Mums and Mat Stacks...

Hello there!!  It's Papertrey Ink countdown time yet again!  Where-oh-where does time go?  Today I get to help introduce two new stamp sets....Year of Flowers:  Mums and Mat Stack 1 Collection!   Year of Flowers: Mums is, of course, this month's addition to the Year of Flowers series.  It features gorgeously illustrated mums, a leaf, and a handful of sentiments, as usual.  Love it!  Secondly, Mat Stack 1 Collection is an entire set dedicated to images that coordinate with the Mat Stack #1 die.  I love that die, so of course I love this set! 

So let's get on to some projects, shall we??

First off, I used both of these sets and played around with a fun technique for adding aging and distressing....

 

The mums are stamped on the background, then covered with a layer of crumpled vintage pattern tissue.  I inked and distressed the edges to add a little more interest...

 

Here is a step-by-step if you'd like to try this yourself...it's really very easy.  I think it would also be fun to try over patterned paper...you could really change the look and feel of your papers with this technique.

I started off by stamping the mums onto a piece of Rustic Cream cardstock using Scarlett Jewel ink.

 

I then took a piece of vintage pattern tissue a little larger than my card and crumpled it...

 

Smooth out the tissue, but not too much that you loose the wrinkles all together...

 

Now coat your stamped cardstock with a thin layer of liquid adhesive....I don't mind getting sticky, so I just smooth it out with my fingers.

 
Now lay your crumpled tissue over the glue and smooth down...but allow some wrinkles to form...you don't want it perfectly smooth and perfect!  That's the good thing about this technique...  :-)

Trim off any excess tissue from around the edges of your cardstock. 

Now ink the edges and brush some ink over those wrinkles. 

I finished it off with one of the images from the new Mat Stack 1 Collection, along with a sentiment from that set.

 
 
Up next is a card with a completely different feel.  I worked as a floral designer for about 10 years and always loved the big white mums we would get in from time to time.  They were so white and perfect...almost translucent.  I decided to mimic the look by stamping these pretty mums onto vellum using Fresh Snow ink. 

 
I stamped the large flower twice and cut them out, cutting around some of the inner petals to form the smaller flower which I layered over the larger one.  I stamped some pretty, fresh-looking leaves using Fresh Snow on Simply Chartreause cardstock. 

I stamped more mums onto the background patterned paper using Smokey Shadow ink.

 
Up next is a card that uses the new Mat Stack Collection in a totally different way.  I decided to create a unique background design using the diecuts and coordinating stamps. 

 
It was kind of fun...I love the way the different color inks show up on the kraft cardstock.  The flower was made using the Beautiful Blooms II dies and pattern tissue.  It's topped off with a button from an antique store button jar find.

 

And lastly is another card where I played around with the new Mat Stack 1 Collection and the coordinating die. 

I embossed the frame onto my cardstock using the Mat Stack #1 dies.  I also used the die to make a mask from scrap paper that allowed me to stamp different portions of the design and still keep it a one-layer card.

 
Here is a step-by-step on the embossing and masking techniques on this card in case you want to try it yourself...

Start cutting a piece of scrap paper the same size as your card front.  Diecut the label from about the same spot as you want to emboss it onto your card.

 
Now emboss the cardstock that will be used on the front of your card.  If you're using a Cuttlebug, here is your sandwich:  A plate, B plate, cream and tab embossing mats, cardstock, die, B plate.  You may have to add a shim, depending on your machine.  Run it through and you should get a nice embossed impression.

 

Your impression should look like this....(sorry, couldn't get a real clear photo)....

 

Now stamp the frame from the new Mat Stack 1 Collection just inside the embossed lines...

 

Now lay the scrap paper mask that you created over top of your stamped cardstock.

 

Stamp the leaf images inside the stamped frame...

Remove the mask... 

 

Stamp the sentiment (from Home Made) and the flourishes from the Mat Stack 1 Collection.

 

Now take the label that you diecut from scrap paper and adhere that over the stamped images using removeable adhesive.

 

Stamp the background.

Remove the mask and you have a one-layer card that looks much more complicated than it actually is.

 

Well, that's all for today...I'll be back later in the week with a Papertrey group post that you won't want to miss!  But now, be sure to hop around to the other designers that are peeking goodies...Nichole is showing more Mat Stack 1 and Mum goodness, and Heather, Lisa, Dawn, and Alli will all be peeking their new sets!
 
Vintage Thank You
Stamps:  Year of Flowers: Mum, Mat Stack 1 Collection
Ink:  Scarlett Jewel, Vintage Cream, True Black, Vintage Tea Dye Duo
Cardstock:  Rustic Cream, Scarlett Jewel
Dies:  Mat Stack #1
Other:  Simply Chartreuse grosgrain, pearls, lace, decorative pins, vintage tissue, bookprint, and buttons

Always on My Mind
Stamps:  Year of Flowers: Mum
Ink:  Fresh Snow, Smokey Shadow, True Black
Cardstock:  Rustic Cream, White, Simiply Chartreuse, Vellum
Other:  pearls, silk ribbon, pearls, vintage buttons, patterned paper from Fancy Pants (aqua), Crate Paper (yellow)

Label Thank You
Stamps:  Mat Stack 1 Collection
Ink:  Hibiscus, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Terracotta Tile, True Black
Cardstock:  Kraft, Hibiscus
Dies:  Mat Stack 1, Beautiful Blooms II #2
Other:  Fine Linen grosgrain, vintage pattern tissue, vintage button, Bubble Gum Glimmer Mist, Crate Paper patterned paper

Hospitality Card
Stamps:  Mat Stack 1 Collection, Home Made, Leaf Prints, Polka Dot Basics
Ink:  True Black, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Scarlett Jewel
Cardstock:  Rustic Cream, Scarlett Jewel
Dies:  Mat Stack 1
Other:  Terracotta Tile grosgrain, Scarlett Jewel button, Crate Paper patterned paper