Hay for Terry

Oh my goodness, this card was nearly my creative undoing!  Today's card is a Teapot Tuesday Challenge card, and our recipient is a fellow Teapotter's husband, Terry, who needs a kidney transplant.  We wanted to send some cheer to him during this difficult waiting period, so we needed to make masculine cards.  Our teapot inspiration this week is a western-themed teapot and our challenge was based on Clint Eastwood movies.  I didn't have any western-themed stamps, but I had this cute hay bale and funny sentiment that I wanted to use.  We also had several techniques we could choose from for this challenge, and each was a twist on one of Clint Eastwood's films.  I chose to use a "painted background" technique (Paint Your Wagon).  I also decided to add a second option and use five panels layered (High Plains Drifter). 

A masculine, cowboy-themed card?  This posed a very intriguing challenge that took me far outside of my usual box.  My husband came down to my craft cave at one point and said, "What exactly are you trying to do there?"  I tossed that card and started another.  And another.  And another.  My recycling pile was getting pretty depressing.  But then I remembered a technique I saw Sandy Allnock use on a "Stump Sandy" segment on OWHtv where she distressed a piece of patterned paper to adapt it to her card's colors.  Finally, success!  (The distressed patterned paper is what I'm calling my painted background...I know, it's a stretch!)  But then I needed four more panels and I didn't have any matching patterned paper in my stash.  I struggle with using patterned papers anyway, so this was tricky.  I used a background stamp on one layer and even used the original patterned paper, unchanged, for another layer.  I am telling you, my heart and soul went into this card last night!  I finally emerged from my cave around 2:00 a.m. and told my husband that a card had almost killed his wife.  Bless his heart, he pretended to understand!

Here's my card:

I started with a dark brown card stock base and a piece of patterned paper.  I distressed the patterned paper with Walnut Stain and Tea Dye Distress Inks.  I stamped my image and sentiment on Classic Crest Natural White and sponged Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa chalks over the panel, then inked the edges with Rich Cocoa ink.  I stamped the sentiment in Rich Cocoa, but struggled find the right shade for the hay.  I finally settled on inking the stamp with Rich Cocoa then using a a clean sponge to pull a bit of the ink off (stamping off removed too much ink, so the sponge was the trick), then sponged the stamped image some with additional colors until it could pass as hay.  It's still not the color I'd like, but it will do.

I stamped another piece of Natural White with a Canvas background stamp using Chestnut Roan chalk ink.  The lighter patterned piece on this card is the same patterned paper I used for the large distressed panel, just without any distressing.  Isn't it amazing how much difference a little distress ink can make? 

We get extra cookies at the tea party if we forgot about Christmas while making the card, and I can pretty much tell you that I deserve a plateful!  The only time I thought about Christmas was when I wondered if this card would ever be finished by then!  For all of my struggles with this card, I have to admit it was one of the most fun cards I've ever made because it really required me to try new things.  If you could only see the pile of rejected card parts you would know just how many new things I tried!  This card is definitely not my usual style but I hope it will give Terry a smile.

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Products Used:

 

Paper: Dark brown card stock (Bazzill); Classic Crest Natural White 80 lb. (Neenah);

"Woven Natural Fibers" patterned paper (The Paper Studio)

Stamps: Hay bale and sentiment (River City Rubber Works); Canvas background stamp (Stampin' Up!)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko); Walnut Stain and Tea Dye Distress Inks (Tim Holtz/Ranger); ColorBox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan (Clearsnap); various other inks

Accessories and Tools: Chalks (Stampin' Up!)