I Have a Good Reason, Really...

Wow...15 days since I've posted. Well, instead of giving you the reasons, which I'm sure you'd understand because you're doing other stuff besides sitting around waiting for me to post here, let's get to a card!

Lorri Heiling is a very encouraging SU! demonstrator in AZ. She has a blog, and posts monthly the cards she and her downline make to swap at their meeting. This week, she posted this card by Barbara (who does not have a blog), and I LOVED it! I wrote Lorri immediately, seeking details. Lorri found a thread on SCS that gave details about this card design and its creator, Penny Wessenauer. That thread led me to Penny's Photobucket page where all the directions were neatly typed, complete with pictures! Don't you LOVE the internet?!

Here's my take on her design. I started with Soft Suede (SS) card stock, which is such a yummy color of brown that it's almost a shame to put it in the same category as Chocolate Chip or Close to Cocoa. (I won't reiterate all the instructions, because Penny already did a fantastic job with them.) I had my dear friend Shelly in mind for this card, since I missed her birthday and wanted her to have something that would communicate how I feel about her all the time, not just on the one day a year we officially celebrate her existence.

I pulled out the Peaceful Wishes set, which is retired (don't even get me started), and tried to think of a complementary color to pair with the SS. I chose Always Artichoke (AA). Aahhhh...I love trees, and these two evoke an evergreen forest in my mind. Enough waxing poetic. I needed a layout to help get my juices flowing, and I'd just seen a one for a square card on Melissa Sauls' blog. I stamped the evergreen branch image on 2-1 3/8"x3.5" strips to create patterned paper and then focused on the main image.

One of the main reasons I purchased this set was for this image. I used the direct to rubber coloring technique with my SS, AA, and Ruby Red Stampin' Write Markers. After a good huff on the stamp, I admired my work on the Very Vanilla (VV) card stock. I wanted to mat the image, and one thing led to another and suddenly I had 3 layers!

Now for the fun part--creating a little stopper so that the card would have a built-in easel! The pinecone in the set was sized appropriately to serve this purpose, and I mounted it with 2 double-stacked Stampin' Dimensionals to give it the height it would need. The sentiment from Kind & Caring Thoughts completed the card. I'm so tickled with how it turned out! Now I'm going to have to wait at least a week to hear what Shelly thinks of it. She lives in Vietnam, so this card's going a LONG way to its home.

Here's a side view so that you can get a better idea of how the easel is created. That Penny is BRILLIANT!