Using Non-Traditional Foliage Colors

Hi there! Emily Midgett here with you today, and I have some inspiration using one of the stunning layering die sets that Altenew does so beautifully: Climber Flowers. These layered dies are so simple to put together and can be made so very unique by using endless color combinations. The possibilities are truly limitless! I love to put an extra twist on my floral cards by using an unexpected color combination, as I've done with today's gray foliage. It seems to add an unexpected element of elegance to the card front, as well as softening the overall feel of the card, an effect that you wouldn't necessarily get with bright or deep green leaves! Let's get started with the details.

I began by die cutting the layers for the Climber Flowers using three different shades of cardstock: pale pink pearlescent cardstock, as well as slightly darker pink and a deep mauve for the darkest layers. The laminated color guides for these layering die sets are so innovative and so very helpful! I also die cut the foliage layers from three gradient shades of warm gray cardstock, finally adhering all of the die cut components together with liquid adhesive.

The name Climber Flowers put me in mind of a trellis with beautiful blooms climbing up to drape dramatically over the edge, so I wanted to convey some of that mental imagery by draping my die cut blooms over a partial Moroccan Lattice cover plate die cut. I cut a full panel, then trimmed some of it down and adhered the partial lattice piece to a white A2 card front using liquid adhesive. The subtle texture this provides keeps the background from being too flat behind my detailed flowers. I arranged the die cut flowers in a graceful swag over the die cut “trellis” and adhered them using a combination of liquid and foam adhesive for lots of dimension.

After I'd finished arranging and adhering my flowers, I die cut the greeting using dies from the You Matter die set, using the same mid-tone gray cardstock that I used for the foliage. Dark enough to truly pop from the crisp white backdrop, but also be dark enough to stand out from the detailed layered floral die cuts! I added the halo to the “you” using some heavyweight vellum, then adhered both die cut pieces to the card front using foam adhesive to help it pop (literally, ha). The final touch was some metallic gunmetal gems to add some shine and fill in the blank spaces in the swag.

Well, that's all for my project today! I hope I've inspired you to try some non-traditional colors for your leaves. It creates such a unique aesthetic for your card front! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day.