Wood sheets card

Happy March, everyone! I was super excited when I saw the March Creative Crew Challenges last month over at Splitcoaststampers. This was the first project I did for it, and I have been sitting on my hands trying not to share it with you early! But the gallery opens today at noon, so I can show you what I've been hiding for the last couple weeks. This was one of those rare projects where it turned out nearly exactly how you were envisioning it.

The challenge was to use materials on page 216 of the current Idea Book & Catalog–window sheet, chipboard, magnet, cork, etc. I started with a piece of the wood sheets (item #116309, and yes, they are real wood!) and traced the word "dad" with letters I had cut on my Big Shot from chipboard. Love how the Big Shot cuts over 100 different types of materials–there is no more versatile machine on the market!

I used an Early Espresso marker to trace, and tried to make thew lines kind of rough, like it was sketched. I was almost looking for a blueprint kind of feel.

TIP: I used a tiny strip of scrap wood sheet to test my inks and stains first before I applied them to the card front. That way I knew exactly how dark or light it would be.

I colored in the letters very roughly with a Crumb Cake marker. After that, I just stamped images from the Travel Log set in a couple colors of ink, distressed the edges with a Soft Suede ink pad and the Distressing Essentials Kit (item #118762) ink spot in Tea Stain, and added four Vintage Trinkets button brads to "nail" the wood in the corners. I also hand-wrote a few words in big loopy cursive because I like that look. Then I mounted it on a Cajun Craze Mat and an Early Espresso base. I tried adding twine or twill tape and it just looked better plain.

I hope my dad loves his birthday card! Stay tuned for lots of masculine card ideas this month, because both Mike's dad and mine, plus my big brother, all have March birthdays. And don't forget to check out the Creative Crew gallery and play along with the challenges this month at Splitcoaststampers!