Random Stamped Botanicals

My first experiences stamping in 2003 were making scrapbook pages with random stamping. They were really pitiful! I felt challenged to try my hand at the Heart 2 Heart random stamped background challenge to see if I could do any better. I decided to make a card for my most artistic friend to let her know I'm still praying for her after the loss of her mom.

I wanted to combine this challenge with the botanicals challenge at Try It On Tuesday. Before I started stamping my images I decided to random "stamp" some color with my small pigment inks. I wanted them to match the colors in the retired Paper Garden papers, so I used retired Buttercup and Blush along with Sweet Leaf and Thistle. First I just pressed and released each color but I wanted the color to be darker and not always square, so I pressed harder and twisted a little. I moved the stamping of each color across the page as if I was following a chevron, diagonally up and down. I didn't mind if there was a little overlap. I did need to use my heat tool between colors since pigment inks take longer to dry.  I should have taken a photo of those two steps, but maybe you can see the result below. I chose to stamp black outline flowers, leaves, and a butterfly, keeping each one on its own color. If you're new to random stamping, you sort of turn the stamp different directions as you go across the page.

 If I did it again, I think I'd consider whether the black line images had thick or thin lines and I'd keep them the same. The biggest flower stood out more than I wanted. So I covered this panel slightly with doily halves and used a large black butterfly cut using Cricut Artistry cartridge.

I used leftover pieces cut from the top and bottom of each piece to decorate the inside:

I'm glad I tried random stamping again, but enjoyed even more stamping with the small pigment inks first. I'll definitely try that again!

Thank you for visiting! May God bless your crafting and the recipients of your creations!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

City Crafter Challenge #355 - In Bloom

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Background Random Stamping

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Things with Wings

Try It On Tuesday - Botanical

6.5" x 5" Card Recipe:

Paper - CTMH White Daisy Cardstock, Black cardstock,  retired Paper Garden patterned papers

Inks - CTMH Pigment Inks - Buttercup, Blush, Sweet Leaf, Thistle; Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps - CTMH: Happy to Be Friends (leaf), Lovely Birthday (large flower), retired Adore You SOTM (small flower), retired Your Beautiful Self (butterfly); Hero Arts Stamp and Cut-Prayers

Embellishments - CTMH gold glitter gems, 6" Wilton doily, gold and satin edged organdy ribbon

Tool - Cricut Artistry