More Sunflower Power! By Nancy Sheads for The Queen's Ink

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! Hope you are doing well in whatever level of quarantine you find yourself in today. We’ve been keeping ourselves busy otherwise with projects around the house and garden. We sent rugs out to be cleaned, installed shelving in the basement, and redesigned the raised flower beds in the back yard. I’ve been cooking more, although I really miss the social aspect of eating out. Some days are busy and focused and other days nothing gets done. I supposed that’s just the rhythm of the days in these crazy times.

In the meantime, I’m looking for things that spark joy and keep me going through our new normal. For some reason right now, that seems to be sunflowers so I once again pulled out my trusty In Praise of Sunflowers stamp set by Power Poppy and got to work.

To start, I stamped the sunflower and sentiment on white card stock using Versafine Clare in Nocturne, covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set the image. For the background, I blended Distress Ink in Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, and Scattered Straw, working from left to right and letting it fade to white. That alone was a pretty background but I felt like it needed something more. So I overlaid the image with the Flourish stencil and blended Barn Door over Spiced Marmalade, Spiced Marmalade over the Fossilized Amber, and Fossilized Amber over the remaining white. I trimmed the panel down to 3.75 in. x 5.5 in. and added a piece of craft foam to the back to provide dimension when I put the card together.

For the card edges, I used the Square Weave Pattern Stencil and ink blended the pattern along the top and bottom edge using Versafine Clare. I covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set it.

After putting the card together, I added a few sequins to add some sparkle.

Well that’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES
Paper: Neenah Solar White 80# & 110#
Stamps: In Praise of Sunflowers by Power Poppy; M-Powering Words by Power Poppy
Inks: Versafine Clare in Nocturne by Tsukineko; Distress Ink in Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, and Scattered Straw by Ranger – Tim Holtz
Stencils: Flourish by Stampers Anonymous – Tim Holtz; Square Weave Pattern Stencil by Altenew
Embellishments: Nuvo Embossing Powder in Glacier White and Crystal Clear by Tonic Studios; Honey Bee Sequin Mix by Honey Bee Stamps
Adhesives: Beacons 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue; Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive by Tonic Studios