Taylored Expressions Autumn Array - Give Thanks

Taylored Expressions has some fun and unique stenciling products, including the stamp and stencil set I used on this card.  I love my ink blending and stencils but decided to kick it up a notch on this card, after watching Kelly's video - Hero Arts Holiday Catalog, Holiday Birds & Wreaths.  She added depth and dimension to a stenciled wreath and it seemed like the perfect way to punch this card up a bit.  

With this set, the leaves of this bouquet are stamped with a red rubber stamp before layering the flowers to build the bouquet.  Each stencil in the set is etched with outlines of the leaves, making it easy to line up each stencil layer.  When building this card, I used Distress Inks for stamping the leaves, as well as the ink blending.  Yes, you can stamp with Distress Inks.  In my opinion, stamping with Distress Inks creates a smoother impression with red rubber stamps than with clear stamps. For additional interest, I also used the Simple Stories Chicken Wire stencil for the background.

Once my bouquet was built I pulled some Copic markers, adding color flicking to the petals and leaves, and some stippling to the center of the sunflower.  This technique gave the image more depth and texture, resulting in a bouquet with a look similar to that of layering stamps.  I added the "give thanks" sentiment with brown ink.

To finish the card, I cut the panel with Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangles, matted it with brown card stock, and adhered it to a kraft card base.  Gems were added to the center of the purple flowers to make them pop.