Scandinavian Prints with Kelly Griglione

Hi Folks! Kelly Griglione here and I'm thrilled to be back again as a guest designer, eager to share a new set of cards all made with the same stamp set! This week I've picked out the super versatile Scandinavian Prints. You could probably make a hundred different cards with this set, as there are so many mix and match elements, but let's take a look at the five I made ...

I started off by stamping a few of the images on a scrap piece of cardstock, knowing I was going to cut a circle out of the pattern I made. I only chose three colors for the solid stamps, and I have to say this is a new color combination for me.

I hung the circle over the edge and trimmed it, along with the edge of the sentiment. Done!

After seeing how quickly the circle came together, I thought I'd see how involved it was to stamp an entire card base in the same pattern. Wouldn't you know, it really only took a couple minutes?! I did have to remind myself to keep moving and don't think too much about it.

One thing I really like about this particular art style is how the solid colors don't have to be inside the black lines. Freedom!

Making my own pattern was such a fun exercise, and I was surprised it all came together without too many spacing issues.

Next I thought I'd go the complete opposite direction and focus on making just one flower. I tend to think of things in a very literal manner, so it always strikes me as kind of funny when I see prints of flowers with stylized leaves at right angles to the stem. But, I kinda like that uneasy feeling, so I made my own perpendicularly-oriented flower. Another first for me!

Because I kept a lot of white space around the flower, I thought it could handle some busyness on the edge, so I cobbled together the edges of the envelope flap from the amazing Doily Envelope. (Be sure to come back next Friday for my biggest post yet ... SIX cards, all from the Doily Envelope die, all different.) If you look closely on the top left section you can see where I've joined two different strips.

I had another flower on a scrap piece of paper that I practiced on, and rather than throw it out I decided to make one more card out of it! Why not!

For this one I stamped the same mint flower heads that I used in the focal image along the edges of a panel, and on the card base I stamped the same leaf in coral along the edges of the card base. Then I noticed that I still had the inside portion of the lace left over from the first card (from where I trimmed off the edges) so I pieced that together behind the edge of the mint panel.

And just to keep it real, I'll share with you the behind-the-scenes ugliness ...

Hahaha, now you know my secret! I used the scraps from last week's family craft night (where one of the kids stamped a dancing bear) to make the panel. You can also see how I pieced together the lacy edges.

For a card that was never meant to be, I kind like how it turned out! Always a good idea to make another card with your scraps if you have a few more minutes before cleaning up.

Different, but coordinating.

For my last card this week, I thought I'd make a fluid background pattern with some more of the elements that I hadn't used yet, along with the little lady from Lumberjack Love. This little lady went through some surgery to remove the antlers from her head, but she's recovered quite well.

To stay within the same Scandinavian style, I colored her in blocks of color (no shading) and repeated the colors throughout her body (her hair, belt and socks are all the same electric green color). Again, I was really surprised how quickly this one came together after I forced myself to not over-think it.

I would honestly love to play for many more days with this set and just keep making different cards. These were so much fun! One thing typically leads to another and before you know it you're down the rabbit hole : )

Thanks for sticking with me and making it to the end : )

Don't forget to stop by next Friday for my final guest appearance where I'll share six different cards all made with the Doily Envelope die. Can't wait for you to see! This is my favorite series yet!!