Christmas Greetings with Betsy and her Blossoms

As you already know, I love to convert my seasonal stamps into all-purpose stamps.  Betsy’s Blossoms is OBVIOUSLY supposed to be used to make a bright, colorful Chrysanthemum.  It’s definitely a Spring stamp set – well, not today.  I really wanted to turn this beautiful flower into a Poinsettia, but it didn’t really work as the centerpiece on a card.  Once I started overlaying the stamped images on one another, though, it definitely left me with the feel of the Christmas flower.  Here’s my 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ card:Betsy's Blossoms, Endless Wishes (photopolymer), Stampin' Up!, Brian King

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Layered Stamping.  The flowers are initially stamped once in Cherry Cobbler.  I then reinked, stamped it off once on scrap paper and then stamped the image again, moving the stamp slightly to offset from the original image.  I did this three times on each flower, using my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to position the image just where I wanted it.  Tip: After you have stamped on the corner or off an edge, reink before stamping again.  If you try to immediately stamp again (to save time or ink), the texture of the edge from your original stamp will make an appearance.  That’s no good. 
  • Leaving the White Space.  This card has a lot of white space.  Even I felt uncomfortable, at first, with all the white space on the front panel.  I wanted to add rhinestones or candy dots – something.  I decided to leave it alone and come back to it at a later time.  When I came back to it, I decided to let it be.  I think it works here because Betsy made such a busy background with her flowers.  Because the flower panel is so active, our eyes are happy to rest on the white space in the center and on the edges.  Does that make sense?  If not, please read it again.  Now, does it make sense?  Good because I don’t know how else to explain it.
  • Great Photopolymer Set.  When I got home from work on Friday, UPS had left a little, brown box on my front porch.  Inside the box was Endless Wishes, a new photopolymer set.  While I generally love to have small words on wood blocks (so I can line them up perfectly once and not worry about it again), I LOVE having these words in photopolymer.  I also love the combination of script and typeset words they used in this set.  It’s very flexible and can be used for whimsical or very traditional Christmas sentiments.

Stamp Sets:  Betsy’s Blossoms, Endless Wishes (Photopolymer)  Papers:  Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Whisper White, Designer Series Paper Stack (Garden Green)  Inks:  Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler  Accessories:  Stampin’ DimensionalsBetsy's Blossoms, Endless Wishes (photopolymer), Stampin' Up!, Brian King

Thanks for stopping by my blog today,

Brian

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WIN A $25 SHOPPING SPREE.  The “25 Stamp Sets for 25% Off” promotion comes to an end tomorrow.  During this sale, I’m giving away a $25 shopping spree.  For every stamp set you order from this list between now and tomorrow (the sale ends Monday, October 28), I will enter your name into a drawing to be held on Tuesday.  The winner will receive a $25 shopping spree from me.  Woo hoo!

If you would like to review these sets online (including pictures of each), click here.

14 Comments

  1. Hi Brian, How clever are you to stamp Betsy and her Blossoms all-over the card! Who would of thought to do that, but You! What a Beautiful card!
    Nice Job!

  2. BINGO-BANGO!!! Another wow card! Love what you did with dear “Betsy”…love that stamp set and love how you once again inspired me!

  3. Absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

    Love, love, LOVE!

    Anne

  4. Love this new stamp set and love the background you’ve created with Betsy!

  5. Laurie Burns Gachewicz

    You rocked Betsy and her blossoms Brian!! This color combo screams Christmas and the large flower makes an awesome background!! 🙂

  6. Oooo ,my goodness your so crafty Brian … Love it !!!!
    Have a nice Sunday ,
    Hugs frenchie

  7. Oh, what can I say ? It`s deja vu` all over again ! It was your version of Betsy`s Blossom that made your blog a regular stop for me …remember the fireworks card ? And don`t forget Homecoming Games and Thanksgiving flowers are always MUMS (Betsy is that flower) so that can also be a great choice for a card in the Fall or Autumn (take your choice) and I NEVER thought I would say this after the deluge of Betsy cards when she first came out …I gotta get that stamp set !! Love this card ! I would not have thought of Betsy for Christmas …Do you think Betsy might be the bird ?

  8. great demonstration of how to use a stamp set for Christmas. this would be really pretty with CCobbler as the base and then stamped on top with some stamped-off silver or gold embossing.

  9. Now that is inspiring! Thank you for helping me to see the versatile nature of this using color and design to create a Christmas card from an unexpected source.

  10. so very pretty, great rethinking of a stamp set. I never would have thought Christmas, but it works.

  11. You are so very clever. Beautiful background you created. thanks for all the tips => priceless! And after seeing your card here, and the one Justin made using that poly stamp set I am definitely rethinking it and I think it might just be on my order tomorrow!! Enjoy your Sunday!

  12. Beautiful card Brian. I was going over the list of 25% off stamp sets trying to make a final decision before time runs out and this card helped me decide on one of them.

  13. Beautiful use of one of the best floral stamps. The white space is usually lacking on many cards because we are so afraid of not embellishing enough, but study yearbooks and magazines — white space is a visual necessity. Did you ever work on a yearbook or on a magazine? You nailed this concept. I love your use of the envelope board too! Have a great week…Nancy B

  14. how do you line up your sentiments on your woodblocks pefectly?

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