Allotment of birthday wishes

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's my OH's birthday coming up and I've had an idea for a card for him. He and I have been working on the allotment together (although I must say that he's done the lion's share this year while I have been busy working with Lulu.)

 

I thought this In Spades stamp set and coordinating Garden Gear Tools die, both from the Greetery, would be perfect for my allotment hero! I started with the trowel and fork, cutting a set from white snippets of card and another from grey. The wood effect handles can be cut separately, so I cut those from an offcut of brown card. I sponged the white set lightly with grey ink, then stamped a small floral design on each. Once these were completed, I assembled them, glueing the stamped tools to the grey ones for dimension and adding the handles. I sponged the edges of these with brown ink to blend the colours. For a decorative touch, I threaded a bit of jute through the handle of the trowel and knotted it.

 

Rifling through my designer paper drawer (and thinking of sheds!) I came up with a strip of wood effect paper which I trimmed to size with a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodle. (So sad, by the way, to see that company is closing.) I wanted a bit more interest on that background, so I chose an oversized birthday stamp from Avery Elle's Big Birthday and stamped it in black on the side. I was then able to add a little 'happy' tag.

 

I wanted the wood effect panel to have a blue border to match the floral design but didn't have matching card, so I swiped the ink round the edge of a white panel cut slightly larger. Finally, I glued everything in place, attached the panel to a card base and finished with a small orange enamel dot.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Allsorts challenge where Gail has chosen Way to Grow as her theme; The Sisterhood of Crafters have an In the Garden theme, so I'm also joining in there. And this is the first time I used this stamp and die bundle, so I'm heading over to Darnell's NBUS challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Thank goodness election fever is over and we can return to the football! The golden girls disapprove of heated political debates and are happier (although still a bit dubious) with OH yelling at the footballers on the television screen to play better. They are quite surprised when we jump to our feet cheering, although this could be because it doesn't happen very often when supporting England!

Sending hugs,