garden variety continues

Welcome to day 5 - the last day - of the Papertrey Ink April release countdown. Today is another group post day and the whole design team is creating projects made with the new Garden Variety II set. The first Garden Variety set is a definite favortie of mine - I know I have a lot of favorites, but truly Garden Variety is a set I reach for again and again!

All of the new stamp sets and products that I am sharing today will be available to purchase on April 15th, 10PM EST, at Papertrey Ink.

I turned to Pinterest for a little gardening inspiration - I love entering words into the search box to see what comes up for whatever I am looking for inspiration for. Words I used for this project included: seed packet, garden, gardening, etc. I just keep entering words related to the sunject until I am satified that I found what I need for a spark!

This seed packet garland caught my eye...

photo credit: seed packet favors - green wedding shoes blog

 

I decided that I wanted to put together a garland and started out by die cutting 4 seed packets in Spring Moss cardstock. I stamped the background in Spring Moss ink using my Background Basics: Postmarks. Garden Variety II has a beautiful vintage feel and so adding vintage postmarks to the project? Perfect.

For each seed packet label I stamped the leaves in Ripe Avocado ink and then added different color flowers to each one. I added a little more vintage postmark distressing. Look close at the picture and notice that I am not using an acrylic block to stamp. A little Tim Holtz advice I took to stamp just areas of an image. No need to ink up the whole stamp, just press a portion into the ink andthen onto your project. I love the effect.

Here is my finished garland (click to view larger.) I used the new Script Alphabet dies to spell out the word "grow". I cut the letters from Spring Moss cardstok and have them attached to vellum circles. I wanted them to stand out a bit, but not cover up the images on each seed packet.

The Year of Flowers Titles set finishes off the seed packet look.

I love that this garden isn't necessarily season specific. A gardening theme can be used year round - and in MN it can help your sanity in those cold winter months to dream about gardens and gardening!

Next, some more inspiration...

photo credit: hand stamped plant markers from the Mossy blog

I have always loved and wanted to create plant markers with old silverware and hammered type...

photo credit: recycled can lid plant marker from the Pin and Paper blog

Or how about using a fork to just hold your marker? Since I don't have the tools to do the hammered type (someday!) my project grew more from this second piece of inspiration...

I put together a little seed packet plant marker and then attached it to an old fork I picked up at a thrift store.

I used the daffodil image from the Year of Flowers Collection set so it would coordinate with these sweet baby daffodils. Look close and you will see images from Background Basics: Postmarks and a mini tag I made with the Framed Out #3 set.

Inside the seed packet is a sweet little message.

Who would love to have this little gift on their table - of course I am not sure I want to give it away!

I have one final card to share for today...

The leave image from the Garden Variety set has a sweet little pot to pair it with. I will also work with the watering can image from the Garden Variety set. I stamped the polka dot image with Classic Kraft ink on kraft cardstock and used Framed Out #3 for my sentiment.

All put together, this simple soft card is perfect for sending some sunshine to anyone who needs it.

Don't limit your images to just the focal point of the card, experiment with adding them to tags as well. I love how this turned out!

Make sure to stop by Nichole's blog to link up to the whole design team to see their creations with the Garden Variety II set. Melissa, Maile, Dawn, and Lexi will all have peeks with their new stamp sets on their blogs too.

Thank you so much for stopping by on this last day of the countdown. Tomorrow I will share the rest of my projects for the April release - see you then!

Supplies:

all supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted

Grow Seed Packet Garland

stamps: Garden Variety II, Year of Flowers Titles, Background Basics: Postmarks

ink: Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Srping Rain, Lavendar Moon, Classic Kraft, Fresh Snow, Smokey Shadow

cardstock: Rustic White, kraft, Spring Moss, vellum

other: Seed Packet die, Seed Packet Frame II die, Script Alphabet dies, 1" circle punch (EK Success), twine (May Arts), little clothespins (craft store)

Seed Packet Plant Marker

stamps: Garden Variety, Garden Variety II, Year of Flowers Collection, Year of Flowers Titles, Background Basics: Postmarks, Framed Out #3

ink: True Black, Vintage Cream, Classic Kraft, Smokey Shadow

cardstock: kraft, Rustic White

other: Ripe Avocado twill ribbon, Harvest Gold stitched ribbon & button, Rustic White button twine, Seed Packet die, Framed Out #3 die, Copic Markers, corner chomper (We R Memory Keepers), tiny attacher (Ranger), fork (Goodwill)

Sunshine Flowers Card

stamps: Garden Variety II, Framed Out #3, Background Basics: Postmarks

ink: Classic Kraft, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart, Smokey Shadow

cardstock: white, kraft

other: Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon, Framed Out #3 die, corner chomper (We R Memory Keepers)