Hope in the Lord Card with Altenew's Flourishing Garden

I recently had the chance to spend an afternoon with a dear friend I rarely get to see, and it was such a time of encouragement in the Lord. She is a sister in Christ, and she's going through a challenging time right now that she was able to talk with me about during our time together. I wanted to make a special card to encourage her, and this verse from Psalm 31:24 seemed perfect: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. The word art of the verse was free on the Word Art Wednesday website here: Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes - Weeks #655-656

To create this card, I used Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Flourishing Garden set. I used the die that die cuts the floral focal point to create a jig in my Sizzix Stencil and Stamp Tool. I did this by simply die cutting the die from the center of a sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 inch cardstock. Then I put that the negative (the frame around the die cut) in my stamping tool and lined up the stamp on the top of the platform to fit inside the frame. Then I die cut several of the die cuts, placed them in the "frame" one at a time, and stamped them. The one for the front of this card was stamped with VersaMark embossing ink and then heat embossed with Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder. I used the coordinating stencils and Altenew dye inks to color in the stamped image. This one is huge, so it requires 6 stencils to color it in. You have to be committed with this one! But it's worth it! 

After I had finished the floral for the front of the card, I stamped the one for the inside of the card using and left it with just the pink outline of the stamp. I later trimmed it to fit under the hinge of the card base.

To make the card base, I wanted there to be a bit of pink around the stamped image, so I scored a piece of 12x12 cardstock in the center and then traced a border around the edge of the Flourishing Garden stamped focal point. I've included some pictures to show the process. After tracing around the border, I then fussy cut the shape leaving a hinge at the top where the paper was folded. Then I glued the front piece to the card base and the inner piece inside the card base. 

For the scripture verse, I imported the word art into my Silhouette Design Studio program and changed the color of the words to pink. Then I sized it up and did a print and cut of the verse and adhered that to a piece of rose gold mirror cardstock just slightly larger. 

I stamped "big hugs" from the same Flourishing Garden set in VersaMark embossing ink and again used Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiment. I die cut it with the coordinating die in the set and then used the die to cut out a piece of pink fun foam to add behind the sentiment for more dimension. I added 5 gold Nuvo drops to complete the card. I really love this set and how I can create shaped cards with it that are top folding or side folding (for the side fold version, see this post: Carrie's Custom Cards: Flourishing Garden Shaped Engagement Card (carriescustomcards.blogspot.com)). 

Top views:

Here's a look at the jig I made (with a die cut inserted and ready to stamp)

Challenges I'm entering: 
 

August 2024 Inspiration Challenge (altenew.com): Winner of $30 gift card 9/10/24

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: ATG with flowers as the focus (1/6; ends 9/12/24) Top Pick 9/15/24

Creations in Pink: ATG in mainly pink (ends 9/12/24)

The Diva's that cut ....paper! (die-cut-divas.blogspot.com): Wet or dry embossing (I embossed the front image and sentiment with Rose Gold embossing powder) (2/4; ends at the end of the month)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): Easy living or ATG (ends at the end of the month)

Stamping Sensations: Summer in the Garden (2/3; ends at the end of the month) Top 3 Pick for August

We Love Stamping: Focal sentiment or quote or ATG (2/3; ends at the end of the month)

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: Add a sentiment (2/5; ends 8/21/24)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (2/10; ends 8/28/24)

Digi Choosday Cardmaking & Crafting Challenge: ATG (2/2; ends 8/21/24)

613 Avenue Create (avenue613.blogspot.com): ATG or twist of Easy Living (ends at the end of the month)

A Place To Start (hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com): Diamonds, gold and/or pearls or ATG (I used gold leaf trinkets) (ends at the end of the month)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/: Sparkle and Shine (I used metallic ribbon and gold leaf trinkets) (3/5; ends 8/19/24)

Triple B (dd-tripleb.blogspot.com): ATG with birds, blooms and/or butterflies (ends at the end of the month)

fourseasons (thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com): Summer (ends at the end of the month)

Gem of A Craft Challenge (pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com): ATG (ends 8/23/24)

Allsorts challenge blog: Summer Days or ATG (2/3; ends 8/23/24)

Polkadoodles Cardmaking, Craft & Scrapbooking Challenge: ATG (8/23/24)