"I Use Antlers in All My Decorating"

My poor hubby was the doting father of three girls and the only male in the house!  Even the pets were mostly all female except for possibly a guinea pig and a lizard!  You can imagine that he had to watch more than his share of chic flicks over the years - especially Disney princesses!  He found some entertainment, finally, in the person of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast!  And his favourite line in the song, Gaston, was "I use antlers in all of my decorating!" which he was fond of blurting out in the middle of any serious debate on home decor!


Imagine our amusement, then, when our oldest daughter and son-in-law actually did begin to use antlers in all their decorating!  It is the latest thing, they said, and could we ask our hunting friends if they had any to spare?

So I wasn't as surprised as some when Stampin' Up had a stamp like a mounted deer head in their Holiday Mini catalogue.  And I ordered it, too, because I know on whose Christmas card I'm going to use it.  So here's a trial run:

• I wanted to get some plaid in the design somewhere, because it gives that "Hunting Lodge" kind of look.  Here, I used the Crushed Curry plaid from Sweater Weather DSP.
• I used some Soft Suede Core'dinations cardstock and embossed it with the Woodgrain Embossing folder. Then I lightly and gently sanded it to bring out the wood grain - another element of the "Hunting Lodge".  (Did you know that you can now get Core'dinations cardstock in EVERY colour of our collections?!!)
• There's that Burlap Ribbon again!  Do I have to tell you again how much I like it?  No? Good, cause it's getting really boring to hear me go on and on about it!

• The stamp of the deer head and the sentiment are both from the set Remembering Christmas.
• The colours I'm using are Baked Brown Sugar for the base, Soft Suede for the wood and the deer as well as matting the Crushed Curry Plaid, and a little bit of Pool Party from another piece of Sweater Weather DSP.  I tried several different colours and designs before settling on this one.  It really seemed to complement all the other colours and designs.
• There's an Antique Brad in there!!  Haven't used one in forever!

• I also used the only antique-looking metal brads that we have left - Vintage Trinkets.  The fact that they look like little buttons will have to be ignored in this masculine design because it's my only choice in this case!
• Cutting out the antlers by hand was truly a pain, but it looks so much better than not!

Overall, I'd say it made a great masculine Christmas card for all the Gastons in your life, and also for all the trendy decorators!  Hope you enjoyed it!  Have a great weekend!

Stamps: Remembering Christmas (w131760; c131763)

Paper:  Sweater Weather DSP (132184); Soft Suede Core'dinations cardstock (as part of the Neutrals Collection) (129956); Baked Brown Sugar (131296), Soft Suede (115318) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Soft Suede (126978);  StazOn Jet Black (101406)

Accessories:  1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon (132140); Antique Brads (117273); Vintage Trinkets (118764)

Tools:  Woodgrain Embossing Folder (127821); Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Stampin' Sanding Block (129367)

                                                                                                                                           

Remembering Christmas

Ovals Collection Framelits

Neutrals Collection Core'dinations Cardstock

Stampin' Sanding Block

StazOn Jet Black

Sweater Weather DSP

Antique Brads

Vintage Trinkets