Flowers in the Middle

Hello! My card today features the new Flowers in the Middle stencil from A Colorful Life Designs. The design of this stencil gives me Asian vibes, so I went with a warm color palette, starting with Barn Door Distress Oxide.

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I began by making a Gel Press print on my 3″ x 5″ Plate. I applied Bard Door Distress Oxide to the Plate, laid the stencil on top, laid my paper on top, and rubbed it on the plate. When I pulled the paper away, I was left with this print, but with white where the stencil was. I wanted to tone it down, so I rolled over the print with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. It muted the white perfectly and toned down the red a bit. If you’d like to see how I make monoprints, I invite you to watch my YouTube Shorts, which I have dubbed Monoprint Mondays. Each Monday I am sharing a monoprint video using my Gel Press. You can check them out HERE. I trimmed the edges of the print with my Tim Holtz/Tonic Deckle Trimmer and inked the edges with Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

Next, I grabbed one of my many alcohol ink backgrounds that I had in my stash and die cut one of the largest leaves from the Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments die set. I also die cut it from brown cardstock to create a shadow effect. For my background layer, I cut a piece of Kraft cardstock and ink smooshed it with Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain Distress Oxides. I also die cut a sentiment twice from Pinkfresh Studio’s Classic Words Die Set. My card base needed something, but I didn’t want to ink up the entire thing. Instead, I inked just the lower portion and went up about 2″ with Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I also cut the bottom with the Deckle Trimmer.

I really like the feel of this card. It has some interesting things happening on each layer, and I love that. There’s a bit of shimmer from the Alcohol Ink Pearls I used on that old panel that gives off just the right amount of light play. The Flowers in the Middle stencil is so unique, and I only used a small portion of it, so be sure to look out for the next time I share something with it. Please be sure to visit A Colorful Life Designs to see the many, many stencils they have to offer. You can use my code, AlFan10 to save 10% off of your regular-priced purchase. Then, show off your creations in the A Colorful Life Designs Fan Group on FB. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!