Good Morning Fellow Stampers -
Wow! It's Monday!! Already!! I was supposed to have a 3-day weekend because it was my off-Friday. I think I had a 3-day weekend; I can't remember it!! LOL :-) This week promises to be busy busy! How about you?
Yes Indeed - I'm very honored to share that this design was picked as the "headliner" challenge winner for this challenge week.
It's Paper Players challenge [PP248] time!! This week is a "theme" challenge, and this week's theme is to create a "masculine" card, especially as Father's Day is approaching.
Now, in all honesty, I have not created a Father's Day card since my Father died six years ago from cancer. I just have not had the heart for it and have avoided Father' Day at all cost. I guess sooner or later you have to at least acknowledge the day exists -- dad or no dad! So, I have stepped out in faith on this challenge, and actually had a little fun in the process.
The other part of today's design is that it is "Ann Schach" inspired -- LOL. My upline just has quite the knack and I do so admire her style. When I was standing in front of my stamp shelves trying to figure out what I had that could possibly be interpreted as "masculine" I had her card for this week's challenge hanging in the back of my mind. Now, of course, I do indeed own Lovely As a Tree -- who doesn't? LOL I started to take sets off the shelf thinking, oh I can use this, or oh, I can use that!! I actually had 3 stamp sets on my table that I contemplated -- World Map, Crazy About You, and Wetlands. I ended up not using World Map but reached for a beautiful piece of the new Bohemian DSP instead, and coordinated my color scheme to go with it. Let's see what you think of my "Ann Schach" inspired design ;-)
Doggone Delightful Stampin' Design Tips:
- Layerothology. The cardbase for this card is cut from Very Vanilla cardstock, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4". The back mat layer is Delightful Dijon. To create this card with the square opening, I cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, 5 x 3 3/4", so it would "hide" behind the front panel. The top panel is Bohemian DSP cut 5 1/4" x 4". I cut a square using the Squares framelits dies; then I cut a piece of Early Espresso cardstock 5 x 3 3/4", carefully attached it to the back of the DSP with SNAIL, and then centered and cut with the next square framelit size down to create the inset mat look to the frame. When complete and ready, this piece was popped with dimensionals.
Technique Tip: Center your top piece on the background and very lightly, with a pencil, put small marks at each side of the opening on the cardstock underneath, so that when you lift away, you can see exactly where your opening is going to line up. Now you can stamp your image with confidence because you know where it is going to line up when the overlay is put back in place.
- Cattails and Geese. I do like the Wetlands stamp set. I also really liked the Moon Lake stamp set that just ended with the closing of the Spring Occasions catalog. These stamp sets lend themselves nicely to a "masculine" card. Mister Goose there is stamped in Soft Suede on the Very Vanilla background. I then took the Mossy Meadow stampin' write marker and the Basic Gray stampin' write marker and free-handed additional color around the grass and on the goose. There are cattails stamped in Delightful Dijon in the background as well. The fun part of this is the cattails which I stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and then fussy cut for the front of the card. They have all been popped with dimensionals and really give a lovely 3D effect to the front of the card. I used the Hello You thinlets for my "thanks" -- the rest of this card's message completes itself on the inside.
- Turn to the Inside. I finished the inside of the card using the two square pieces that got cut out when I cut the square opening and frame for the front. "For Being You" is from the Crazy About You stamp set, and I split the phrase and then punched it out with the Word Window punch. One more fussy cut cattail finishes up the inside of this card.
I hope you like my "masculine" and "Ann Schach" inspired design today. I think every wonderful Dad should be thanked for being exactly who they are. I'm pretty sure I didn't thank mine nearly enough. Don't you just love this Bohemian DSP? I'm finding it to be extremely versatile!
Have a wonderful week everyone! We've got lots to share with you all this week -- so stay tuned. Don't forget to check out my Annual Clean Out Sale Page and help me clean out the Studio :) Lots of goodies need a good home!
Until Next Time . . .
