Bringing Home the Tree

The current theme for the Dies R Us challenge is "Trees and/or Leaves." I decided to create a Christmas card, with the theme of bringing home the tree.

I began by stamping my truck, from Stampendous' "Truck Tidings" set (discontinued), in Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. I die cut that, & also die cut the tree from bristol with the coordinating die from the same "Truck Tidings" set. I colored the truck with my Tombow markers, using a damp paintbrush to spread the color for highlights & shading.

For the tree, I colored the die cut with a base layer of a mid-green Tombow marker. Then I just added flicks for the pine needles with 2 darker green markers, concentrating the shading on the right side, since that would face down when I put it "in" the truck bed.

I cut an A2-size panel from Bazzill Icy Mint cardstock for my card front. I inked around the top & side edges with Broken China Distress ink, just for a bit of color variation. I stamped the "Small Forest" image by Art Impressions in Memento Olive Grove ink. I did second generation stamping for a few of the impressions to give a lighter shade, for a greater feeling of depth.

Because I grew up in Texas, we never had snow when going to get our Christmas tree. So I die cut a strip of 140 lb. watercolor paper with a My Favorite Things "Grassy Fields" die, & inked it with Shabby Shutters Distress ink. I cut a strip for the road from black cardstock. I adhered that to my background, and glue the grass strip right above it. Then I glued down my truck & tree.

I decided to use the Merry Christmas stamp from Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" set for my greeting. I thought it would be neat to make it look like the stripes on a road, so I stamped it 3 times. I made sure to center the first impression, then stamped it again on either side of that. Using my MISTI stamp positioner made this so much easier! I heat embossed the text with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I realize that the truck is driving on the wrong side of the road in my card, but I figure it's just passing a slower vehicle! :) Finally I adhered my panel to a white card base. Another Christmas card for my stash!

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's "Anything Goes" challenge (not playing the twist.