SU RETIRED STAMP SET - From the Garden

I've had this stamp for a long time and personally have had a difficult time trying to make a card with it.  It is such a beautiful design but because of the size it doesn't work really well on a card that is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I remembered that I still had some pre-scored larger card/envelope sets so I pull them out. 

 

My first try was simply stamping the image using Not Quite Navy but not adding anything futher.  I'm not thrilled with it so if anyone has SUGGESTIONS, I'll be more than happy to receive them.

 

 

Since I wasn't thrilled with it, I stamped several more using SU Soft Suede with the intention of coloring it.  Then I realized that if I used Copic markers, they would bleed throught the card stock.  I took one of the additional stamped images, colored it with Copics and then cut it out.  (When coloring on a large area, I do like to use Copic markers because they blend so easily without streaking.)  I was just going to "paper piece" it over the stamped image but decided to off set it a little so the outlined image showed through kind of like a shadow.  I added a few dots of Stickles to the center of the flower.   I'm still not real thrilled with the card so any suggestions here would also be welcome. 

 

My third attempt was stamping the image onto Marina Mist card stock using Not Quite Navy ink.  I inked a second image and cut out only the flower portion.  I added glue to the very bottom of the flower but added foam dots to 4 of the petals  to make it stand out.

 

This photo shows how the flower is popped from the image stamped on the card base.  (P.S.  When I realized there was a smudge of ink on the bottom 1/4" of the card base, I trimmed that edge off before adding the popped image.  That allowed the one petal to hang over the edge and yet still fit in the standard A2 envelope)

 

Remember -- if you have any suggestions about any of these examples, PLEASE let me know.  I'm not real thrilled with any of them.  I want to sometimes post some of my "not so favorite" pieces so that I can get new ideas from those of you who visit.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog!!!