My go-to stamp set

Every stamper has a set she finds herself constantly using. It's a sign of a good stamp set when you find one that can fit almost every occasion and is suitable for either feminine or masculine type cards. My go-to set is Lovely as a Tree. I recently had an order for a masculine birthday card and while I was blog-surfing I came across a card using this set with a sponged and direct-to-paper technique background. I can't remember now whose blog I saw it on but she had mounted the image on Whisper White, which looked very nice. While I used the same colours on the image, I decided to mount mine on darker colours.

To make this image, I first sponged the sky area, using Bashful Blue and Pacific Point on Whisper White cardstock. Then I stamped the image using Stazon Black. For the bottom part, I took the Peach Parfait Classic Stampin Pad and swiped it randomly across the cardstock. On top of that I did the same thing with Early Espresso. Finally, I sponged a bit of Peach Parfait on the area between the sky and ground.

Then I mounted it on Early Espresso and used Cajun Craze for the base. The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso. Before placing the image panel, I used the Netting Background stamp inked with Cajun Craze to create some texture on the card base. I love the Netting BG stamp! It's new and now maybe I can part with the long-retired Canvas BG stamp that was so great. Or not!