Sometimes the best crafting tools are the ones we haven’t reached for in years!
The combination of purple, lavender, black, white, and
pops of yellow creates a bold floral-inspired design, while
the large dimensional flower and birthday sentiment finish the card beautifully.
Cardstock
Other Supplies
- Border punch with a floral or decorative design
- Paper trimmer
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Adhesive
- Flower dies or die-cut flower pieces
- Birthday sentiment die
Creating the Ombre Background
1. Choose Your Color Palette
Start by selecting several coordinating cardstock colors. I chose white, lavender, purple, black, and yellow for this design.
2. Card Base
Cut a piece of Lessebo Pitch Black cardstock to 10 x 6 1/2 inches. Score at 5 inches along the 10 inch side, fold and burnish to form as 5 x 6 1/2 inch card base.
A piece of Bright Foil Silver cardstock is cut to 4 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches for a matting panel.
Cut a piece of Cougar White Smooth cardstock to 4 5/8 x 6 1/8 inches for the background.
3. Punch the Borders
Here’s where that forgotten crafting tool comes in!
Cut 1 strip each of the white, black, aubergine, plum, grape jelly and hydrangea cardstocks.
Also cut three 1/4 inch strips of the silver cardstock.
Use your border punch along one long edge of each cardstock strip.
Make sure the punch design is lined up consistently so
the patterns will repeat when the strips are placed together.
Tip: Before punching all of your pieces, do a test punch on a scrap strip. This will help you determine exactly where the pattern needs to begin and end.
4. Add the Punched Strips
Arrange the punched strips onto the white background panel starting from the bottom to top. Arrange the colors from darkest to lightest to create the ombre background.
5. Add the Metallic Accents
Adhere the strips of silver cardstock where
the straight edges of the punched strips come together.
These little strips add just enough shine to break up the pattern and
give the finished card a polished look.
6. Assemble the Card Front
The completed background panel was then layered onto
the silver matting panel attached to the black card base.
Creating the Focal Flower
For the focal point, I created a large dimensional flower die cut
with Pop Tone Grape Jelly cardstock.
I added additional dimension by layering the flower petals and
finished the center with a contrasting Lessebo Sunflower Yellow flower center.
A small Lessebo Pitch Black layer between the purple flower and yellow center
helps define all of the individual pieces.
The flower was adhered toward the upper left portion of the card,
overlapping the color-blocked background slightly.
Adding the Sentiment
For the sentiment, I used a “Happy Birthday“ die cut from Lessebo Pitch Black cardstock.
I positioned it in the upper right portion of the card where
it balances the large flower without competing with the background pattern.
Finishing Touches
The final touch was adding small yellow circles, punched with a hole punch,
throughout the punched floral rows.
These coordinate with the center of the focal flower and
create the appearance of little flower centers scattered across the background.
I love how these small details help tie the entire design together!
A New Way to Look at an Old Tool
This project was a great reminder that sometimes we don’t need the newest crafting tool to create something fresh and interesting. A border punch that had been sitting unused in my stash became the star of the background!
Try looking through your own collection of “forgotten” tools. A border punch, decorative scissors, punches, or even an older die can often be used in a completely different way than originally intended.
What forgotten crafting tool do you have hiding in your stash? Pull it out and give it a new life—you may be surprised by what you can create!
For more inspiration join us over on the CutCardStock Facebook Page and the Facebook Group Creating with CutCardStock.
And, be sure an subscribe to the CutCardStock Blog where the design team
posts a variety of cardstock projects.
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