The Flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la!

...bring promise of merry sunshine according to WS Gilbert and we could certainly do with some! These two cards were made yesterday using papers from a special floral issue of Making Cards magazine published a couple of years ago. The poppies are for my niece in America who loves red; having covered the base card and made the tag with peel off sentiment (yes, I know it's not centred or straight but why change the habit of a lifetime?) I was stuck for what to do with it. I don't often use ribbon but thought this might be the right occasion, and the shaded green which I bought 3 years ago seemed just the thing. There was still something lacking.....and then I remembered that on one of my craft boards a member has been showing off several cards using the Memory Box die called 'Prim Poppies'. Eureka! I have that die too (and have actually used it a couple of times). Coloured with Promarkers and tucked under the ribbon with a couple of sticky spots to hold it in place, it finished the card off beautifully.

The second card is a bit of a cheat because I copied the design of one in the magazine, using the same papers and toppers but constructing it differently although the finished effect is very similar. The top layer of the base card is folded back on itself and the picture of the basket of flowers stuck on that side, overlapping the inside. It actually wasn't as crooked as it appears in the picture (Honest!) and is now on its way to Spain, where the need for a glimpse of spring may not be as urgently required as it is here in soggy England but may serve to remind our friend of  what she is missing in other ways.