Thoughtful Branches

For the month of August, Stampin' Up! have brought out an exclusive bundle called Thoughtful Branches.  You've no doubt seen it by now, Pinterest and friends are full of gorgeous samples, and I posted the product imagery in my last post.  Thoughtful Branches is not a cheap purchase at NZ$110, but it is worth every penny!!  (The purchase also earned me a bonus $11 coupon during the July promotion, which I redeemed this month in my pre-order for the Holiday Catalogue).

Below are some of the cards I've made with this bundle, but let me repeat again first how much I love using the 'canopy/petals' die with the Precision Plate and die brush!  These tools make cutting SO easy and fun!

First I've used it as a flower, with pink petals and a flower-stem.  The colours are Melon Mambo, Basic Black and Mint Macaron, and the DSP and washi tape are from the Pop of Pink suite.

I love the pink watercolour wash background for depth and interest in the shading.  To create this effect, I first coloured some Watercolour Paper with Melon Mambo ink picked up the from the lid of my inkpad.  When it was dry (I used the heat tool to hurry things along) I stamped the petals in Melon Mambo, and then cut it out with the die in my Big Shot.  I roughed up the edges of a couple of pieces of Pop of Pink DSP with the blade of my scissors and stuck them down with washi tape.  Add a fussy-cut greeting from Pop of Paradise, and you're done!

Next I have made a more traditional tree, and used the trunk stamp and die.  The leaves this time are simply stamped with Old Olive ink onto Old Olive cardstock, with a few loops of linen thread and a Fathers Day greeting popped over the top.  The background is again layered, this time with Early Espresso carstocked embossed with the Sparkle EF, and a piece of Serene Scenery DSP, on a Tip Top Taupe base.  It is a freestanding pop-up card (see my previous post for a link to the tutorial) but I am not convinced I've finished decorating the base yet.

The bundle does have a die that is the shape of the tree trunk and all the branches, but for this card I've chose to show how the stamped image from the Sheltered Tree stampset coordinates perfectly if you prefer to stamp the tree base.  The colours are Sweet Sugarplum and Pool Party (the DSP is from the Foxy Friends paper stack, and the ribbon is just divine).  The leaves this time are stamped with the Rich Razzleberry ombre inkpad to make the dark and light tones, stamped on Sweet Sugarplum.  You can't tell from the photo, but I went over the leaves with my clear Wink of Sparkle for a bit of shimmer as well.

Next I've tried to go masculine for Fathers Day again, to make with my Stamp Club ladies this month.  This is the first time using my Copper Embossing Powder and I wanted to go striking with Basic Black for the tree, and subtle with Sahara Sand in the background.  I used the other leaf images from the bundle to stamp my own DSP and distressed the edges with my scissors again.

I don't have any current ribbon that fit this card so I used a retired one, but don't worry, I have added some Basic Black thick bakers twine onto my next order.  I wanted to add a bit of interest below the "for you" badge, so I used the same 3 colours to layer up a few different leaves adhered with glue dots.

I forgot to photograph the inside, hopefully I will remember to come back and show you tomorrow, but it ties in all of the stamps and colours from the front, and uses the "I hope you feel appreciated.... because you are" stamps.  The fonts they have used in this bundle are beautiful.

Last I wanted to show the versatility of this set by making some Christmas cards.  The idea of using it for christmas cards, and the realisation that it would pair nicely with Foxy Friends, were the factors that tipped me over the edge to making this purchase.

In hindsight I should have used Softly Falling to emboss this cardfront after I had stamped it, but I'd already glued it to the cardbase when I thought of it, so it was too late for that, so I've just flicked some Pool Party ink at it with my aquapainter instead. 

I hope you have enjoyed these cards, and that the Thoughtful Branches bundle finds it way into your craftroom soon!