DIY Gardening Card for Birthdays and More!

Have a plant gal or guy in your life? Show them your appreciation by getting your hands a little dirty in this gardening card DIY. This is a great project for beginner or experienced card makers. With a few basic materials, you can quickly and easily make a thoughtful card to make someone feel special.

• Pot It Like It's Hot Clear Stamp Set
• Free Cricut File - Pot It Like It's Hot
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• Black Dye Ink Pad
• White Cardstock
• Craft Paper of Choice: Colors, Patterns, and Designs
• Coloring Medium: Markers, Pencils, or Paint
• Glue
• Scissors or Cricut Machine
• Envelope

• Prismacolor Alcohol-Based Markers
• Glue Tape Runner
• 3-D Styrofoam Dots
• Corner Rounder
• Stickers
• Address Stamp

To get started, gather all of your materials so you have them accessible. If you have a cricut machine, cut out your stamped images. If you do not have a cricut, stamp your designs onto white cardstock. Be sure to space out your impressions so you can hand-cut around them later.

Prep your workspace by placing your white card stock or circut cutouts onto a craft mat to protect your surface. Now, using your clear stamps, simply peel the stamp from its backing sheet and place it onto an acrylic stamp block. The photopolymer is slightly tacky, so your stamp can easily stick and be removed from your stamp block.

Then, ink your stamp with the ink pad and color of your choice. In this project, we are using black dye ink by ExcelMark. Dye ink is water-based, which is great for card making as it drys quickly and creates crisp outlines for coloring in. Stamp all the designs onto your cutouts or white card stock.

Tip: This is why clear stamps are perfect for card-making! The see-through stamp and block allow for precise alignment for stamping.

Select the cardstock you wish to use for the base or background of your card. Choose colors, patterns, and textures that contrast each other. For example, we used solid green paper paired with a dotted white pattern to contrast and fit with our organic and earthy theme.

Tip: Use a corner rounder to round the edges of your card. This further enhances the organic nature of the gardening-themed card.

Add color to your stamped images so they don't look flat. To do that, we are using alcohol markers.

Tip: Start with your base color and then use a darker color to add shading. Think about where your "light" source would be and add shading where you think shadows would occur.

Layout your color-stamped images before adhering them down to your card so you can move pieces around until you are satisfied with the placement. Take notice of how we layered our paper off to the side instead of creating a border on all four edges. This is just a creative idea you can keep in mind for additional cards and projects to add a different visual interest.

Here are some finishing touches you could add to complete your card:

• Add 3D adhesive dots to create dimension on your card
• Add stickers to frame your design and fill space
• Add ribbons, bows, or string

Now you're ready to create your own gardening card. Use the basic steps and tips in this blog to inspire your card design using the Pot It Like It's Hot clear stamp set. Don't forget to follow our blog and socials for more card-making inspiration and tips!