As I was creating this card, I was thinking about all the people who lost their lives in the recent tornados, as well as all of the folks whose lives are going to be forever changed by them. Our farm was hit by a tornado several years ago and I can still remember the moment when my husband and I looked at each other and both said that we wished we could just drive away. We didn’t know where to begin to clean up. Then all of these ‘angels’ began showing up to help us. Family, friends, and people we didn’t even know. It was amazing.

This card uses layers of stamping without any masking. Start with the long background shrub and rock stamp, place it in the middle of the 4″ x 5 1/4″ Basic White card stock using Soft Succulent ink. Next, stamp the image with the grass right at the bottom of the first image using Shaded Spruce ink. Let the tall grasses overlap the first image. Finally, stamp the tall evergreen trees in the foreground with Evening Evergreen ink.

The deer in the front is the only element that was stamped on a separate piece of paper and die cut. I didn’t care for the white outline that was left from the die cut so I trimmed it off with a scissor, so for this card the dies really weren’t needed. The deer in the back was stamped directly onto the card. If you don’t like the green showing through his ears, die cut or fussy cut him as well.

After stamping the images, the white area looked too white. Blending Brushes were used to add a hint of color. Soft Succulent on the bottom, Polished Pink at the horizon and Balmy Blue for the top of the sky. I wanted to capture the image of deer at sunrise. I often see them out in our pasture when I go out to let my horses out of the barn. There is a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Evening Evergreen behind the Basic White and then it is added to the front of a Basic White Thick card base.

The greetings for both the front and the inside are from the Special Moments Sale-a-bration set. It can be earned with a $100 order during the Sale-a-bration Event January 4-February 28. I really like the ‘hang in there’ line, it’s something that I would say in person so is perfect for a card greeting.