Mountain Air – Happy Birthday

Time to celebrate the 500^th Sketch Challenge from Freshly Made Sketches!  Incredible.  I love to use a sketch as a starting point and the library of options at Freshly Made Sketches is an great resource. 

The Design Team strives for a clean and simple esthetic and that was what I was working towards.  However, as my initial idea came together for a masculine birthday card, the card felt a little bereft and I added a dreamy scene in the background to compliment the Pine Trees.

Here is the result:

Steps:

• For the side panel (2” x 4¾”), I chose to trim up one of the Evening Evergreen Ombre Gift Bags.
• To compliment the Ombre effect, I die-cut three of the Pine Trees using the Majestic Mountain Dies in matching cardstock colors: Smoky Slate, Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen.
• I selected Smoky Slate for the background panel (3¾” x 5”), Evening Evergreen for the accent panel (4” x 5¼”) and a Soft Succulent card base (8½” x 5½” scored at 4¼”).

I could have added some type of texture to the Smoky Slate panel but nothing I tried seemed to work well.  The card just needed a little something more.

• I created a few Stencils by die-cutting the Mountain Range, the Large Pine Tree and the Small Pine Tree with the Majestic Mountains Dies.
• Using these Stencils, I created the scene on the right side with Sponge Daubers and some stamping with the Mountain Air stamp set.  (a) Soft Succulent was added at the bottom using the Mountain Range Stencil upside down. (b) The Stencil was dropped and Evening Evergreen was added overtop and below the first color pass to create the foreground. (c) The Left Pine Tree was added with Smoky Slate using the Small Pine Tree Stencil.  (d) The Mountain Range Stencil was flipped right-side up and Smoky Slate was added to create the top Mountain.  (f) The Smoky Slate Pine Tree was masked and the Stencil was dropped and a Gray Granite Mountain was added just below.  (g) The Evening Evergreen Middle Pine Tree was added using the upper portion of the Large Pine Tree Stencil.  (h) With the Small Pine Tree stamp from the stamp set, a Soft Succulent Pine Tree was stamped over the Smoky Slate shadow created in (c) and another tree was stamped to the right.

For me, the scene added so much more depth and a dreamy mood to the overall card.  I was happy with the result.

• I chose to stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Enjoy the Moment stamp set on to a scrap on Smoky Slate cardstock with Evening Evergreen ink.  I then die-cut the sentiment with the (2½” x ½”) Stitched Rectangle Die.  The font is perfect for a masculine card.
• Then I put it all together!

Thank you for the Sketch Challenge.  I am always happy to play along. 

Thanks for spending some of your time with me today.   Cheers,  Jolanda!

I was influenced by two additional challenges:  Tic Tac Toe Challenges (#128) and The Paper Players Challenge (#556). So many possibilities with a Tic Tac Toe board.

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Need a card? Ask me and I can create one for you.  Want the supplies to create your own, let me know and I can help you with that too!

Like this card? Want to make one similar?
I would LOVE to be your Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. If you live in the United States, you can order your paper crafting supplies from my on-line store.  It is so easy. THANK YOU!

If you choose to shop with me today, please use HOSTESS CODE: Z9TAQFFRR (August 2021) if you spend less than $150.00.