Hello, crafty friends! 🌸

Have you ever bought a stunning craft supply, but then let it sit in your stash for the longest time because you were a little intimidated to use it? That is exactly what happened to me with the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Butterfly Ranunculus Layering Die Set.

The blooms themselves are gorgeous, dainty, and beautiful, so I wasn’t sure I would be able to do a good job with them. Also the pointy leaves had me doubting if I could do make those work in my design. Finally, I decided to take a stab at it—and I am so glad I did! I ended up making two different cards by mixing and matching a few of my favorite sets.

Here is a breakdown of how I put these floral cards together, along with a fun technique to make your petals really pop!

🌸 Step 1: The Petal Technique (Ink Blending & Pencils)

To create the main blooms, I started by die-cutting the Ranunculus petals from a pale pink cardstock and doing some soft ink blending. But here is the real secret to that extra dimension:

• The Pencil Trick: Everywhere the die left an indentation on the petals, I went over it with a colored pencil. It adds such a fun, realistic pop of depth!
• Shaping & Lifting: I curled the petals a lot using just my fingers and a pencil. To make sure they keep that beautiful shape and don’t get squished in an envelope, I tucked tiny foam squares right behind select petals.

🌿 Step 2: Mixing the Foliage

Because I wasn’t quite sure about the pointy leaves included in the Ranunculus set, I shopped my stash for some alternatives to create the perfect arrangement:

• I brought in some wispy greenery from my absolute favorite Altenew Itty Bitty Branches Die Set.
• I also pulled in a few dainty, pointed leaves from the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Fragrant Peony Layering Die Set to balance everything out.

🛠️ Step 3: Sentiments & Finishing Touches

I created two different layouts using these blooms, framing them both with beautiful gold glitter cardstock and combining them with some great elements from Simon Says Stamp:

• Card 1 (Encouragement): I framed two Ranunculus blooms with a gold glitter oval and used some fantastic mini hashtag sentiments (#BEYOU, #YOUGOTTHIS, #BELIEVE) as part of the design elements.
• Card 2 (Birthday): I used one large bloom on a gold arch frame, topped it with a delicate pink bow, and stamped a beautiful “You deserve something pretty on your birthday” sentiment.

💬 WOULD YOU LIKE A VIDEO TUTORIAL? I had so much fun pushing past my creative block to make these! Would you like to see a detailed, step-by-step card-making video of this entire process? Let me know in the comments below! And if you ever need ideas or guidance on how to stretch your supplies, please reach out.

Enjoy creating!

Hugs!
~Varada