Takin' It To the Top Thursday with Flower Fest!

Hello everyone and welcome to another Takin' It To the Top Thursday on Stamping 411! My goodness, how time flies. It seems like just a week or two ago that I last brought this monthly feature to you! But here it is ... time for another Takin' It To the Top. What we do with this feature is to demonstrate to you how easy it is to step up your cards and projects just a bit by adding a few extra, simple elements -- more layers, shading, texture, pattern, color, embellishments ... The goal is to not take it over the top, but to the top to make a card or project just a little more special!

All three cards today use the Flower Fest and Hodgepodge Happiness stamp sets; the colors of Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White. So here we go ...

This is our first card. It's simple but it's OK. It would be a great card for a beginning stamper, for a workshop or for those occasions when you need to make a bunch of cards quickly! I've used the Masking Technique to stamp the flowers and leaves and used the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches for the sentiment. This card has minimal layers, colors and texture. Let's see what a difference it might make to step it up just a bit ...

Okay, this second card has a little more going on. We've added quite a bit more texture and pattern with the stamped background. We've added an additional color, Daffodil Delight, in one of the flower ink colors. Do you notice as well that I've added some extra layers here and have cut them with a smaller border (cut with an 1/8" difference rather than a 1/4" difference). I added an additional punch behind the sentiment as well, the Designer Label Punch.

Now, let's add a little more texture and some simple but interesting elements to take this card to the Top!

Look what I've done here! First of all, I've added even more layers and color with the addition of some Tangerine Tango cardstock. I embossed the stamped background with the Big Shot and the Square Lattice Impressions Folder, really giving it some great texture and interest. I extended the Wild Wasabi mat out a bit wider to allow me to add a Scallop Punch Border and a bit of 1/8" Taffeta ribbon and a bow in Daffodil Delight. Instead of masking the stamped flower and leaves, I embossed them, sponged on some additional color, cut them out and attached them to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals, giving more depth and texture. And finally, I added the Extra Large Oval Punch in Tangerine Tango behind the sentiment assembly.

It makes quite a difference, doesn't it, to just add a few simple and inexpensive changes!

I invite you, and challenge you, to try this with your cards and projects this week. Step them up just a bit by adding a few extras! And, we would love to see what you create! Leave us a link to your projects below and tell us how you took them to the Top! I can't wait to see what you create this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by stamping 411! On behalf of all the Operators, we hope you come back soon!