Yana’s Poppies with Emily Midgett

Hi friends! Emily Midgett here with you today from Sixth Street Sundries, and I had the distinct pleasure of playing with goodies from Yana Smakula’s new floral collection called Yana’s Poppies. I have been such a fan of Yana’s work for such a long time, so it is always a privilege to play with products that she has curated. I know that poppies are traditionally red, but I am always up for making things fit my own style, and I know that Himalayan Blue poppies do in fact exist, so I decided to make a trio of projects inspired by those unique flowers!

For my first project, I decided to create a super textured card using the beautiful Poppy Background press plate and the coordinating stencils. Rather than use the Poppy Background press plate with ink, though, I decided to use it alone to create some intricate texture on my background before using the stencils to add color.

1. Run a panel of Porcelain Better Press paper through your die-cut machine using the Better Press system and the new Poppy Background plate without inking the plate up. This impresses exquisite texture into your letterpress cardstock!
2. Use two different shades of aqua ink with all four stencils included in the Layered Poppy stencil set, blending each layer completely with the lighter aqua ink, then going back again with a darker shade of aqua ink to add some extra shadows on the center of the flowers. This creates a very elegant monochromatic background with tons of texture from the press plate!

1. Die cut the outline of the Yana’s Poppy die from Waterfall cardstock and the shadow layer from vellum, then adhere the two die cuts together using liquid adhesive.
2. Die cut a sparkling turquoise frame using the Emerald Cut Labels and Tag set and some glittery cardstock. Pop up the frame on the stenciled background using foam adhesive.
3. Die cut the large Smile sentiment from the You Make Me Smile sentiment set using deep teal cardstock so that it pops from the light aqua patterned background. Emboss a sentiment from the coordinating stamp set using Iridescent Blue embossing powder.
4. Adhere the die-cut poppy and sentiment pieces to the stenciled background within the frame using foam adhesive squares, finishing the card off with some Aquamarine AB gems.

For my second project, I thought I would create another textured background, this time using the outlines from Yana’s Poppy die to create a tone-on-tone textured pattern.

1. Die cut the outline of Yana’s Poppy die several times from pale blue cardstock, making sure to reserve the interior die cuts for one of the poppies. Die cut one vellum shadow, as well.
2. Ink blend around the edge of an A2 panel of the same pale blue cardstock using a very similar shade of pale blue ink, then arrange the outline die cuts on the card front, rotating them in order to create a cohesive pattern.
3. Trim any excess that is hanging off of the edges and use those pieces to fill in any remaining blank areas  on the edge of the panel.
4. Adhere the poppy outline to the vellum shadow using liquid adhesive, then add the interior die cuts. Use a very pale blue OLO marker to add touches of shadow to the petals to add some extra dimension.

1. Die cut a greeting from the A Little Hello stamp and die set from Lagoon cardstock, as well as a vellum shadow layer. Adhere the two die cuts together using liquid adhesive.
2. Stamp the two greetings from the coordinating stamp set first with a darker turquoise ink, then again with embossing ink, and sprinkle with Iridescent Blue embossing powder to add extra shimmer and interest to the greeting. Die cut with the coordinating dies, included with the sentiment set.
3. Adhere the die-cut poppy to the edge of the textured background, hiding the foam adhesive behind the solid portions of the die-cut and trimming off the excess from the edge.
4. Arrange the sentiment die cuts over the poppy die cut and adhere with a double layer of foam adhesive.
5. Tuck a silver twine bow next to the sentiment pieces and add some Aquamarine AB gems for added sparkle!

For my last project, I thought I would create an elegant gift bag using the stunningly detailed Poppy Background Press Plate. The incredibly intricate details that come through perfectly when used as a hot foil plate are simply divine!

1. Using Skybright foil, hot foil a foiled background pattern on some pale aqua cardstock using the Glimmer hot foil machine.
2. Use the same shade of pale blue cardstock to create two Gift Bag die cuts.
3. Optional: before adhering the Gift Bag die cuts together, use a scoreboard to enhance the score lines that are debossed on the die cuts to make folding easier.
4. Use a hole punch to add holes towards the top of the gift bag, then add silver twine loops.

1. To decorate the gift bag, trim down the foiled panel to fit the front of the gift bag.
2. Add a thin strip of Lagoon cardstock to add an extra pop of color to the bag as well as covering the seam between the foiled patterned panel and the solid blue gift bag.
3. Die-cut a vellum tag using the Emerald Cut Labels and Tag set.
4. Stamp, emboss, and die cut a sentiment appropriate to the gift-giving occasion.
5. Add the die cuts to the front of the gift bag.
6. Embellish with a coordinating bow. You can use the silver twine or create a bow by dying white silk ribbon with an alcohol marker.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! These new floral products from the Yana’s Poppies collection are so elegant and can be used in so many different ways. It was my pleasure to play with them!! I love using tons of different textures to create interest in these types of tone-on-tone projects. I hope it inspired you to try using monochromatic textures on your projects! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and if you would like to see more of my work, you can stop by my blog at EmilyMidgett.com. Have a marvelous day!

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

Tonic Turquoise Lake glitter cardstock, Hero Arts Mist and Paradise inks, Hero Arts Iridescent Blue embossing powder, detail, and large blending brushes