Floral bliss

We have had a few days of absolutely abysmal weather. Typically, we started a new study yesterday, so I had a few lost volunteers wondering around the hospital campus phoning me through the day. I had to brave the pouring rain to go and find my lost sheep, luckily everyone was retrieved and safely delivered to the research nurses. Note to self - bring a jacket and wear sensible weatherproof shoes on day when volunteers are booked in...

After getting home and drying out I made myself a bucket of hot tea and thought a bit of crafting would be the perfect way to rescue an otherwise depressing day. I recently received new goodies from STAMPlorations, and I could not wait to play with them. 

I stamped the gorgeous helenium, my absolute favourite from this stamp set, onto linen textured bright white card. Shery is so incredibly talented, and I particularly love her flowers, they are just so detailed and beautiful. I used the Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge stamps to create the splatters in Mermaid Lagoon and Blueprint Sketch. I think Mermaid Lagoon is quickly becoming my new favourite Tim Holtz colour, overtaking my long time favourite Peacock Feathers. I also stamped the grungy frame from the stamp set to surround the flower. I used a sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Scripty Sentiments set, and stamped some more splatters around the sentiment. I matted the main panel using foam tape onto a blue card and attached everything to a dark blue card base. Last, I attached a few sequins for a finishing touch. I'm a bit undecided whether I like this card or not, but I'm leaning towards liking it quite a lot.

My inspiration for this card was the gorgeous card by this gorgeous card by Monika Skinner, which I found in one of the STAMPlorations Inspirations Project Post #33. I'm linking up my card to join the August CASEplorations. While I'm at it, I'm also linking up with the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge. I also thought the card would be good for this week's Shopping Our Stash where the theme is Splish Splash. Last but not least I'm linking up with the Friday Mashup where the challenge is to create a birthday card using any technique. 

Card: 300 gsm white linen card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card in navy, Hobbycraft 160 gsm card Three Shades of Blue

Stamps: STAMPlorations Floral Bliss, Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge, Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks Mermaid Lagoon, BluePrint sketch, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

Other: sequins from my stash, foam tape