Beloved Blackberry Bliss for International Stampin' Up! Blog Hop

Welcome to our International Blog Hop highlighting some of our favorite products that are retiring.We are sure you will find some incredible inspiration from the products you are about to see! I was in Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlight and I was selected to be in this hop today.

You may be starting the blog hop here at my blog–Linda Vich Creates–or may have come from the person previous to me in the list. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects. At the moment you are visiting Linda Vich. I live in Canada. If you live in Canada and were wanting to purchase some Stampin' Up!® products, I am happy to help you!

As soon as I found out that this blog hop would focus on Retiring Products, I knew I would have to create a project featuring my all time favorite color, Blackberry Bliss! Oh how I will miss this color! Because it is so dear to me, you may still see me use it on a project from time to time!

I chose to create a gate-fold card so cut a card base for a 5 x 7" card but scored the Blackberry Bliss card stock at 2.5" and 7.5." I cut mattes from Very Vanilla and Blackberry Bliss and then used the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder to emboss the Blackberry Bliss mattes. Because the mattes were longer than the embossing folder, I had to emboss part of the matte and then turn the matte around and reinsert it, carefully lining up with the previously embossed parts, and emboss again. The mattes were then adhered to the card front.

Using all but the largest Floral Frames Collection Framelits, I cut two from Very Vanilla and two from Blackberry Bliss card stock. I used the ornate flourish stamp from the First Sight stamp set to stamp all over the Very Vanilla die cuts using Blackberry Bliss ink. This stamp works very well for creating a stamped background and overlapping the pattern does not seem to give any weird looking shapes or designs.

I also die cut the stamens, using the Botanical Builder Framelits, from Very Vanilla card stock. I used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit to shape these. It was a simple matter then to use Dimensionals and stack up the die cuts. I added a gold sequin and a rhinestone to the centre of the stamens and then added additional sequins and rhinestones to the petals of the larger Blackberry Bliss die cut.

Next, to add a bit more pizazz to the front of the card, I used glue dots to adhere Gold Sequin Trim around each embossed Blackberry Bliss matte. I adhered the completed flower to the top of the card using Dimensionals. For using the Dimensionals on this gate fold card, I placed them in strategic spots on the back of the die cut but only adhered the ones on the right side of the card front; the left ones were included to give the proper support and balance to the die cut.

To keep the card closed and to add a little more elegance to the card, I adhered a length of the Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon to the back of the card using Fast Fuse and then tied it in a bow at the front.
The inside of the card is simple yet elegant. I stamped a Very Vanilla matte with the same ornate flourish stamp and also stamped the sentiment to complete the card.

I am so pleased with how this turned out! It has great contrast by using the Blackberry Bliss and Very Vanilla color combo and it is also very classy and elegant!

I used the following Retiring Products in the making of this card:

• Blackberry Bliss 8.5 x 11" card stock #133675
• Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad #133642
• Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder #132174
• Floral Frames Collection Framelits #127012
• Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon #134550

Be sure to place your order before these products are gone!

Thank you for taking part in our blog hop! There are so many amazing ideas and inspiration you don't want to miss. Remember that currently you are at my blog–Linda Vich–so check the blog hop line up to see who is next in the list.