Realistic house front

When I saw this backgrounder stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms I instantly thought that I would stamp it and then graffiti it.  I could use words, skulls, peace signs etc.  This isn't at all what I imagined but it shows how versatile a brick wall can be.  I had a request for a thinking of you card for someone going through a rough time.  I wanted to convey the "my door is always open" sentiment without actually writing it. 

I started with the front.  First I stamped the brick wall with a Versamagic Dew Drop in Red Brick onto craft cardstock.  Next, I sponged all different shades of brown around on it.  The door came next.  I stamped another CHF backgrounder, weathered wood,  also onto craft cardstock.  I ran it through my Cuttlebug with a wood grain embossing folder made by Sizzix.  After it was embossed I also sponged brown ink onto it and added the doorknob.  The hinges are from a CHF set and they are stamped w/black pigment ink and then embossed with black embossing powder.  I thought they looked like real iron when they were embossed.  To balance out the black on the door I added black corners and a black fence that were made with a Martha Stewart deep edge punch.  The flower pots were done by drawing a pot on craft cardstock and sponging it with a terra cotta colored ink.  The leaves and flowers are all done with tiny little punches and I added a dimensional paint dot for the centers.  The sign is cut with Spellbinders fancy tags die and I used a thinking of you stamp from Hanna Stamps.  As for the birds... they were an afterthought.  Seriously.  When I e-mailed the card for approval I was told that it was perfect except that the woman who will receive it is an avid bird watcher.  Could I add some birds somewhere on the card?  Sure!  These two little cuties were cut out from an Art Impressions stamp that I have of a scarecrow.  They were the perfect scale for this house.  The grass was also done with a MS edger punch.  

Next,  I had to make the door open so I traced the door on the back side of my brick wall and trimmed that part out.  I glued a back piece on the door that was long enough to reach behind the main panel so that it would stay attached yet look like it was just opening with it's hinges.  When you open the door you see more matching corners and the Stampin' Up sentiment Your friendship makes my heart happy. 

There wasn't room to write much inside so I decided to glue the entire front to a card and on the inside I stamped another SU phrase... Just a little note to tell you how special you are.  The matte it's stamped on is a label die from Spellbinders and the border was cut with an EK Success border punch.  I used some of the cut outs as corners.  There is plenty of room inside here for her to write her personal message.  It took a long time to make but I'm very pleased with how this one turned out.  I don't often have time to put this much effort into a card so it's nice when I can once in a while.