Just recently a couple of friends have both lost close members of their family.  Sympathy card are hard to make but I know first hand how comforting it is to receive them.  When preparing to make today’s card I automatically reached for the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set and specifically the lone pine tree image.  By itself, this tree could be seen as quite sad, but I prefer to look at it as something that has weathered the storms, and still stands strong.  It’s forever shaped by what has happened to it, but not broken.  A life lesson if ever I saw one.

THE LONE PINE TREE

I wanted my pine tree to be stamped in two colors and the easiest way to do that was with Stampin’ Write Markers.

Using the brush tip of a Soft Suede marker I coloured the tree trunk on the stamp rubber.  Then using the brush tip of a Mossy Meadow marker I coloured in the foliage.  I breathed onto the surface of the stamp to remoisten the ink then stamped it onto Thick Very Vanilla Card.

Using the same ‘marker to stamp’ technique I stamped the tree on a layer of Very Vanilla Card.  Then I did the same on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.

THE CARD BASE AND BACKGROUND

Using my Stampin’ Trimmer I cut and scored a piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card for my card base.  I folded the card along the scored line then sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

My background layer comes from the Nature’s Poem 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) Pack.  After cutting the DSP I attached it to the card base with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

A SIMPLE SCENE

I toyed with the idea of sponging a simple scene but in the end opted to create one using DSP, and I found exactly what I needed in the Tranquil Textures Designer Series Paper (DSP) Pack.

I overlapped the Balmy Blue and Mint Macaron pieces then used Paper Snips to cut a gentle curve in the two layers.  I took the top piece of the blue DSP and the bottom piece of the green and flipped them over.  Fitting the curves together was a really simple job and I held everything in place with a piece of sellotape on the back.   I then took the DSP over to my Big Shot and Magnetic Platform.

It was time to cut the assembled piece using the #4 (largest) of the oval dies in the Stitched Shapes Framelits.

Next I cut out my lone pine tree using the coordinating die from the Nature’s Roots Framelits.  Then using Stampin’ Dimensionals the tree was fixed to the oval DSP scene.

BUNDLE BONUS – I purchased the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set and coordinating Nature’s Roots Framelits dies using a bundle item number.  This meant I got a 10% discount off the cost of buying the two items separately.  In the product list I’ve included links to the bundles and individual items so you can compare them for yourself.

THINKING OF YOU

Using Early Espresso ink the ‘thinking of you’ sentiment was stamped onto Thick Very Vanilla Card.  Then I cut around the words using Paper Snips.

The DSP scene was fixed to the to the front of the card with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).  Then came the sentiment, attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

More liquid glue was used to fix the Very Vanilla layer inside the card base and my project was finished.

TODAY’S THE DAY

It’s August 10th so that means today is your last chance to take advantage of the August Paper Pumpkin promotion.  I’d really like you to try Paper Pumpkin and let me know what you think of these papercraft kits.

Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin using my link and quote promo code BLOOM0818 to get the August kit for half price.

The August kit contains everything you need to make a set of full-size cards, and if you love the images in the promotional advert, I think you’ll love this kit.

If I’m wrong and you don’t like the kit when it arrives, let me know and get a full refund.

With Paper Pumpkin there’s no contract to sign and no minimum subscription period.  You can skip a month if you wish, or you can unsubscribe completely at any time.  If you’ve ever wondered about Paper Pumpkin, now’s the time to give it a try.

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