Shades of Grey Enjoy Life Tree

Here is the birthday card I made for my father-in-law earlier this month. I used a set of stamps I treated myself to at the Sincerely Yours show in Lincoln back in May.

I am also entering it into a few blog challenges:

• Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - #35 Anything Goes
• Your Next Stamp - #22 Birthdays
• The Crazy Challenge - Forest Friends/Back To Nature
• Stamps R Us - #2 All Male Theme
• The Secret Crafter - #95 It's A Man's World
• The Stamp Man - #2 Take Two Colours

A panel was cut from white card using a standard octagon Nestabilities die and the tree image from the Penny Black Enjoy Life stamp set was stamped in the centre using the Versafine Smokey Gray archival pigment ink. With the die in place, the edges of the panel were distressed using the Tim Holtz Weathered Wood and Black Soot distress inks.

The stamped panel was matted onto a larger octagon cut from grey card and a larger scalloped octagon panel cut from Craft Planet Silver Satin card.

A panel of the grey hanging vine paper from the Papermania Monochrome Capsule Collection paper pad was distressed with the Weathered Wood and Black Soot inks. A strip of the herringbone stripe paper from the same paper pad was also distressed and matted onto a strip of the silver satin card and matted on to the larger panel and a panel of silver satin card.

Small black Papermania brads were added to the corners of the panel.

The Sizzix Sizzlets Bookplate #2 die was used to die cut silver satin and white cardstocks. The white panel was distressed with the Weathered Wood and Black Soot inks and stamped with the 'Enjoy Life' sentiment stamp from the Penny Black stamp set using the Smokey Gray ink. The bookplate was assembled and dark grey embroidery thread was threaded through the holes.