Through the Garden Gate Floribunda Roses and Bee Blossom Card with Prima Peach Tea

Hello, Friends!  Get ready for a floral extravaganza with this Through the Garden Gate Floribunda Roses and Bee Blossom card.  These are the new Susan Tierney-Cockburn dies from Spellbinders, and I am swooning over them!

Ann’s Rose Garden

My mother-in-law, Ann, grew the most gorgeous roses I have ever seen.  Every spring the bushes she had pruned in the fall spread out their branches toward the Carolina Blue sky.  By early May, they were laden with buds, and by early June the roses burst forth in glorious display.  She tended those roses like they were little children, pouring her love into the soil and carefully protecting them from harm. She also fed them on a daily basis.  Yes, she did. I will tell you one of the secrets of her success with roses: she fed them banana peels!  Isn’t that hilarious?

There is nothing on earth that matches the fragrance of a rose grown in a home garden. If you pick an armful of them early in the morning, when the dew is still on the petals, you will wear that heavenly fragrance all day long.    I could almost smell that wonderful aroma as I was shaping these Floribunda roses.

Roses That Never Fade

Here’s the process I followed to create these roses that never fade.  It’s a little bit messy, but worth the time it takes to clean up!

• First, die cut the roses from heavy white cardstock.  I like to use Heartfelt Creations Specialty Flower Shaping paper (linked below).  It does not fall apart when colored with ink, spritzed with water and shaped.
• Follow the directions printed on the dies so that you die cut the correct number of petals for each layer.
• Now, pull out your Distress Ink pads.  I used a combination of Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, Wild Honey and Worn Lipstick.
• Next, swipe each pad across a non-stick craft sheet and spritz with water until droplets form.
• Then lightly tap and swipe the die cut petals through the ink, making sure to color both sides.  Lay the damp layers on a paper towel and gently pat dry. You can repeat this process to achieve the desired depth of color.
• When the petals are almost dry, but still slightly damp, shape them with a stylus and quilling tool.

I opted to create fully opened roses, and filled the centers with Prills. The Bee Blossom is colored with Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry inks using the same technique. I added beaded stamens to the centers.  You can use leftover ink to custom dye seam binding ribbon, too.

A Peek Inside

Here’s a look at the inside of this card made with Prima Peach Tea papers.  Of course, I added a pocket and a tea wallet.

I even had a packet of Peach Tea and a honey stick to go with the color palette of the roses.

I did make a couple of extra roses for use in a future project.  While you have all the “mess” out on your work surface, you might as well make extras!

This might be my favorite rose die of all time.  It does take a little extra effort to make these bodacious blossoms, but I think that it’s worth it.  Now if I just had some the dew from Ann’s garden to add as the final ingredient, we’d be all set.

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

• Spellbinders Through the Garden Gate Dies
  • Floribunda Rose
  • Bee Blossom
• Prima Peach Tea Collection
  • 12×12 paper pad
  • 8×8 paper pad
  • gold foil ephemera
• Go ManGo Prills
• Beaded Stamens
• Pearl Stamens
• Specialty Flower Shaping Paper