Taking My Cue From Mother Nature

Stampin’ Up! really does make it easy to create lovely papercraft projects. What’s more there’s a continuity that straddles the products so mixing and matching from different catalogues is seamless. Mind you that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind today. I just thought it would be nice to create a card with an autumn feel using an older stamp set that’s still available. So after picking out the Rooted In Nature Stamp Set and coordinating Nature’s Roots Dies I set to work.

ROOTED IN NATURE

I began today’s project with the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set and an Old Olive ink pad.

First I stamped the triple beech leaf image onto Old Olive Card to give a tone on tone look. Then I stamped the large “thinking of you” sentiment onto Thick Very Vanilla Card.

Before moving on I used the coordinating Nature’s Roots Dies to cut out the leaf images. Then I used Paper Snips to cut around the stamped sentiment before setting the pieces aside.

I quickly decided to use the beech leaf image as my coordinating element so I decided to work on that next. First I stamped the image in the middle of the flap on a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Then I stamped it in the middle near the top of a layer of Very Vanilla Card.

I chose Thick Very Vanilla Card for my card base. I cut and scored the card using my Paper Trimmer, then folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Finally I completed my preparations by fixing the Very Vanilla layer on the inside using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

WOODGRAIN BACKGROUND

My original plan was to take my inspiration from nature so at this point I began looking for a suitable background. I considered a couple of embossing folders but then turned to my stock of Designer Series Paper (DSP). Eventually I found the ideal woodgrain pattern in the Poinsettia Place 12″ x 12″ DSP pack.

This piece had obviously been cut for an earlier project but not used as it was exactly the same size as my card front. However it was too big for what I had in mind so I trimmed it to 3-3/4″ x 5″. Then I cut a piece of Soft Suede Card 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″ and mounted the DSP onto it with liquid glue.

As I started to lay out the sentiment and die-cut leaves on the background I realised that there was too much woodgrain. So going back to the Soft Suede card I found a 7/8″ wide scrap that fitted perfectly across the layers. That small piece was exactly what I needed so I fixed across the middle of the layers with liquid glue. Then for some added interest I wrapped some Linen Thread around the layers and secured it on the back with Tear & Tape Adhesive.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Now I was ready to start putting it all together. First I glued the assembled layers to the card base with liquid glue. Next I added the sentiment with Stampin’ Dimensionals, before fixing the leaves under the sentiment using more liquid glue.

Unfortunately while I liked the texture of the Linen Thread it now seemed a bit lost. So I took another piece and threaded it under the thread on the card and tied it in a simple bow. That was much better and my project was complete.

As I tidied my desk I kept looking at the finished project and the more I looked the less satisfied I was. It just seemed like there was something missing. Then it struck me my card was all brown and green and not very exciting. As I tried to decide what to do my eyes fell on the piece of woodgrain paper I trimmed off the background. Only I was looking at the reverse side which covered in a pattern of bright red berries. Suddenly I knew what I had to do and reached for my Paper Snips.

From these small scraps of paper I carefully cut a few clusters of berries. It was a fiddly job but I felt sure that the effort would be worth it. Then using tiny dots of liquid glue I fixed the berries to the front of my card. Eureka that bright pop of colour was the missing element that transformed my OK card into one I love.

For some more projects using the Rooted In Nature Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:

STAMP SALE ON WEDNESDAY

Just a quick heads up that on Wednesday (September 23rd) Stampin’ Up! is holding a 24 hour flash sale. On this day (Mountain Time) you’ll be able to buy selected stamp sets at 15% off.