Imagine my delight at finding a whole pack of SU! Kraft cardstock that I don’t even remember ordering in my cardstock files! I was determined to use this darling paper and found the Kraft cardstock when I was trying to match the color on the flip side of this patterned paper. Woo Hooo! All images are from justjohanna.

I cut a piece of the patterned paper called “home sweet home” by Wild Asparagus (hence the name! hehe!) It has a lovely distressed look to it around the edges, and I wanted to carry that look to the freshly cut sides. To do this I sanded the edges with my sanding block then did some DTP (Direct to Paper) with my Vanilla Craft ink pad from Stampin’ Up! Next I pierced two rows of holes along the top and bottom of the patterned paper and set aside.

For the focal image I created another shaker (starting to get hooked on these!). I punched a scalloped oval with my Marvy Giga Scalloped Oval punch and cut the middle out with my Coluzzle. Since I needed the whole space inside the oval, I was afraid the scalloped frame by itself would seem too small for shaker. To balance it, I cut a larger oval using my Coluzzle out of the Kraft cardstock, cut the middle out with the same size as the scalloped frame and adhered the scallope frame to the Kraft frame. A piece of transparency was cut out with the Coluzzle and adhered to the back of the frames.

Next I cut a piece of WW cardstock and stamped the Grande Teacup image with the Gratitude Flourish for the steam in Palette Noir Black. I then colored in the image using Prismacolors and Gamsol with a blending stump. The teacup looked too plain, but I didn’t want to do paper piecing because the pattern on the paper is too spread out for the tiny image. So I lucked out with my Souffle pens! I picked the three colors that matched the dots and added them to the teacup. Souffle pens are lovely because they dry opaque and slightly raised so you get an embossed feel to where you use them. The shaker is completed by adhering the pieces together with foam tape, adding the micro beads and sealing the shaker together.

I needed an embellishment but didn’t want to use ribbons. I cut a strip of Kraft, pierced the top and bottom and adhered it to the patterned paper layer. I used my Cuttlebug with the Flower die to punch a single flower and attached it to the Kraft strip with a vintage brad. Two additional brads were added to either side of the flower to balance it out. The patterned paper layer was then adhered to the Kraft card base. I then adhered the shaker to the card using Mono Multi.

I’m finding that using paper piercing as a decorative addition to your cards can add as much texture as using a background stamp. It’s hard to resist faux stitching when I have a row of pierced holes, but if I take the time to let it sit and work on other parts of the card, I can see that it would make the card too busy and that the holes by themselves are the touch I was striving for.