A Bouquet of Tulips by Janet Katz

The new Layered Tulips die is so much fun to work with! If you like flowers (how many cardmakers don't?) it offers so much texture and dimension. I created this colorful bouquet with some Memory Box paper and Layered Tulips.

I started by choosing my cardstock from both the Twilight Purple and the Vibrant Violet Memory Box 6x6" paper pads. These pads are ideal for this die because each color has 3 different shades and there are 4 shades in a package. You are guaranteed colors that go together.

I cut out all the parts for every tulip from 3 different colors and rearranged them to make a total of 7 tulips. I used the same tulips dies to cut out green shapes to use as leaves, and stems all from the Lush Green Memory Box pad. I also used a big piece of greenery from the Floral Vase Pop Up Easel Set in the background. I loved the idea of a bouquet wrapped in brown paper, as though from a streetside flower vendor. I simply grabbed a lunch sack from my pantry and freehand cut out a shape that was sort of a semi-circle. I trimmed it down so it would fit correctly and still show some stems at the bottom. I folded it into a cone shape and glued the back to a piece of White Woodgrain Paper cut to 3" x 8". Next I arranged my stems, greenery, leaves, and tulips to be just how I liked. I started gluing everything down on top of the open brown wrapper. I used some foam tape to give some of the flowers even more dimension.

When I was satisfied with my bouquet and greenery, I folded the brown paper closed, securing it with a dot of glue and folding back a little so it showed the flowers and stems well. Next, I took a very short piece of yellow ribbon and tied a piece of twine around the middle. This served 2 purposes - it cinched the ribbon to make it appear as though the bow was tied from it, and it gave me something to tie the tag to. I wrapped it around the front, tucking it under the brown paper and gluing it to secure it. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have glued this down underneath my brown paper and wrapped it around. Next, I printed the Happy Easter sentiment onto white cardstock from my PC. I used a small tag die from the Basic Junk Journal set to cut it out. I punched a hole through it and strung it on the twine. When the glue was dry, I made a bow with another piece of ribbon and glued it on top of the cinched center of the other ribbon. I adhered the tag to the card with foam tape.

I matted the entire white piece onto a piece of dark kraft paper and then onto a pink-mauve card base. This tulip die set screams Mother's Day to me also. Wonder what I will make.