Truly Grateful Woodgrain Card

It has definitely turned to fall here this week, but instead of crisp days and pretty leaves, we have rain.  But even the rain has put me in the mood to make woodsy, fall cards.  Today's card is full of texture, which I always love on a card!  It also combines the rustic with a bit of elegance.

Tips & Tricks

• To make the woodgrain pop out a bit on the background, I lightly sponged some crumb cake on all the raised areas that the Woodgrain Embossing Folder made.  It would have looked fine if I had just left the whole piece an uninked Very Vanilla, but this adds more interest.

• The fastest way I know of to add texture to a card is to tear some of the cardstock.  It's easy to do, requires no special tools, and is nearly impossible to do wrong.  The largest piece of torn card stock just happens to be textured card stock, adding even more, well, texture. :)

• Paper-piercing is easier than ever with the Paper-Piercing Packs that Stampin' Up! introduced in last year's catalog.  The templates match so many different Framelits sets, including the Labels Collection that I used here. 

• I'm not the world's best water-colorer, but I do like to include that look on a card from time to time.  I was going for a very subtle, soft look with these acorns, so I didn't worry about using watercolor paper.  Very Vanilla worked just fine, and blurred the perfect amount with a very light touch on my aquapainter.  In this case, less is more when it comes to water!

Supplies

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Paper-Piercing Tool, Mat, and Festive Pack, Sponge, Aquapainter, Linen Thread