A Floral Stamp-Off

Happy Friday, Stamping Friends! Today is another Stamp-Off with Jackie, Susan, and me. This week, we’re bringing you some April Flowers. Yep. We’re not waiting for April Showers (and we’ve had lots!) to bring May Flowers. We have flowers now.

Actually, here in northwestern Virginia, we do have flowers now. My little flower bed is blooming beautifully! There were only a few blooms last week, but now – lots! I love spring, don’t you?

So our challenge this week was “flowers.” I thought about making some flowers, but I wanted to use the Stampin’ Up!® Ornate Style Stamp Set, so I decided to use stamps and make a floral card.

I absolutely love the Pressed Petals Designer Series Paper (DSP), and this design is my favorite. I love those little blue flowers. I cut a 1-3/4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of the DSP, then layered it to a 2″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Night of Navy Cardstock.

Next, I stamped the flower images from the Ornate Style Stamp Set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Very Vanilla Cardstock and colored them with Old Olive Combo, Night of Navy Light, and Balmy Blue Dark Stampin’ Blends.

I wanted an inspirational sentiment, but not too sappy, you know what I mean? These days, no one needs an “in your face” sentiment. This sentiment from the Colorful Seasons Stamp Set (stamped in Night of Navy Classic Ink) is just a reminder that although things might be bleak right now, life in general will resume and it is awesome. Case in point…

When Mike left for the office this morning, he mentioned that he needed to mow when he got home. I have been home for almost two months now. Sure, I held a couple “live” classes – before I couldn’t because of the Coronavirus – and I’ve been to the grocery store a few times. But for about a month, I stayed home as much as possible because of the shingles discomfort. I just didn’t feel like moving. As soon as I felt “normal” again, we were ordered by our governor to stay home for another month. Really, I had no reason to go out except for groceries for us and for my parents, so it wasn’t a hard thing (at least at first). But still, I was itching to do something outside and get a little exercise.

So what did I do? I read a book. I couldn’t help it. I love to read. But I finished around noon and felt a little guilty about indulging my guilty pleasures while Mike was working, so I decided to surprise him by mowing our lawn. I was so excited to see his face when he pulled into the driveway and saw our freshly manicured lawn!

Alas – I had forgotten about the security cameras he had installed. When I finished, I checked my phone and saw a text from Mike: “Thanks for mowing.” Stupid cameras spoiled my surprise. Next time, I’ll tape over them. Still, it was fun to enjoy the sunshine and Vitamin D and the beauty of life. (And the exercise to start counteracting the Quarantine eating.)

Remember, the Ornate Garden Suite is an early release from the 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalog. You can order it now so you can have some new products to work with while you’re “stuck at home.”

Before you head into your daily routine, please check out what Susan and Jackie have created for this challenge. You will love their creations, I know!

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a wonderful day!

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