Lovely As A Tree

I had two special masculine birthdays to make cards for, so I pulled out my new Lovely as a Tree set (not new to the catalog, but new to me). I've seen so many beautiful cards made with this set and I couldn't wait to give it a go myself. I am not 100% satisfied with these, but after spending too much time staring at them, I had to just call them finished and get them in the mail - they were both late as it was!

This first one uses the Le Jardin DSP on a Mellow Moss base. The trees were stamped with Basic Brown on Naturals Ivory cardstock layered onto Chocolate Chip. Then I used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter to give them some subtle (hard to see in the photo) color. Masculine cards always beg for hardware, and I welcome the opportunity to pull out my Hodgepodge Hardwarde tin! I've never really used these buckles, but they were a lot of fun to play with... just the touch I was looking for on this wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment comes from Sincere Salutations, inked in Always Artichoke and punched with the large oval punch.

I got a little experimental on this second one. I stamped the trees with black Craft ink onto Watercolor paper and then embossed them with clear powder. Then I lightly brushed some color on with the Aquapainter and Watercolor Wonder Crayons to give the appearance of a sunset. Using watercolor paper is SO much nicer than any of the other natural paper... it gives you a lot more flexibility and allows you to blend the color better. Here's a closer look:

I roughed up the edges of the watercolor paper with my fingernail... I WOULD'VE used my handy Cutter Kit that has a fantastic distressing tool, but it has gone MIA. I miss it... well, my FINGERNAILS miss it most! The base cardstock is Always Artichoke and the sentiment comes from All Holidays. The ribbon on top comes from the Sherbet ribbon originals and I layered that on top of the wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain and secured them both with brads. Again, I added a buckle because a bow just doesn't seem right on a man's card!

Early January birthdays are so hard to be on time for, don't you agree?! After Christmas and New Years, I always feel like I should be done celebrating for awhile... but there's ALWAYS something to celebrate, right?! So there's ALWAYS a reason to create a beatiful card! And better late than never... I suppose.