cold and grey here, so I'm hoping for some spring every single day.  I put a bit more spring in our flat with fresh flowers, so now I'm leaning on some Flower Power stamps to help kick mother nature into gear. 

The set has five stamps -- a solid sixties flower in two sizes, an outline flower that coordinates and two stylish leaves.  So now all we need is a tag, a card and a layout and we can call it a workout!

The pairing of the outline and the solid stamps means you can make a tag in minutes, since you won't need to mask anything to build a scene.  Start with the sold shapes (the purple flowers and the leaves), then stamp outlines over the top in black.  Finish with a pen to add a few custom details, and tie on to the nearest gift -- that's a extra bit of s-t-r-e-t-c-h for your workout if you left it on the other side of the table! 

Polka dots may have been fifties rage, but sixties mod styles brought the dots into line -- you can take your cues from the fashion world and do the same.  Punch cardstock circles and adhere to a card in a straight line, making sure there is a partial circle at each end of the card.  Stamp the large flower on white cardstock and cut into a circle.  I like to offset the circles so part of the design is cut off and ink the edges.  The graduated look on the flower is one of those tricks that makes clear stamps great -- stamp once, then reink just the edges of the stamp and stamp it again, right over the top.  Because you can see through every layer, you can get the placement spot on and presto - a flower with some punch.  Stamp an outline flower in black on white cardstock.  Drag the purple inkpad over the paper to pick up some swirls of purple.  Cut out and adhere to the card.  Layer up with lace or ribbon, flowers and gems.

Just keep at those moves and they'll make a whole layout -- four flowers-in-circles, a few more paper flowers and some patterned paper and you're done.  The title comes from one of my favourite songs ever and this time of year I get the words stuck in my head, just waiting for it to warm up.  (Seriously, I love the song so much I named cupcakes after it.  And then ate them with the band, which was surreal.  Anyway!) In actuality, that flower picture on the layout is in focus!  And if you're looking in the right place, you'll see that one of the four paper clips is actually purposeful for something other than looking cute (which I maintain is a totally acceptable purpose) with all my scribblings about why I am ready for springtime hidden behind the big block of cardstock. 

And with that stretch, I do believe we are done for today!

Show us what you can make with Flower Power -- we'd love to share some link love to your creations this week!  Just give your stamps a workout!

Love and glitter,
Shimelle.~*