On the weekend, I was making a very basic card to go with a very basic pillow box, to use as the make and take for a workshop, with all new people who may not have stamped before.  I was quite happy with the very simple, elegant look of the card and pillow box for a beginner, using the extremely elegant Vintage Vogue set from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Autumn - Winter mini catalogue.

But I thought straight away, this is a card, that can easily be stepped up for someone who is more crafty and wants more of a challenge.  In fact, all I did to schzooz it up, was stamp some co-ordinating flowers from the same stamp set onto Whisper White card, cut them out with fine scissors, and mount them on the card front with Stampin' Dimensions so they sat up beautifully.

I thought this was a lovely addition to the card, and obviously the creative workshop guests did too, as they also decided to stamp extra flowers, then painstakingly cut them out (waiting patiently for the scissors) so they could also add them to the front of their cards.

Half the guests did the Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy card you see above, the other half went for something even more feminine and pretty in Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red.

Oh, how divine are those colours, and the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper used in the lower border, instead of the Very Vintage Jumbo Stampin' Round wheel which I used in the first card.

But, the following day, I had a moment of inspiration, and decided that I need to take this card even further, as the whole Vintage theme lends itself to lots of layers and added extras, and there are so many amazing new products in the Autumn-Winter mini, I just had to take it further.

I added more hand cut flowers, a touch of an extra colour with Kiwi Kiss & Old Olive, some bling in the form of a rhinestone brad and extra layers to the background with the help of the Big Shot and gorgeous Top Note Die.

I have also used my Old Olive, Mellow Moss, Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy markers to colour the "F" from the friends stamp to just use a bit more of that feature colour.

Hmmmm, don't you adore that delicious water colour effect?  Here's a close up of the flowers - and believe it or not, it only took me about half an hour to cut out heaps of them - I have quite a few left over, so I might have to add a project to this "series" . . .

So there you go, how to schzooz up a card in three easy lessons.  And with the popular Vintage and collage styles at the moment, you can't go wrong!