Autumn birthday

My (big) brother's birthday was earlier this week - I get to claim he's four years older than me for the next couple of months!

I went sort of vintage collage for this, having sat down with very little idea of what to do! Men are never that easy to make cards for, are they? Men with little by way of "theme" hobbies are particularly difficult! I probably should have used some woodgrain somewhere now I think of it (he's always been good with wood and even has a lathe for turning although he's not used it for ages).

I did add his age since it's a "round number" birthday but tried not to make it too much of a dominant feature.

I sponged various orange/red/rust/yellow shades of ink onto some mixed media paper to die cut the leaves - the thickness and texture of the paper means that it shows the embossed veining nicely.

Stamps:
19th Century French Script, Past Times, Essential Messages (all Hero Arts)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, retired)

Paper:
Hanemuhl Bamboo Mixed Media paper
White and bitter chocolate card

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick, Mustard Seed)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Leaves dies by Impression Obsession
Film Strip ribbon (Tim Holtz)
Industrious Stickers - Borders (Tim Holtz)
Copic marker

Thanks for stopping by!