Wedding Anniversary Card Using 'Nuts about Squirrels'

 Happy Monday crafty friends!

I am officially celebrating 13 years of marriage to my handsome husband and there's nothing like saying Happy Anniversary than with a handmade card!

I've been behind on using my stamp sets that I've purchased and believe it or not, I hadn't gotten to play with the Nuts about Squirrels stamp set! You can find this adorable stamp set at my Online Store or on page 49 of the Stampin' UP! 2021 Holiday Catalog.

 During the making of this card, I really wished there was a punch or dies for this set. The most tedious part about this was having to cut out all those leaves and nuts. However, I was able to manage.

Cardmaking Tips:

• prepare the Thick Very Vanilla card base background by adding some So Saffron ink with a blending brush, making sure to have the darkest shade at the top.
• for the Sun in the background, you can choose to create a 2 1/2" circle mask while you're blending the ink OR you can simply add a 2 1/2" circle from Very Vanilla cardstock. 
• Use the Cork Specialty Paper to create the tree trunk and the tree branch. 
• Use the oval shape of the Hat Builder Dies to trace the outside of the die onto the middle of the tree trunk. Cut out with scissors. Note: I didn't use the die itself to cut out the shape because I wanted the hole slightly larger.  
• the tree trunk was popped up with dimensionals while the tree branch was adhered directly onto the card front.
• Stamp about 6 acorns using Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink then cut them out to fill the hole of the tree trunk.
• Use Early Espresso ink to stamp the tree branch two times as shown.
• For the masculine squirrel, stamp the 2 images onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Soft Suede for the outline and Crumb Cake for the shading. Cut out with scissors.
• For the feminine squirrel, use the reverse stamping technique to stamp it onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. The Stamparatus and the silicone craft sheet are extremely helpful with this! Add some eyelashes with your Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker.
• Stamp about 20 leaves onto Very Vanilla cardstock using Rich Razzleberry, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze inks. I stamped the image in full strength ink then stamped again without reinking to get the different shades of leaves. Cut them ALL out with your scissors...while you're listening to music or watching TV.
• The heart was cut out from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.

Inside Card

• The background for the inside of the card was the same as the front except for the sun image. This time I created a smaller mask (1 1/2" circle) to place onto the cardstock while I added the ink with the blending brush. 
• a 1" strip of the Cork Specialty Paper was adhered directly onto the cardstock using tape adhesive.
• The tree branch was stamped using Early Espresso ink.
• the two leaves were stamped onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Cherry Cobbler ink. One leaf was stamped in full strength ink and the other was stamped off, without reinking. 
• Add the sentiment using Early Espresso ink and adhere 2 more acorns underneath.

Cardmaking Supplies:

The following link provides the full list of products used to make this card, except for cutting tools and adhesives: https://s.tamp.in/x1l9Wv 

I do hope you've enjoyed today's post! Don't hesitate to leave me a comment below. I'd LOVE to hear from you!

Until next time...