Trend Watch – Floral Focal Focus

It could be because Spring has finally sprung here in MN and I am actually seeing my bulbs pop out finally, but I am finding flower cards everywhere.

For this post  I am going to focus on the floral beauties that are so gorgeous, they are big and bold and get front and center attention on these paper creations.

Many of the examples I am going to show you today are beautifully colored like this first one from Isha.  The flower itself is gorgeous and full and rather sweet, but the way Isha chose to embellish the background with color just sets this card apart.  It is beautiful all around.  Isha used Chameleon pens to color the flower.  Gorgeous results.

 

card by Isha Gupta photo courtesy of Split Coast Stampers

Blue flowers always remind me fondly of my grandmother who grew the most beautiful blue hydrangea.  The coloring of the flowers is just beautiful and the shadowing around the edge of the flowers is just perfect.

card by Sharon Hashimoto photo courtesy of As the Ink Dries

I think the way Lindsey chose to use her flowers in the middle of the card and yet tucked into the wave is so clever.  She used a Copic pen at the lip of the flowers to give them extra punch.  They have so much dimension.  They look great.

card by Lindsey Amrhein photo courtesy of Note to Self

I love the edgy take Gayatri used for this card.  Flowers are usually very soft and frilly but this background gives her bold red flower a fun, funky edge.

card by Gayatri Murali photo courtesy of Handmade by G3

Kathryn used ink pads as water colors to create the beautiful look to this peony.  The pink on pink is just beautiful.

card by Kathryn A. photo courtesy of Kathryn’s Cards

This group of flowers makes a really pretty statement in pastel.  Anja used a technique called ghost stamping and the effect is really cool.

card by Anja photo courtesy of Little Butterfly Creations

I am totally crazy for all things vellum right now. I just love how cool this flower looks on the semi opaque paper.

card by Charlene B. photo courtesy of Charlene’s Studio Ink

I was trying to guess how Isha made this card but I got it wrong.  She used a chalkboard effect on the vines of the flowers and added white pen as a highlight.  On the flowers themselves she stamped in color then daubed in more color from a coordinating ink pad in the middle for dimension.  I must try some of these cool techniques to give my flowers that extra something.

card by Isha Gupta photo courtesy of New Ideas by Isha Gupta

After all of the wonderful color we have seen this monochromatic mum is just so striking and perfect for a sympathy sentiment.

card by Michelle photo courtesy of Amusing Michelle

If you don’t have stamps, you can use dies to create dynamic flowers.  This dimensional flower is so beautiful.  The color possibilities are endless with this technique and you can get the fullness of the flower multi-dimensionally.

card by Keisha Campble photo courtesy of A Bit East Coast

Virginia used an outline die and highlighted the flower in the center with a cool water colored center.  This creates a lovely masked look around the other die cuts.

card by Virginia Lu photo courtesy of Yes, Virginia

No stamps or dies?  No worries; make your own.  You can click on the link below to see the tutorial on how to make these fun flowers.  Quite the statement for a package or gift to give to someone.

package by Paula Biggs photo courtesy of Frog Prince Paperie

Flowers will be the center of my world very soon.  As I am waiting, I am inspired to create my own flower garden in paper and give them to loved ones.  I hope you saw something today to provide you with some inspiration until you get to smell the real ones this summer.

So go ahead… make something pretty.

Below are a few products I found that might inspire you a little more.

Hello Flowers stamp set by Hero Arts from Scrapbook.com

Sizzix English Garden die set  from Scrapbook.com

Magnolia for Her stamp set from AlteNew

Petal and Stem stamp set from Avery Elle