Among the new acquisitions in my craft room are photopolymer stamps that traveled a long way to get there.

I was again browsing one of my favorite sites, Etsy, taking a gander at what type of stamps were available. That’s when I came across a brand I hadn’t heard of before: Flonz. A search on Google turned up the company’s website, where I discovered a wide array of clear stamps produced by a small business in New Zealand. I purchased a few and eagerly awaited the long-distance package. I was so excited when it arrived that I posted a photo of the envelope on social networks.

I used one of the stamps the Kiwis sent me to try out a different inking technique. Lately, I’ve been crazy about paint mists. I’ve solely used Heidi Swapp shimmer paints in a few colors to ease myself into the medium. I’ve sprayed directly onto paper and indirectly onto chipboard. For this card, I sprayed the paint into a tray and used it to ink my stamp. It took several attempts to achieve a satisfactory transfer. I learned that allowing the paint to dry a little and using smooth cardstock helps create a clean image. I wanted a bit of texture in my image, though, so I stamped on the reverse side of textured cardstock, which shows a bit of the impressions in the paper.

Here’s how to make it:

Cut a 3-inch-square piece of white cardstock (I used the reverse side of textured cardstock). Spray blue-green mist paint (I made my own by combining Heidi Swapp Color Shine paints in mint green and teal) into a tray or onto a paint-safe surface. Let the paint dry a bit, then ink a tree stamp (such as drop tree by Flonz) with the paint and stamp the image onto the white cardstock.

Allow the paint on the paper to dry. Distress the edges of the paper. Attach a flocked black, bird-shaped brad to the cardstock, over the tree.

Stamp a talk-bubble image featuring “hello” (mine’s from the Up and Away collection from Find Your Wings and Fly by Rhonna Farrer for My Mind’s Eye) in gray ink (I used Fresh Ink in slate) onto a piece of light-teal cardstock. Cut the image out.

Make a card from a 5-by-10-inch piece of teal textured cardstock. Cut a 4 1/4-inch-square piece of black-and-white, floral-patterned cardstock (I used the reverse side of “Enjoyment” from the Celebrate collection by Authentique) and adhere it, centered, to the card’s front. Cut a 4-inch-square piece of yellow trellis-patterned cardstock (such as from the Park Bench collection by Fancy Pants Designs) and adhere it, centered, to the floral paper. Adhere the tree piece, centered, to the yellow paper.

Using dimensional adhesive, affix the talk bubble close to the bird.