March Designer Challenge at Elizabeth Craft Designs

The end of the month means it's time for the Elizabeth Craft Designs Design Team Challenge and for our first month the theme is 'FLOWERS'.  The Design Team will be posting their projects (check my sidebar on the right for their blog links) today and tomorrow with a big group post by Joset on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog (click HERE) on the 31st.

I made a very flowery card.  :-)   I also cut into a Shimmer Sheet for the very first time! If you have never used Shimmer Sheetz before, they are a mylar product exclusive to Elizabeth Craft Designs. There are lots of techniques using it, but since it's new to me I'm starting at the beginning. I simply die cut it using a metal shim. Wow - it's so pretty and irridescent and reflective. Very cool!

I used the Pop it Ups Oval Accordion for the ovals on the front, which was cut with one of the Agatha Edge dies and decorated with the scroll that comes with the edges. I added a glittered Lady Bug and  a layered Shimmer Sheetz/Patterned paper flower.

I wanted to make the card a Pop it Ups card, but since the card is a full 6", I knew I'd need to use more than one pop up bump.  Below are the step-out's I used so you can see how easily I was able to fit two Lots of Pops dies on the center fold!

I didn't need the smaller, optional platforms that cut with the Lots of Pops, just the two larger bumps.

I needed them to support the fence I made!  Before I decorated the pop up panel though, I sponged the upper portion with a hand made cloud mask, and also a grass/ground one. Karen Burniston had the same idea when she posted her Designer Challenge this month!

Before I got started I used my Tombow Markers with a plastic palette and a wet brush to paint a sheet of 140# water colour paper. This is what I used to cut the flowers and leaves from, as well as the scrolls and ladybugs. Some of the die cuts received a little inking or a little more 'marker watercolour' depending on how they looked next to each other.

The 'Thinking of You' cut easily from this heavy paper, and I inked the bottom edges of the letters with yellow.

Can you see how I made the fence? I used the flag pole die that comes with the Lots of Pops, cutting 9 of them from white card stock. I added a little highlight with a Tombow marker then got ready to assemble the fence. First, I cut a 1 x 5" strip of transparency and attached the fence posts evenly along the bottom edge. A little transparency had to be trimmed off each side when everything was dry.  Then I cut two 1/4" wide strips from white card stock and attached them to the backs of the fence posts, trimming off the ends.

I cut the Flourish with Flowers from white card stock, then inked it with sponges before attaching it between the pop up platforms on an angle. I was so impressed with how delicate and pretty this die is!

I added the Curvy Leaves, and stacked flowers to the fence and let everything dry before I attached the whole thing to the pop up platforms. On a whim I added a Glitter Flower Peel-Off to the centers of the flowers and I love the shimmer and shine that gives them.  The larger two flowers have yellow stamen that were cut from a scrap of crepe paper I had laying around. 

Once the oval was stamped and matted, I decided to add the ladybugs too. I cut them from scraps of the same watercolour paper, darkening the bottom layers with black 'marker watercolour' and the tops with more red. Once the ladybugs were assembled I went over their shells with a glue pen and added Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter.

Here is a good look at the two platforms supporting the fence ...

In case you missed it on the beginning photos, you can see I added a glittered ladybug to the front of the card as well.

Supplies used: (and there are a lot of them!)
Agatha Edge - 782 Pop it Ups, Karen Burniston (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Lots of Pops - 778 Pop it Ups, Karen Burniston (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Glitter Flowers - 7048 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Bunch of Flowers 2 - 729 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Bunch of Flowers - 728 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Flowers - 701 Flower Set 1 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Curvy Leaves - 730 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Ladybugs - 711 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Flourish with Flowers - 797 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Thinking of You - 789 Elizabeth Craft Designs
Oval Accordion (for oval mats) 772 Accordion Oval -  Pop it Ups, Karen Burniston (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Shimmer Sheetz -  Elizabeth Craft Designs
Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter -  Elizabeth Craft Designs
Glue Pen
Transparency
White card stock
Floral patterned paper - American Crafts, Neapolitan Dear Lizzy
Grass stamp - Stamp a Mania
Too Much Happy stamp - Riley & Co (Funny Bones)

Thanks for stopping by today!