In The Zone

One of my sons-in-law is really into biking and he loves to ride trails.  He even helps to build trails near the place he lives.  It is his birthday on the weekend and I wanted to design a card just for him that incorporates some aspects of mountain biking.  I had so much fun doing this that I ended up "In the Zone"  which is mountain bike-ese for a state of mind reached during mountain-biking where you don't think, you just do.  You are the bike!  And, in this case, I was the card, and it all came together nicely as I ripped and trimmed and stamped in a metaphysical state of mind.

• I chose the colours of trees, grass, wood, rock and steel for this card:  Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow and Basic Gray.  It works in nature so it should work here!
• The bike stamp is from an old Paper Pumpkin set.  I've kept it because I have a couple of bikers in the family and it sure comes in handy.  If you haven't got a subscription to Paper Pumpkin yet, I'd say, "What are you waiting for?"  There are some real gems among the stamps you get and you can use them in so many different situations.  These days, you get a lot for your money, so you might want to head on over to My Paper Pumpkin, and tell them that Heather sent you.  No, really, I would love it if you chose me as your demonstrator when it asks!
• Of course, you recognize that evergreen as the one from the longest lasting stamp set in Stampin' Up!'s recent history, Lovely as a Tree.  I stamped those on the Very Vanilla Panel at different heights, knowing that the torn cardstock would partially cover them up.  They look like different size trees.  One of them I stamped on some scrap Very Vanilla and then carefully hand-snipped it out.  You have to take your time when doing this and not rush and you will have more accurate results.  Personally, I find it very soothing to do - helps to get you "in the Zone"!
• I used alternate layers of Basic Gray and Mossy Meadow for the downhill trail.  I tore them so a little lighter shade of the cardstock was showing in the tear.  I wanted the bike to go downhill so I had the paper slanted from upper left to lower right.  I inserted the hand-snipped tree between two of the layers and put a dimensional at the top of the tree to add more 3D effect.
• The sentiment is from a new set of mine called Remembering Your Birthday.  I needed a few more birthday greetings and this fit the bill.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Why not give paper-tearing a try on your next card?  Don't be a "fred" - in the mountain biking world, this apparently means someone who has all the equipment, but rarely uses it.  

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Lovely As A Tree Wood-mount Stamp Set [128655]	Lovely As A Tree Clear-Mount Stamp Set [127793]	Remembering Your Birthday Wood-mount Stamp Set [131347]	Remembering Your Birthday Clear-mount Stamp Set [131350]	Early Espresso 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [119686]
Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133676]	Basic Gray 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [121044]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [101650]	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [133645]	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [126981]
Paper Snips [103579]