Whoo Loves You?

As a card maker, I am (I hate to admit) guilty of sending my cards late. It's the old shoemaker's children have no shoes theory in action in my house for most occasions. That's why when I saw Hero Arts' monthly challenge to make a card for Dad or Grad, I decided to join in. I'm proud to say that Sal's Father's day card is signed and sealed and ready to be delivered FIVE weeks ahead of time. Yeah for me! Anyway, here's my card:

I based it on Sketch 166 which I saw on the Card Positioning Systems blog:

Let me tell you a little bit about this card. I got the idea for the owls and the "Who Loves You" sentiment right away. My only problem was that I only own Christmas owl stamps (which are all dressed in ski sweaters or Santa hats) and I didn't want to buy another stamp this week. Then the light bulb went on and I thought that if my owls were hiding in the tree, I could cover up their winter attire. So after stamping and embossing the wood grain for the tree, I got out my hole punch and created some hiding spots for my Christmas owl. (Note: I first cut out three circles from scrap paper and placed them on my stamped image with removable adhesive. I punched right around these scrap circles for perfect placement!) After coloring and dressing my owls (including pearls for the Mom owl), I attached them so that they were peaking out from behind the circles and then used foam dimensionals on the back of the entire piece. Wanting to add more texture, I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the brown card stock behind each owl. Here's a close-up:

When my new phonebook was delivered this week, i thought it was a shame to throw the old one out -- especially since I look up any numbers I need online. So, in the spirit of recycling, I tore out some sheets, scalloped them with my border punch and added glimmer mist. The result, A soft ruffle trim that reminds me of owl feathers. And as luck would have it, using pages from a phonebook is the challenge over at Paper Crafts this week! Talk about a hat trick!

Well now that the card is done, I guess I should start shopping for his gift!

Supplies

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Naturals Very Vanilla, River Rock); Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Background Flourish; Designer Woodgrain; Curly Alphabet; Owl Christmas; Trees, Birds & Messages)

Ink: VersaMark; Ranger (Coffee, Vintage Photo Distress); Stampin' Up! (Riding Hood Red)

Stamp n Stuff Embossing Powder (Detail Clear)

Tools: Stampin' Up (Circle Punch, Scallop Punch); Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Distressed Stripes)

Misc.: Stampin' Up! markers; Recollections Pearls; Technique Tuesday ribbon