Leaf Shaped Card with My Little Owl Buddy

I've been really getting into the card blog challenges that folks are having.  The challenges are very inspirational and they get my creative juices going --- just like a good cup of coffee.  Creative Inspirations' challenge this past week was to create a no square card.  Wow.  Interesting.  I thought to myself that I could do that...and I had the perfect idea for the challenge.  A leaf card.

I found this great tutorial last year for leaf card that I have been meaning to try out.  Now I had the perfect opportunity.  It took me a two attempts and fussing around with the color scheme (several layers and shades of green cardstock) to have a finished product that I was happy with.  I sanded the edges of the card for a more worn look and added a machine stitched border to the front and inside of the card. 

Because I sell cards on etsy, I wanted the card to stand.  Martha Stewart has a good tutorial on creating a menu stand.  Pretty basic origami stand that you can decorate.  I choose to add a die-cut owl and some leaves from the Give a Hoot Cricut Cartridge. The little guy is pretty thick.  He has several layers and gold bead eyes.

My little guy on an origami menu stand.

Inside of Card

I've been working on a lot of Spring themed cards the past couple of months.  I'm not sure this particular card qualifies as a "Spring themed card," but I think it turned out rather cute.

Challenges Entered
Creative Inspirations - Challenge 104: No Square Cards Allowed
Lollipop Crafts - Challenge #32 - Shape Up 
CES Challenge Blog - Challenge #29 Die Cut Crazy
A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge 17 - No Square Cards
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes Challenge 27