No stamping birthday card using Manhattan Flower rose

Isn't it a good year for the roses?! Have you noticed? I have lots of roses in my pocket handkerchief-sized garden including two musk roses which smell so heavenly I almost faint when I pass them! The one in the photo is the first rose I planted. It normally gives us a few gloriously scented flowers and then it gives up but this year it's going beserk!

It reminds me a little of the Manhattan flower rose and I was inspired to use that embossing folder to make today's card.

This is one of those super-simple cards which involves no stamping and relies for its impact on the layered bloom. Here, let's zoom in on that rose!

Can you see how there are three layers of the rose. I've cut different bits out of them, sponged them with inks and layered them on top of each other. I also added a few droplets of Crystal Effects to make the rose look dewy fresh!

The rose is mounted on a masked and sponged background and the card base is the gorgeous Confetti Cream card stock with speckles in it. I've become very attached to this and use it a lot for my one-layer cards.

The sentiment, which you may recognise as coming from one of this year's Sale-a-bration stamps, has been stamped in Basic Grey - Basic Black would have been a little harsh. I added a double row of piercing above it for extra interest.

Here's how to make this card:

• Take an A5 piece of Confetti Cream card stock. Score and fold in half to make a card base.
• Use post-it notes to mask off the edges of the card leaving an 8.5cm square. Sponge inside the square with Certainly Celery ink.
• Add a double row of piercing below the square and add a sentiment using Basic Grey ink.
• Now make the rose: Tuck some Whisper White card stock into the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and run through the Big Shot. Do this twice more until you end up with three embossed pieces. Cut out a full flower from one, slightly less from the second and the centre of the flower from the last.
• Sponge colour onto the embossed pieces - I used Riding Hood Red, Regal Rose and So Saffron and blended them well with my sponge.
• Layer the rose pieces together with dimensionals and glue the base to the sponged square on the card front.
• Add a few drops of Crystal Effects.

Supplies
Stamps: So Happy For You (retired Sale-a-bration set)
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Basic Grey
Card stock: Confetti Cream, Whisper White
Other: Crystal Effects

I've just been having a word with my daughter about expecting to be paid pocket money for chores that haven't been done. "It's wrong!" I said and, for dramatic effect, added: "On every level!" Now, my daughter used to argue with me - often defending points of view that were indefensible for hours on end! She's given this up now though and amuses herself by finding bizarre ways of agreeing with me. "I think you'll find, Mummy," she said now, "that it's wrong in ways that haven't EVEN been discovered yet!"

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm very pleased to welcome my new followers and would like to thank everyone who follows my blog and those who leave comments and emails for me - I love hearing from you.

I'll be back here tomorrow with Three Minute Thursday - hope you can join me!