A little bit of good

Patterned paper is a fun, quick and easy way to add color or detail to a card. I love patterned paper, but I try not to buy it too often because sometimes I have a tendency to hoard it for that perfect project, which never seems to materialize. But when I saw the new Naturals Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP) in the new Stampin' Up!^® catalog, I knew I had to get it. It's similar to kraft card stock, so it's heavier than paper, and it's printed with tone-on-tone glossy patterns. (There are twelve sheets of DSP in the pack, two sheets each of six different one-sided patterns.) I used some of this DSP to make a card yesterday:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness, Language of Friendship
Paper: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso card stock; Natural Composition Specialty DSP
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits dies, Bird Builder punch, Boho Blossoms punch, pearls, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Isn't that DSP gorgeous? It's hard to see the gloss in this picture, but it adds a great visual and textural element to the card. I almost didn't want to hide the DSP at all, and I think that this paper would make a beautiful simple card with just a piece of ribbon tied around the card front and a greeting stamped on a tag and attached to the ribbon. But I wanted to do something a bit more elaborate here.

I knew I wanted to use one of the greeting stamps from the Pursuit of Happiness set, and I thought this quote from Desmond Tutu was perfect. I stamped the greeting and cut it out with one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits dies. I decided I would place the greeting along the left edge of the card in order to cover up as little of the DSP as possible, so I positioned the greeting to the side of the Framelit die before cutting. To make the mat, I placed the die on the Early Espresso card stock, traced around the lip of the die and then cut it out by hand.

With the greeting ready, I stamped and punched out the bird and branch. I struggled briefly with the flowers; I wanted to punch them out of the DSP, but I didn't want "waste" any of the paper. Light bulb! Before I adhered all the pieces of the card together, I punched the flowers from the left side of the DSP, which would be hidden by the greeting. (I've heard and used this tip before, but I always seem to forget about it ...) Finally I assembled all the pieces on the card and added a few pearls for embellishment.

If I can bear to part with it, I might try using a piece of the Natural Composition DSP as the whole card base next time. Then the back of the card would look pretty, too! Thanks for stopping by!