Aspen Grove – Song Sparrow Papercrafts

Welcome to the midweek. I can’t decide if this week is moving slowly or swiftly. What about you? In some ways it’s hard to believe it’s Wednesday but then again I feel like it should be Friday already. Today’s card seems awfully fitting under those circumstances!

This week, we’re pulling out all the critters in our crafty stash. And today I just couldn’t resist the mom and fawn from the Autumn Trees die set. I’ve paired them up with the new Aspen Grove stamp set to create this peaceful scene with lots of layers of beautiful color.

We get started with a nice neutral base of Crumb Cake cardstock. To pull out all of the subtle colors in the pre-dawn sky, I chose a sheet of the Pool Party glimmer paper from the pastel shimmer paper pack as the mat for the focal panel. To build the scene on our focal panel, we start with the Aspen Grove stamp set. The aspen tree trunks are stamped in several different colors, including Early Espresso, Gray Granite, and Smoky Slate, to create the shading you often see if those trunks. To keep the leaves a truer green, I opted to shade the sky in the background next. Using small blending brushes, I applied a combination of Cloud Cover, Daffodil Delight, Timid Tiger, Strawberry Slush, and Fresh Freesia to create the beautiful colors of a pre-dawn sky — just before the sun peeks over the horizon. Then we stamp our canopy of leaves so that those greens stay nice and crisp over the sky. A combination of Soft Sea Foam and Old Olive worked well. Our doe and fawn images are cut from a scrap of Crumb Cake and tucked in the opening in the trees using dimensionals. The sentiment from the Prayers & Promises stamp set is stamped in Cloud Cover on white cardstock and then cut out with the Traditional Labels dies. The sentiment is tucked in the top-right corner and adhered over a twist of the brand new Berry Burst shiny ribbon that will release next week. Several layers of dimensionals help the sentiment panel stand tall above the ribbon and really catch your eye in the scene. A few opal rounds finish things off with a subtle twinkle.

Tomorrow is the Luv 2 Stamp Group Instahop day, and I can’t wait to show you a brand new and absolutely adorable critter bundle. I hope you’ll drop in and see!

Product List

Crumb Cake 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[120953]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Pastels Shimmer 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167198]

$10.00

Aspen Grove Photopolymer Stamp Set

[167018]

$20.00

Prayers & Promises Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167014]

$20.00

Autumn Trees Dies

[165899]

$38.00

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Traditional Labels Dies

[165864]

$29.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147114]

$9.00

Gray Granite Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147118]

$9.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147113]

$9.00

Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147102]

$9.00

Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147090]

$9.00

Cloud Cover Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill

[165279]

$5.50

Small Blending Brushes

[160518]

$14.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad

[147094]

$9.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin’ Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin’ Pad

[165286]

$9.00

Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin’ Pad

[155611]

$9.00

Opal Rounds Assortment

[163298]

$8.50

Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Welcome back, friends! It’s Monday and my tail is dragging. What about yours? After getting a little crafty time on Saturday morning, the hubby & I set about tackling our to-do list for the day. Late in the afternoon, I got a headache that eventually morphed into a migraine. So my grand plan for rewarding myself for conquering our to-do list by playing in the craft room again was replaced by retiring to bed early and sleeping with a pillow over my head. Womp-womp.

So here we are at Monday again and time for a new design challenge. This week, we’re thinking about the upcoming Valentine holiday, if we want to call it that. It’s actually a perfect time to let your friends know you’re thinking of them — and that special someone too, of course! So we’re starting off with one for the fellas since they didn’t really get their due last week. And we’re combining the new Aspen Grove stamp set with the Country Woods paper and a sentiment from the 2025 Advent Calendar.

We get started with a base of Smoky Slate cardstock. A sheet of the grey woodgrain from the Country Woods paper pack serves as our focal backdrop. I arranged the Aspen Grove stamps on a large block and stamped the row of trunks in black ink onto white cardstock. I layered several shades of green leaves up top to create the treetop canopy. To give some realistic depth to the tree trunks, we use Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends down the left side of each one, which gives a shadow effect. I filled in a touch of blue in the background with Cloud Cover ink, but you could easily skip this shading (and next time, I think I will!). The focal panel is downsized using the Textured Notes die and then adhered to the woodgrain backdrop. The full panel is wrapped in black & gold bakers twine that is tied in a knot on the left side before the focal panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment panel is cut from Cloud Cover cardstock with the Stylish Shapes circle die and then the sentiment from the 12 Days of Christmas Advent calendar is stamped in black in the center and then adhered over the twine with dimensionals. I added a few of the lighter Shades of Green Hexagons on either side of the sentiment to draw the eye in and add a bit of colorful eye candy.

This design is 100% inspired by one of the samples from the January Mini catalog. Much like using a sketch, you can take a design and make it your own with a substitution here & there. It’s another great trick when you’re either short on time or lacking a little inspiration — or both!

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see another Valentine-inspired design.

Product List