Love in Gray Tones - Stampin' Up!® Hope Love & Joy

   My card today is another one in my stamping book club series in which I use a book I've recently read as inspiration for a  hand stamped card.  I'm mostly using the covers as inspiration but if something is a standout part of the book that would work well on a card then that will be used too.  I'm trying to catch up on my list and I think this was the book that kind of held me up in the creative department; I almost skipped doing it!  I used the Hope Love & Joy bundle to pull this one together.

  All this gray doesn't really scream 'love' does it?  Well like I said this was a bit of a tough card to make based on the book, even the cover doesn't give you much to work with.  I kept with the gray tones of the cover and there was a lot of love in the book but also a whole lot of terrible-ness too.

  

  A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara was one tough read but I'm glad I stuck with it.  Honestly I think parts could have been edited down for length but I thought it was an excellent book.  This book is truly about the most heartbreaking things but also about the love of found family and the strength one draws from being loved and supported whether you think you deserve it or not (please read some more thorough reviews as some readers may be triggered by themes in this book).  The story follows 4 friends as they meet in college then go through early adulthood and into middle age and their support, love, distance, and pride of each other.  The story circles around Jude who doesn't talk much about his traumatic past or the accident that has left him broken and scarred in ways his friends only learn about in small bits and pieces over decades. I chose to have my card focus on the love that is shown in so many ways in this story.

  The card base is Basic Gray and then a piece of retired Country Lace DSP is used in the background.

I stamped the 'fill the world with' at the top and then 'love' 3 times down a panel of Basic White and then stamped the heart 3 times on scrap  and used Blends to color them in gradients.  After they were die cut I popped them up in lieu of the 'o's. Before adhering the white panel to the card front I cut a Heartfelt Hexagon punched piece in half and tucked that at the top and bottom.  The top and bottom are highlighted with some retired silver adhesive dots.

 

  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: Hope Love & Joy

Ink: Basic Gray

Blends: Smoky Slate light & dark

Paper: Basic Gray, Basic White, Country Lace DSP (retired)

Accessories: Hope Love & Joy dies, dimensionals, Heartfelt Hexagon punch (retired), silver dots (retired)