Creativity Unlocked: Craft-A-Flower: Fragrant Peony | Creating Dimension with Layers and Pale Ink Blending

Hi there! Emily Midgett here with you today, and I have some inspiration using the absolutely beautiful new Craft-A-Flower Fragrant Peony dies that were released earlier this week! I am a sucker for a beautiful peony, and the shape of these gorgeous peonies is absolutely luscious, while the larger scale size makes them marvelous for creating a quick focal point on your card! I have a mild obsession with those vivid magenta peonies, but I am also totally enamored of the super pale, almost washed-out white peonies with hints of color towards the center.

I have created lots of dimensions on my project today using layer upon layer of cardstock and foam tape, as well as added textures with ink blending and a 3D embossing folder. Let's get started with the details of my project!

First, I began by die cutting the layers for the flower itself using the Craft-A-Flower: Fragrant Peony dies and plain white cardstock. Before I assembled the layers, I used a small blending tool to blend Rouge ink very lightly in the center of the peony, concentrating the color a bit more heavily towards the center of each layer and tapering off as I radiated out from the center of the flower, leaving the ends of the petals almost completely white. I also die cut the center of the flower from some bright yellow cardstock, toning it down by blending some Pumpkin Pie ink around the edges, which helps to highlight the beautiful texture embossed on the die cut.

Next, I die cut some foliage using the beautiful leaf dies included in the Craft-A-Flower: Fragrant Peony die set, cutting a couple of pieces from some deep bottle green cardstock, the color of which I think accents the pale peony beautifully. I also cut some sprigs of white foliage using the Itty Bitty Branches dies, just to help fill out the bouquet a bit and add another element of texture to the card front. I assembled the peony using liquid adhesive for the petals, adding the yellow center with Instant Dimension Foam Tape for extra dimension.

To help ground the floral bouquet, I die cut a white frame using the Create-A-Wreath die set. I also die cut a similarly-sized circle from some heavyweight vellum, adding some texture to it with the Basic Plaid Embossing Folder. I adhered the embossed, textured circle to the white circular frame, then popped it up on a white card front with some more Instant Dimension Foam Tape. The textured vellum adds another element of interest to the monochromatic background.

Next, I arranged the floral die cut pieces around the white wreath frame, adhering them with a mixture of liquid and foam adhesive, and adding a double layer of foam tape in some spots, which helps to add more interest to this almost-monochromatic card. When working with a limited color palette, I like to try to add lots of texture and height to the different elements to keep things visually interesting. The final touch was to add a white die cut greeting, cut with the Simple Greetings die set, and some white cardstock.

Well, that's all for my project today! The Craft-A-Flower Fragrant Peony is such a well-designed die set that it works beautifully with limited colors or with tons of vibrant, saturated colors. The options are endless! Thanks so much for reading, and have a marvelous day!

Check out these other awesome cards that were made using Craft-A-Flower Fragrant Peony.

What do you think of this inspiration? Comment below! 

Also, if you have similar projects using this die set, please don't forget to let us know by using #altenew when you post on Instagram. Can't wait to see what you come up with!