Summer Hydrangeas
By Judi Kauffman 
Happy July, everyone. I’m back with a card that celebrates one of my favorite plants – the hydrangea bush. We planted our own two decades ago. It has survived Washington heat waves, summers with too much rain or two little and my not-so-expert annual pruning. The soil seems to be just right, enough of whatever minerals turn the flowers blue/purple with a tinge of pink, colors that are surprisingly easy to capture with markers or colored pencils.
Here’s to hydrangeas – on cards and in the garden!
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put the black outline peel-offs onto white cardstock. Color with markers or pencils of choice. I used Winsor & Newton ProMarkers in Lilac, Orchid, Amethyst, Pastel Blue, and Baby Pink for the florets; Sunflower for center of each floret; Green, Forest Green, and a tiny touch of Marine blended into the leaves.
- Fussy-cut around all three hydrangea heads as well as the individual leaves and 23 small florets. Set pieces aside.
- Prepare a 6.25” x 5.25” True Green Soft Finish Cardstock top-fold card base. Add two pieces of patterned paper to the card front leaving a quarter-inch border on all sides and overlapping the pieces toward the center (torn edge of one piece remaining visible).
Design Detour:
Be selective and intentional when deciding which parts of the patterned paper you’re using. I began with 12 x 12 sheets from BoBunny called Soiree ‘Tranquil’ (left side of card front) and Beautiful Dreamer ‘Reverie’ (right side). Note that I chose the part of the Reverie sheet that includes what appear to be overlapping photos and a note with the words ‘Don’t Forget’ held by a paperclip. And I picked part of the Tranquil sheet that includes text at the left corner and polka dots toward the right.
- Back pieces of Purple Iridescent and Yellow Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz and True Green Soft Finish Cardstock with Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet. Die cut a 5” long Dotted Scallop Oval and a pair of Bead Strings 2 pieces (straight strips) from Purple Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz. Die cut the word Summer twice – once from Yellow Shimmer Sheetz and once from True Green Soft Finish Cardstock.
*Reminder: You MUST use a metal adaptor plate or the Sizzix Big Shot with Precision Base Plate when die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. The cutting side of the die must face the metal plate with Shimmer Sheetz in between, and these go inside your machine’s usual cutting ‘sandwich’. Review Els van de Burgt’s video tutorial if you are new to this technique.
- Assemble the card front in this order:
Oval
Bead Strings 2 (one strip across the top and one across the bottom)
The word Summer (yellow offset over green to provide a drop shadow)
Hydrangea heads and leaves (trim at the top edge)
Small individual florets (pop each one on a tiny piece of foam tape)
- Another option: Instead of outline peel-offs, make beautiful realistic dimensional hydrangeas using the Susan’s Garden Hydrangea die set by Susan Tierney-Cockburn!
SUPPLIES
Elizabeth Craft Designs –
Els van de Burgt Studio ‘Dotted Scallop Ovals’ die set
A Way With Words collection ‘4 Seasons’ die set (‘Summer’)
Shimmer Sheetz in Purple and Yellow Iridescent
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet
Soft Finish Cardstock in True Green
Other –
Winsor & Newton ProMarkers (colors listed in step 1)
ColorMates Smooth & Silky Cardstock 90lb in White (WorldWin Papers)
Die cutting machine (Sizzix Big Shot with Precision Base Plate)
BoBunny 12 x 12 Beautiful Dreamer ‘Reverie’ and Soiree ‘Tranquil’
