{capture the moment}: Introducing Year of Flowers: Violets

The second set I am introducing to you today is the first of a new monthly series that I have designed and I am VERY excited about! Year of Flowers will include a $15 floral stamp set introduction each month, so it will be affordable for everyone to collect the whole series. These beautiful floral sets will represent each birth month and it's meaning.

The large scaled flowers that make up each set will be detailed line drawings, perfect for coloring, paper piecing and background building. The coinciding sentiments will nod to the meaning of the flower and provide lovely expressions that can be meaningful in so many situations. Each of the sets in this series also include a stamp with the month's name on it, this one being "February". If you collect all twelve, you will have the capabilities of making a stunning calendar at year's end!!!

The details.

Year of Flowers: Violets will be available for sale on February 15th.
It will retail for $15.
Year of Flowers: Violets contains a total of 8 stamps (4 images and 4 sentiments.)
The largest violet bloom measures 3" in diameter.

There is SO much to show you with this set, so lets get started!

My first card is just one layer of kraft cardstock on a white card base, but the coloring is what makes this card stand out!

The largest violet, measuring a little over 3" in diameter, was stamped with Fresh Snow ink onto the kraft cardstock.

I colored the violet in with Copic Markers. I love how the center swatch is divided by the fine, dotted white line of the stamp image. Little details like that add such a nice touch.

The leaves were colored next with Copics as well. I then outlined everything with my T1 marker to help set it off.

To finish, I sponged the edges of the kraft cardstock with chai ink. I then drew my "boundaries" with a white gel pen. The sentim

The sentiment is from Year of Flowers: Violets as well. I am totally head over heels for this font pairing. They balance each other perfectly.

Next, I wanted to show you that even if Copic coloring is not your cup of tea, there are still dozens of things you can do with this set.

Here I've stamped the small and large violets on Aqua Mist cardstock using Versamark ink and White Filagree Embossing Powder.

I cut out the flowers using a sharp pair of snips. I designed them so they are very easy to cut out. Also, for those of you who may be wondering, there will be a coordinating die coming soon! It just wans't ready in time for this month! :)

Since I cut out the flowers, it allowed me to stack the small flower on top of the large Violet using a few foam dimensionals. I just adore the way these look when using that technique. Very modern & hip, yet classic at the same time.

This larger "thanks" sentiment from the Big & Bold Wishes set is stamped with Aqua Mist ink, followed by the smaller companion sentiment in Dark Chocolate ink. You may have also noticed that the new Dot Spot set was used int he background, stamped on the Dark Chocolate card base with Versamark ink. Such a pretty, sophisticated project!

I sometimes forget how much I like using yellow in my projects. I decided to pull it our here along with my forgotten vellum cardstock for a fun little technique.

I started with a piece of vellum cardstock and stamping the two violet booms all over it using Smokey Shadow ink. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will refer to the stamped side of the vellum as the "back".

I then used a white gel pen to color in the three dots that make up the flower centers.

Once again, on the back, sponge just a tad of Fresh Snow ink int the center of each flower.

When you flip the vellum over to the right side and adhere to a card, the full beauty of the custom paper totally shines through.

You'll notice here that the vellum goes all the way around to the back of the card.

This is one of the sentiments from Year of Flowers: Violets. It's stamped with Fresh Snow ink using Kraft cardtock. The sentiment strip is accent with two Lemon Tart buttons stacked on top of one another and tied together with twine. I love the soft serenity this card seems to bring along with it, don't you?

So what are your thoughts about this new monthly series? Are you as excited as I am about collecting them all? What an awesome journey this is going to be! I can hardly wait to see what you create!

Since there are TWO project pots today, I have started a separate contest post below, which can also be accessed HERE! Be sure to stop over there to see what it's all about and have a chance to win a HUGE prize package!!!

Debbie Olson is featuring some AMAZING projects using Year of Flowers: Violets!