Lovely As A Tree / NAC#19 / My Challenge #46

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! I hope you're having a great day and an Amazing week! Have you missed me? I have missed y'all, something awful! I've been so busy with my new job, I just haven't had time to do much of anything. I think I'm going to have start doing all but my NAC challenges on the weekend and then scheduling them to post. I just hate the thought of that though because then it doesn't feel as personal. I'm gonna figure something out though, I promise!

Did you order stamps during our one day Spectacular? I did and Mr. Ups brought them to my house on Monday. Love that guy! One of the sets I got was Lovely as a Tree? Do you have it? It's only the longest running set in Stampin' Up's catalog. Well, I finally got it. I think it's very pretty and great for masculine cards but I just kept putting it off. I sure hope they don't discontinue it in the next catalog!!!

Whenever I get new sets, I try to use them before I use any of my other sets. With the exception of that poor Make a Monster set, I'm pretty good about doing this. SMH. At any rate, I thought it would go great with this week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge. Have you been there yet? If not, you really should check them out. They have a great design team and great challenges every week. I haven't missed one yet. :) Here's what I came up with for this week's challenge-

Masculine Card featuring
Lovely as a Tree

Can I tell you how long it took me to do this card? I knew what I wanted to do, it was just the DSP selection and trying to figure out how to layer them. I bet I spent at least 45 minutes figuring this card front out. In the end though, I was really happy with how it turned out. :)

Here's the sketch I was working with-

 What do you think? I think it ended up being a pretty good take on the sketch. Here's a close-up of my focal point-

I used DSP from the color stack pack for the lower pieces. They were cut out with the 3rd smallest Window's Framelet. I sponged the edges with Soft Suede adhered them with Tombow to my base of Crumb Cake and then trimmed the edges. Next I cut a scrap of Soft Suede c/s with the same size framelet and then ran it through my Big Shot in my Stripes Embossing Folder. This was adhered with Tombow over the the other 2 pieces. I also sponged Soft Suede over the raised stripes to make the embossing stand out even more. It's hard to see in the picture but it really made a big difference. I love that something so simple can make such a big impact. My image was colored with Always Artichoke and Soft Suede. I stamped the Always Artichoke off once before adding the Soft Suede ink and then stamping it on Very Vanilla c/s. This was also then sponged to add a little depth. This piece was adhered with some Dimensionals.

Here's the inside-

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I really don't know how I made it this long without that set! The acorn & leaf image is also from the Lovely as a Tree set. I colored it with my Old Olive SU marker and then "tap-danced" Cajun Craze and More Mustard over it. The base of the limb & top of the acorn was colored in with Soft Suede and the bottom of the acorn with Crumb Cake. I then huffed on it and stamped it on a piece of V.V. c/s. Here's a closer look-

The edges were then sponged with more Soft Suede and my card was done. I'm so glad I finally got this set! Yea!!!

I hope you liked today's card and I hope the DT over at Nacho liked it too. I'll be back soon with the EWT for this week. Please don't give up on me, I'm gonna get this new job figured out and we'll be back on track soon. If you liked today's card or have any questions, I hope you'll take a moment to leave me a comment below. I read them all and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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