at last

I have drooled over Lovely As a Tree for years now. But for some reason, I never bought it. I earned a free stamp set and now I finally own it! When it arrived, I could not wait to use it! And for some reason, the image that was calling out to me was the large maple tree. At least in my mind it's a maple. And for some reason, the season just had to be fall. My favorite season. I know summer is preferred by most people, but summer is just plain too hot for me. I'll take the crisp air and gorgeous colors of fall any day over the humidity and heat of summer. 

I used black StazOn ink for the tree image. I stamped it onto water color paper and then used the Scallop Tag Punch and made a tag. Then I got to work with my AquaPen. I started with Cherry Cobbler. Added a bit of Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry. A tree wouldn't feel right to me without a bit of Old Olive. And the trunk is done with Soft Suede. Then I pulled a little of the trunk's color down and painted the ground and finished that with Old Olive. A wash of Soft Sky finished the background. 

Texture was the next element I wanted, so of course I put my embossing folders to work. Woodgrain and Square Lattice. Gorgeous Grunge provided some visual interest. And I popped up the greeting twice with Stampin' Dimensionals. And voila! My first card with a stamp set I have admired from afar for so many years. 

Happy stamping!