A Birthday Card Out of My Comfort Zone

Last year I was a new-ish paper crafter. I was "into" trying out kits. So, all my family during the January through March time frame received cards that used only kit materials. Everyone was very kind, but truth be told none of the cards I gave out really fit anyone. That is one of my biggest issue with kits and why I've stopped all kit subscriptions. Now, it doesn't stop me from buying a one off kit if I see that it contains supplies I love. For example I did buy a Summer kit from Simon Says Stamp and Thanks A Latte Paper Pumpkin from Stampin Up. These are very specific purchases for me and makes more sense as I rarely find myself needing inspiration.

That leads me into this card. It is definitely not a type of card I would normally make. It is for my cousin and he enjoys hunting. I bought the stamps for not only the hunters of the family but to dual purpose them for my Fallout 4 album which is all about your armory (a wide variety of pistols, rifles, grenades etc), and using your weapons to take down raiders, ghouls, super mutants and myriad other baddies. I plan to use the shotgun stamp and its matching die for the album. Now, back to the card. I found forest paper and a sentiment (Stampin Up). I bought the stamps with matching dies from Gina Marie. My mom helped me pick out the Copic colors for the hunter and deer. When I putthe pieces together, it was pretty blah. I struggled with masculine embellishments and ended up with what is pictured.

Alas, I was not careful when I built the layers because at the time I was not going for embellishments with any height, so when I put the card through my USPS mail jig... it got stuck - because of the buckle with large domed brad (Tim Holtz) it was too thick. I will have to pay a couple of bucks to get this to my cousin. Though not my best work ever, I figured I needed to post some average work along with my favorite projects (what is not my favorite might be great for another crafter and even the ho - hum, can still inspire). I am still thinking to add another layer of thin brown "something" on top of the off white linen ribbon on the top.

If I do figure out the perfect matching top layer, I will snap another picture of it. I don't need to mail this until Monday (his birthday is Wednesday). So I will keep mulling on this over the weekend. As a little side note. After putting this together, I now think he is a duck hunter, bah, and yes included in the stamp set is a perfect duck. For the greens I used the Tim Holtz mini pine cone and branch die. Behind the Holtz greens I filled in with the Martha Steward Branch punch. I filled out in front of the deer to give more depth and make it appear to be "in" the forest.

Ok, two more takes later I finally "settled" for what is now the main image. The first image below was the original design, and the second was my adjustment to the bottom linen ribbon. I finally decided there was just too much striping going on between the vertical trees and horizontal ribbon. I don't believe the final version to be one of my best achievements, but I think my cousin will enjoy it for what it is. I mailed it today. AND, I did alter the layers to it did fit through my mail jig. The final picture is me trying one last time after sealing the envelope, I know, I know, by then it is too late:)