Let's Play

Hello and welcome back to the blog.  Today we are going to cut loose and just play.  I rarely allow myself to go off the rails and make an unplanned, unscripted, throw caution to the wind card.  I'm a clean and simple kind of gal, so this is way out of my comfort zone!  I'm going to play with the Adventure Awaits, Texturize It, and Tracks & Treads II stamp sets.  I'm making an A2 sized top folding card and I'm starting with a kraft card panel cut to A2 size.

I decided I wanted to stick to a neutral color scheme with the kraft card stock and so am using Iced Tea and Coffee Bean Hybrid Inks.  I opened all the stamp sets and just started picking stamps I like and put them on the paper.  No rhyme or reason, I just put them down.  Some overlap, some didn't stamp all the way, some look a little faded, and some are bold.  There are no rules with this card.  I just wanted it to be visually interesting with a common theme and neutral colors.  When I had the page filled, I decided to stamp the speckled granite stamp on top with Snowy White hybrid ink.  However, after inking up the stamp, I stamped off the ink on scratch paper and only did the secondary stamping on the card.  That way the white ink is very faded.

Next, I hand tore the edges for a rough look to go with the overall nature of the card.  I mounted that on a dark brown card panel cut to 4x5.25".  I then mounted the entire card panel on an A2 kraft card base with foam strips for dimension.  Now for the sentiment!

I used the words Explore and The Great Outdoors from the Adventure Awaits stamp set, which I stamped in Coffee Bean hybrid ink and heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  These inks emboss really well.  I cut around the embossed sentiment and rounded the corners then rubbed the edges on the Iced Tea ink pad rather messily.  I adhered the sentiment to the front of the card using foam strips.

I am really happy with the way this turned out!  I am going to send this with a gift card to a friend's daughter who is going on a senior trip soon!  It's perfect!

I hope you find some time to get crafty!!  Hugs, LeeAnn