Wouldn’t it be great fun to watch a flower “grow” on a card? Well sliding makes it possible!

The sky background was distress ink blended while the clouds were simply the result of lifting water from the blue background. I’ve split up my how-to steps into 2 parts. The first part consists of the following steps listed below while the second part has been recorded in the video below.

HOW-TO STEPS

1. Freehand cut two pieces of “soil” grounds in two different sizes.
2. Using the larger soil piece as a temporary template, align and stamp the sunflowers and leaves onto a card panel. My panel measures 4″ x 6″. For the sunflower on the left, since I wanted it to be shorter than the rest, I did mask off the bottom portion with masking tape before stamping so that the leaves won’t be “half buried” in the soil.
3. Apply a thin layer of the Molotow masking fluid on the stamped images with gentle strokes. Leave to dry (less than 10 minutes).
   TIP — Applying too thick a layer of the masking fluid or pressing too hard onto the paper during application could leave a blue residue after you rub the mask off.
4. Blend in blue ink for the sky and green for the grass. I like to blend the darker ink first, which in this case is the blue, then followed by the lighter green ink. This lessens a harsh division when the two colours meet.
5. Rub off the mask with an eraser.
6. On another piece of cardstock, stamp the sunflower and all other images.
7. Colour all the images with Copic markers. These were the colours used: Sunflower and leaves – YR02, Y08, E04, E23, YG25, YG67; butterfly – E04, Y08, YR02, tools – W1, W4, E04, E23, E51, YR21; watering can – W0, W01, W04, YR02; pot – E04, E23, E31
8. Draw dots on the centre of all three sunflowers. I used a gold gel pen.
9. Fussy cut the images from step 5.
10. Make a vertical sliding path using a craft knife. I drew lines with a pencil before cutting. The opening is about 0.25″ x 2.25″.
    TIP — I used the sunflower on the right of the card panel as a guide to determine how long the opening had to be. The sliding sunflower is to “grow” from under the soil up to the same height as the sunflower on the right, hence the opening spans across the middle of the flower head to about 0.25″ beyond the end of its stem.
11. For the soil pieces from step 1, use a blending tool to blend in a brownish colour. I used the Mauve pigment ink.
12. Heat emboss the sentiment onto the small soil piece.
13. Splatter inks onto both soil pieces. I used two different Brilliance pigment inks and love the metallic sheen they give, though subtle.
14. Make a strip from cardstock measuring 1″ x 4″. Blend in with the same blue ink to half of of the strip, followed by the green ink to the other half.
15. Make another strip from cardstock measuring about 0.5″ x 2.5″. Trim one end to a pointed tip and blend on blue ink. Draw an arrow pointing upward with a black marker.
16. Check out the rest of the steps in this video below.

FEATURED SUPPLIES

• Waffle Flower Grow Happiness Clear Stamp Set
• Misti Stamping Tool, Mini
• Molotow Grafx Masking Fluid, 2mm Tip
• VersaFine Pigment Ink Pad, Onyx Black
• Tsukineko VersaMagic Dew Drop Inkpad, Malted Mauve
• Tsukineko VersaMagic Dew Drop Inkpad, Sahara Sand
• Tsukineko VersaMagic Dew Drop Inkpad, Aloe Vera
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Copic Sketch Marker W0, Warm Gray
• Copic Sketch Marker W01, Warm Gray
• Copic Sketch Marker W04, Warm Gray
• Copic Sketch Marker E04, Lipstick Natural
• Copic Sketch E23, Hazelnut
• Copic Sketch E31, Brick Beige
• Copic Sketch E51, Milky White
• Copic Sketch Marker YG25, Celadon Green
• Copic Sketch Marker YG67, Moss
• Copic Sketch Marker Y08, Acid Yellow
• Copic Sketch Marker YR02, Light Orange