Out on a Limb

This is my first try with the Out on a Limb stamp set from Papertrey Ink. The card is based on a sketch from Jen's blog. The images made me think of earthy, neutral colors, so I started with some kraft cardstock as the card base.

From there, I stamped the branch and leaf images on a piece of vanilla cardstock using chalk inks. I left just enough room for the sentiment in the bottom right corner of the panel. "Life" is a completely separate stamp, so it was easy to place (and to stamp in a color that was different from the rest of the sentiment). I used a piece of sponge to sponge just a bit of brown ink around the edges of the vanilla panel to make it blend in more with the look of the kraft cardstock.

I replaced the small sentiment panel in the original sketch with a piece of ribbon. I used the horizontal slot punch to create a hole for the celery satin ribbon. I punched the holes through one cardstock layer at a time. I started with the image layer, punched that, then moved on to the next panel. I centered the image layer on the first mat, then used the hole in the image layer as a guide for punching the hole on the mat. Then, I glued the layers together and repeated for the next panel and for the cardfront. That punch is just not made to punch through multiple layers of thick cardstock, so this helps to get the job done.

I'm expecting some new stamping stuff to arrive tomorrow or the next day from both Kitchen Sink Stamps and Starving Artistamps. I guess it's a good thing I'm coming home from work early tomorrow for some repair work at my house--more time to stamp!

Materials Used:
Out on a Limb stamp set (Papertrey Ink); Jumbo Java, Spanish Olive, and Tea Leaves chalk inks (VersaMagic); Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, and Kraft cardstock, Fall Flowers designer paper, rectangle slit punch (Stampin' Up!); satin ribbon (Michaels)