I made this card for my best guy friend. He’s stationed on the USS Carl Vinson which has been aiding the Haiti relief effort. He’s terribly exhausted and really needs a pick me up so I wanted to make him an extra special card. It doesn’t scream Valentine’s Day but it says everything I want it to say about how I feel about him and how I value our friendship.

Note: all the stamp sets used on this card are retired.

The base of the card is cut from an old Stampin’ Up box.  I used the existing fold in the box and cut a standard card side on either side. I then tore a bit of the top layer of paper off of one side. I then sponged Chocolate Chip ink all over the card.

The first layer is a scanned and printed copy of newspaper (I scanned it since I knew I was going to go through several copies of it!) I aged the paper with Creamy Caramel ink and tore the edges. I then scrunched it up to get it wrinkled, un-scrunched and gently rubbed Chocolate Chip in on it deepen the colors of the wrinkles.

The top layer is Very Vanilla stamped with Summer Sun ink and the striped stamp from Background Sampler. I then stamped a few sayings from So Many Sayings (Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust), and then the round stamp from Rustic Rooster (Ruby Red). It was distressed first with some Summer Sun ink rubbed in with a sponge. Then distressed around the edges with my fingernail and finally by rubbing More Mustard on the edges. The brackets were die cut using my Big Shot. Before running the Old Olive paper through I sponged Always Artichoke on them to add some depth. Finally, I put some non-SU grommets in on the ends to hold the ribbon.

Because the cardboard doesn’t lie nice and flat, I cut a long piece of ribbon and ran it behind the layer, through the grommets and it will tie in the back to keep the card closed.

Recipe:

Stamps: (All retired) So Many Sayings, Background Sampler, Rustic Rooster

Paper: Cardboard box, copy paper, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, Always Artichoke

Accessories: 1/4″ Brown PolyTwill ribbon, Big Shot, sponges, Crop-a-Dile, grommets, Stampin’ Dimensionals