Cluster of Flowers

One of the things I really like about the EtsyInspired Challenges is that I get to choose my own inspiration image. This week's Challenge is to visit Traveling Mama to be inspired. The unique color combinations and textures were definitely a challenge for me to try to capture!

The inspiration image I chose is this one from the Afternoon Tea postcard set:


Here's my DEEsign:


DEEtails:

1. I love the combination of both deep and subtle colors in the photograph. I tried to choose a similar combination of colors and went with Bravo Burgundy for the flowers, Mellow Moss for the background, and Soft Suede for the card.

2. I used my Martha Stewart hydrangea punch to create the bougainvillea blooms. I layered 2 and used a white eyelet in the center. This may be a little strange, but I put the eyelets on backwards because I thought the bottom part of the eyelet looked more a flower center. When placed the correct way, I thought the white was a bit too shocking. After putting the eyelet through each flower, I squeezed each one a bit to make them pop up.

3. I cut a strip of vellum paper to emulate the kind of foggy, unfocused look of the table in the photograph. This card is very delicate because the vellum isn't glued on very well. I still haven't found an adhesive that I like for vellum, so I stick to using regular adhesive only on sections that are hidden or very sparingly otherwise. I found a scrap of a strange brownish ribbon that looked great with the soft suede paper. This was totally unplanned, but I needed something to cover up the majority of my adhesive and the color was just too perfect to pass up!

4. I stamped the sentiment from my Kind Thoughts stamp set in Mellow Moss directly onto the vellum. I love how this looks!

5. I liked the idea of the flowers being arranging on the page in a sort of vine-y cluster. The idea sounded good, but gluing the flowers down was tricky! I used glue dots on the front side of the eyelet and very carefully pressed the flowers down. The problem with pressing the flowers down is that it either scrunches them up too tightly, or spreads them out too flat. It was quite the battle to get my flowers just so! (All that work, even though they'll probably get messed up again once they go in an envelope!)