Gloria Stengel

Hello, Elizabeth Craft Designs friends! It is Gloria Stengel with you today, and it is my first time blogging for the ECD Blog! I am a member of Annette Green’s NEW team here at Elizabeth Craft Designs, and today I am sharing a project using Annette’s NEW Everything’s Blooming Collection! Currently this collection is only available through your local craft store but very soon you will find this beautiful collection on the ECD website as well.

For todays’s project I used the 2027 Stemmed Flowers die to create some sweet watercolor flowers. I am NOT an accomplished watercolorist, however, coloring up simple images with watercolors is so FAST and EASY!

The first step was to die cut some flowers from the Soft Finish Cardstock using both the 2027 Stemmed Flowers and the 2025 Playful Flowers die sets. My theory is that when you want to do something messy, like playing with watercolor, it is best to do a huge bunch of things, rather than one small thing!

This was my first time using the ECD Watercolor Palette, which comes with 24 luscious colors, two sponges, AND a fillable watercolor brush!

I just roughly watercolored all the petals and leaves that I had die cut. After they were dry, I went back and added some shading to some of the areas. (I made a bit of a mess out of my palette, but art can be messy, right?!) I found the colors to be very bright and vibrant! The paints have a lot of pigment!

I chose a few of the flowers and stems from the 2027 Stemmed Flowers die set to use for this card. I snipped some of the stems apart to make my own unique flower. (The other items that I watercolored, I put away for use later. It is always nice to have some things ready when you need to make a card at the last minute!)

I cut dark brown cardstock to 5″ x 12″ to make a top folding 5″ x 6″ card. I like this odd size for some reason. I then cut a piece of printed paper to 4 7/8″ x 5 7/8″ and attached it to the card front. I tried to pick a pattern that had some HOT pinks in it.

I die cut one of the borders from the 2022 Lace Borders die set and attached it to the right edge of the card as shown above.

I used a paper trimmer to trim a piece of music note printed paper into a banner-ish shape, then matted it with dark brown cardstock. I added the banner to the left side of the card as shown.

Using the largest die in the 2026 Postage Stamps die set, I cut a piece of the Soft Finish Cardstock and while the paper was still in the die, I sponged some distress ink (Antique Linen) onto the shape to give it a soft, antique look. I cut a piece of pink paper and a piece of dark brown cardstock with my trimmer to make a double mat for the postage frame. I glued them together and then used some foam dots to attach the watercolored flowers to the postage stamp shape.

Using the 2020 Everyday Words die set, I cut “Happy Birthday” from dark brown cardstock and added the phrase to the card front. I decided to NOT use the shadow die as the black lettering already popped enough.

I also finished off the inside of the card by adding panels of the Soft Finish Cardstock and cutting two strips of the printed paper for decoration. There is plenty of space to add a stamped or hand written message.

Tip: I always like to finish the inside of my cards as I make them. That way the cards are all ready to go into an envelope when it comes time to mail them. This is especially important when I have a dark card base. There is nothing so frustrating as having to hunt for some white cardstock and a trimmer when you are rushing to get a card filled out and addressed in order to meet the mail carrier who is coming up the street!

Note: You will be able to purchase Annette Green’s new collection Everything’s Blooming at your favorite shop stocking ECD products!

Thanks for joining us today! Happy crafting!

~ Gloria Stengel

Elizabeth Craft Designs Products Used:
2027 Stemmed Flowers – Coming soon!
2026 Postage Stamps – Coming soon!
2022 Lace Borders – Coming soon!
2020 Everyday Words – Coming soon!