Nature's Beauty Masculine Thank You Card

After several days of rain and being forced to stay in doors, I enjoyed a round of golf last Wednesday at the Surrey Golf Course. It wasn't overly warm but the sun was out periodically and the winds were mild. As the day progressed it got a little cloudy, but nothing could take away from being outdoors with great friends and having fun.   

After spending a day in the great outdoors, I managed to fit in some stamping time, and it was a no-brainer when it came to selecting a stamp for today's card. I chose Nature's Beauty a nine image cling rubber stamp by Stampin' Up! and I'm following along with Linda Callahan's great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #457. *

Note:  As sometimes happens, life gets in the way and sadly my card was not linked to the FMS #457 challenge this week.  Regardless I hope you'll use the link and visit their site to look at all the great cards by the Design Team as well as the participants.  Awesome - some real inspiration.   

Here's My Card:

The card I made is a masculine thank you card for a neighbor who gave me a hand with some work the other day.   I chose the deer as the main focal image and scattered some trees and grasses in the background.  It was stamped in Momento Black ink on a 3" x 5" piece of Whisper White card stock.  Very plain and simple.  I layered this on a 3 1/8" x 5 1/8" piece of gold foil.

The card base is a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock, scored at 4 1/4".  I added a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of Basic Black. For the next layer I decided to stamp the  large tree image from Rooted in Nature in Momento Black Ink to create a background. This is not a large layer it measures 3 3/4' x 3 3/4", and so you don't really see a lot, but it seemed to tie everything together.

The sentiment "To Thank You For All You Do" is also from Rooted in Nature and I embossed it with gold Embossing Powder on a 1/2" strip of Basic Black card stock.  I fancied up the edges with the new Lovely Labels Pick a Punch.  

Lovely Labels Pick a Punch #152883

The inside of the card is finished with a layer of Basic Black card stock that measures 5 1/4 x 3 3/4" and I added a strip of gold and black on the right hand side.  I wanted to write a thank you note on the inside panel so left it plain and didn't add a sentiment.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and take the time to leave me a comment.  I love to hearing from my viewers and getting your impressions of the cards and projects I make.   

Happy Stamping!

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Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator 

Hostess Code for October  MM72ZKPM

Lovely Lace and a Sneak Peek

I'm counting down the hours until New Years so will do just a quick post today featuring a Sneak Peek from the new Occasions Catalogue that will be available on January 3rd, 2013.

The focal point on this card is stamped with the new Painted Petals stamp set in Whisper White Ink on Early Espresso card stock.  This fun two-step watercolour style stamp set comes with 13 beautifully coordinated stamps and will be available in Wood, Clear and Photopolymer.  That's so exciting!  

I've coordinated this stamp with the Lovely Lace Embossing Folder available in the Annual Catalogue.  I embossed the Early Espresso card base with this folder and then used Whisper White ink and a sponge dauber to bring out the beautiful lace background. 

Once I'd applied enough Whisper White and had heat dried the card stock,  I sponged over over the pattern with Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral inks  to bring even more life and design to the background.  Wow did it look impressive! I was almost reluctant to cover it up with the center layers.  

I stamped the flowers and one of the sentiments "You're amazingly AMAZING" from the Painted Petals stamp set in Whisper White ink on Early Espresso card stock. Tip: I find that when I'm working with Whisper White ink on a dark background such as Early Espresso, Night of Navy or Basic Black card stock I like to use my heat gun to quickly dry the ink so I don't get any smudging. Don't hold the heat gun too close to the card stock and keep it moving, otherwise you will warp the card.  Once my card stock was dry, I used a light hand and Dazzling Details to give some subtle sparkle to the flowers. 

I sure wish these pictures had turned out better, because the stamping on this card had a real dreamy watercolour effect. I have such poor lighting in this house and it was simply too cold, cloudy and wet outside the day I made this card to take the pictures outside, so unfortunately I had to make do.  I foresee a light box in my future.   

Here is the inside of the card and one last look:

More images from the Painted Petals set for your exclusive Sneak Peek. Enjoy!

Wishing you and your families a most Happy New Year! 

Happy New Year & Happy Stampin!
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