Inspired By...centerpiece {You are special}

This week there's a fabulous new Inspired By Challenge that's just  bursting with detail and beauty that is sure to get your creative juices flowing! I've been so excited for this week's challenge; so excited that I ended up making two different cards. The first one, shown here, is stampy and the second one is more scrappy!

I was inpired by the subtle embossed floral image on the pots; it is very hard to see, but I promise it is there! The colors and scattering of the flowers, as well as the background color. I also really liked the shine of the water and the wine.

I used Soft Stone cardstock for both cards and dry embossed both panels using an old Cuttlebug embossing folder that fit well with what I could make out on the pots in the photo. I attached a strip of Spring Rain cardstock on top of the dry embossed panel. I stamped the "you are special" sentiment, which is from the Pinkfresh Studio Blooming Bouquet stamp set in black ink onto the blue strip.

I had so much fun using the Pinkfresh Studios Floral Elements stamp set on THESE cards, and they worked so nicely with today's challenge, that I used them again! I stamped them in black and then colored them using Copic markers and die cut them with the coordinating Floral Elements die set. The cute circular scallop piece is die cut using the Essentials: Inverted stitched scallop die set. I used the smaller size on my second card shown later in this post. I added it to the embossed panel using foam squares and then got to work arranging the colored flowers.

I absolutely LOVE all of the unique and special sentiments that Pinkfresh Studios stamp sets have to offer. I plan on using this as a birthday card, so I chose an additional sentiment from the Folk Hummingbird stamp set that I heat embossed in white onto a black strip of cardstock. I added it to the bottom of the circle piece using foam squares. I also added a sprinkling of black ink for some added detail. Once that was dry, I added the Essentials Jewels here and there for some shine. I used the champagne looking ones because they looked like the wine in the photo.

My second card uses some of the same elements as the first card; the dry embossing, the circular die cut and the flowers as well as the blue strip of cardstock. I decided to give the blue strip a little something more and sewed a portion of white carstock that is die cut using the Essentials: Classic Edgers die set. I just taped the portion that I wanted and then sewed along the edge using my sewing machine. This piece is attached to the dry embossed panel using foam squares.

From there, I just started adding in bits and pieces to create this scrappy/stampy design. The scrappy bits are all from the Just a Little Lovely Embellishment bundle. I had so much fun picking out the things that would work well with the inspiration photo.

The "one awesome day" and "this brings me real joy" sentiments are puffy stickers from the embellishment bundle. I used my embossing buddy to take off the adhesive so that I could keep them elevated on the different levels of the cards without them sticking down where they shouldn't. I just used foam squares and liquid glue just like I would a stamped piece.

You can see the smaller scalloped circle on this card. It was the perfect spot to add some of the stamped flowers.

Something that I like to pay special attention to is the placement of vertical words on my designs. I always make sure that the bottom of the letters are facing toward the inside of my card; or towards the middle, if that makes sense. When I see a word that is facing the other direction,it feels like it is looking away, or not part of the design. So, I made sure that the word "happiness" which is also a sticker, faced "into" my design. This one will be used as a birthday card as well. I had so much fun on both of these similar, yet different designs. I hope to see your cards in the gallery. It's always fun when I am scrolling on Instagram and see a card that is headed to the challenge! Thanks for fluttering by!