The Garden Gate ~ Carved with Love

I absolutely LOVE the new "Hardwood" stamp from Stampin' Up! It's so earthy and warm and manly. Perfect for a Valentine's Day card for my hubby! He is the most rugged, manly man I've ever met so a pink cutesy frilly card just wouldn't do it for him. I immediately thought of cutting this stamped image up and adding depth to it by shading the edges with a sponge and adding a darker piece of paper as the base. It worked! Once I did that, I added mini brads to each end to make it look like a gate. I added a few of the new embellishments from the Occasions catalog and a quick sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and it was done! 

I wanted the heart to look like it had been carved with a pocket knife. How sweet is that? So, I pre-stamped the heart in Soft Suede and traced around it with Soft Suede and Early Espresso markers. I used a masking technique to stamp the arrow from the Geometrical stamp set (I'm slightly addicted to those arrows!). 

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler

Stamp Sets ~ Hardwood, Hearts a Flutter, Geometrical, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Tools ~ Stampin' paper trimmer, 3/16" Corner punch, Word Window punch, Dimensionals, Paper Piercing tool

Embellishments ~ Mini Brads, Natural 5/8" Chevron Ribbon, Basic Metal Buttons, Linen Thread