Post Apocalyptic Art

One of the eight billion late birthday cards I need to send this week! I just made this up as a little story. The little red balloon is all ready to party, shows up in his party hat, gonna get his cake on, all that, and look at the frosty look those two green balloons are giving him. You know, because he's LATE. Oh, the shame.

How do you like that sassy new flower brad, eh? Those are so fun. I stuck a rhinestone brad in the center of it just to give the red balloon a little festive moral support.

Now, as you know, I'm constantly preparing myself for a stamping apocalypse. If something happens to my stamps I need to be able to make stuff.

Come on - how cool would it be to be wandering around in the post apocalyptic ashes and get a handmade card?? This is important work people!!

So disaster scenario #1 - the apocalypse has affected only the stamp supply. We all still have our cardstock and punches and felt flowers. Thank GOODNESS. I have a fabulous idea. So here's your apocalypse tutorial.

You'll need your new wide oval punch. Take some textured chocolate chip cardstock and punch an oval out of it. Ignore the sound of the wailing zombies at your door. They'll go away after they realize there are no stamps. This is also when that bag of zombie chow you buried under your neighbor's front porch really starts to pay off.

Now using the cardstock with the hole punched out of it, line your punch up against the edge of the hole, and just punch a little sliver of paper. Do this four times and you will have this little collection.

Well, after you put adhesive on them and arrange them on a white card you will have this. Trim off the tops of the slivers if you need to, or use other punches if you want a different curve.

Actually, if the world has ended, you've got tons of free time - just hand cut them.

After you've done this, punch another oval out of white cardstock. Cut the top off to make a vase.
Use a sponge dauber to add a shadow along one edge in Baja Breeze reinker.

Thankfully, zombies have not discovered dimensionals, so add those to the back and mount that vase over the bottom of your punched stems.

I love these vases made out of oval punches, but love them even more popped up off the page just a little.

Next add some felt flowers with mini glue dots to the top of the stems.

As you know, I generally disapprove of Baja Breeze because it's a little grey. I'm not a huge fan of grey in my blue unless it's in the sky. However, the flowers are cute so I was forced to match it with my reinker. It's not so bad, ,I guess.

Now it's OKAY like this, but I really felt the need for some end of the world bling - no point in hoarding it now!

Since the flowers are fuzzy, you can't rely on the adhesive that comes on self adhesive rhinestones. So I filled up the holes in each flower with Martha Stewart glue and then stuck them on. They won't be going anywhere!

I have absolutely no idea why this photo looks so vanilla-y but I'm too busy fighting zombies to photoshop it out. So picture it bright white.




Next, onto a card inspired by something in Martha Stewart Living which I have not come close to perfecting. When I do, I'll post it because it's stunning. But in the meantime, we'll have to make do with this.

It's just a white card base with two of the new 1 3/4" holes brought to you by the Stampin' Up! circle punch punched out of it.

Then stamp the flower from Organic Grace all over the front in Basic Grey - but stamp it off twice before stamping each flower so that they are pale.

My trick for lining things up in punched holes is similar to what someone who recently had a lobotomy might do. Trace the hole onto the inside of the card with a pencil. Open the card. Stamp your image safely in the circle. Erase the circle. I'm sure there's some super sophisticated Martha meets Nichole version of this but I haven't learned it yet.

Then I colored the flower with Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss, More Mustard and Chocolate Chip and a blender pen. I added some stickles to the center of the flower. The greeting is from Fresh Cuts. It was all stamped in India Ink. Then I added the STUNNING satin Kiwi Kiss ribbon. Wow. It's prettier IRL.

I gotta go.

L.