A Better World - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony Dies

   I've neglected using the Natural Hues Specialty paper since I got it back in the spring but it works perfectly on today's card!  I made another card for my stamping book club series and this paper is a pretty close match to the background of the book cover!

   The book that inspired this card is The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris.  This book is set in Georgia shortly after the end of the Civil War.  Soldiers are returning home from war, newly freed slaves are trying to build a life away from the plantations and people are struggling with the changes in their way of life and in the middle of it all is George Walker and his wife Isabelle.  Longtime citizens of Old Ox, Georgia they've never quite fit in and when George decides to hire former slaves Landry and Prentiss to work on his farm an unlikely friendship forms and trouble comes to all of them.  

  I loved the bold colors of the cover and wanted to pull those in as well as the the texture of the background.  I used a piece of the Natural Hues Specialty paper for the card front.  Then used a slightly smaller piece and then lightly drug my Crumb Cake ink pad across it to highlight some of the texture in the paper.

  To make the leaves I blended Real Red, Cajun Craze and Timid Tiger in a random pattern on a piece of Basic White.  Next I flicked drops of water (a tie in to the title!) across the panel and let it dry before cutting out the leaves with the Nature's Symphony dies.

  I think this sentiment from the Fern & Flora stamp set goes well with the book theme because we definitely see some of the characters strive to make the world a better place despite all that is against them. The sentiment is stamped in black on a label from the Filled with Sweetness (also a book tie in lol) die cut label.  The label is popped on dimensionals with a length of copper ribbon tucked underneath.  A sprinkling of copper sequins is the final touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Fern & Flora

Ink: Real Red, Cajun Craze, Timid Tiger, Crumb Cake, Basic Black Hybrid

Paper: Natural Hues Specialty paper, Basic White

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, Filled with Sweetness dies, dimensionals, copper ribbon (retired), Neutrals Adhesive-backed Sequins (retired)