Thank You

In the age of all our technology, the thank you card almost seems to be a lost art. I have encouraged my children to send these cards for Christmas and birthdays... and other appropriate occasions in between. The simple act of sending a thank you card was responsible for landing me my current job. It was a card that said “thank you for the opportunity to interview”, that brought my name to mind when another position came open in the same company. 

Not only is this card a first in many “thank you” cards that I will make, it is also a THANK YOU from me to you... for coming here to look at my cards, for reading my blog, and to those who follow my blog. I do this not only to satisfy my creative side, but to encourage other like minded people, and maybe even inspire a future crafter or card maker with one of my creations. Thank you for making this a great year and I hope to see you in 2018. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps:

None

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Dark Indigo (PTI)

Floral Boutique DSP (Stampin Up Retired)

Ink:

Night of Navy (SU)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Thank You (Xcut Dies)

To The Point Edgers Die (PTI)

Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets (SU)

Sponge Dauber (SU)

Christmas Quilt

I had this warm and cozy quilt card designed in my head from the moment I saw the die and knew I wanted to buy it. It makes a great Christmas card as seen here, but paired with pastels, can also make a great baby card too. I love buying items with more than one purpose. It’s like the word “congratulations”... it covers a multitude of events. 

A few years ago, Stampin Up carried adhesive sheets, and I am happy to say we now carry them again. They are excellent to use in small projects like this quilt frame. The hardest part for me with this card would be finding a color scheme I would be happy with. It took a few tries, but once I got this arrangement set up, I knew it was the one I wanted. A few dots of liquid glue in each space as I was assembling this card and it was finished. The adhesive sheet was truly the key to making this card come together quickly and easily. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps:

Greetings of the Season (Stampin Up Retired)

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Garden Green (SU)
Patterned Paper (Miscellaneous Scraps)

Ink:

Garden Green (SU)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot (SU)

Quilt Square Cover Up Die (My Favorite Things)

Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets (SU)

Tom Bow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (SU)

Reindeer Games

I love designing cards and then having the creations come out exactly how you sketched them. The credit for lining up the background stamp on this card goes to my Tim Holtz stamping platform. The trick here was sliding the cardstock to the left while my stamp stayed in perfect position. The alignment was spot on and I was able to get it right on the first try. Yet another reason why I am such a fan of this stamping tool. 

I prefer non traditional shades for most occasions, so I naturally looked for alternate choices when creating this card. Blue is not my favorite color, but it is usually my first choice when going against the grain of mainstream holiday colors. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps:

Dash Away All (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:

Dark Indigo (PTI)

Blueberry Sky(PTI)

Stampers Select White (PTI)

Cocoa Bean (PTI)

Ink:

Soft Sky (Stampin Up)

Marina Mist (SU)

Night of Navy (SU)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot (SU)

Stylish Stripes TIEF (SU Retired)
Dash Away All Die (PTI)

Tim Holtz Stamp Platform (Blitsy)

Ruby Slipper Stickles (Simon Says Stamp)

Silver Poinsettia

This card was created as an entry for the Unity Holiday Card Challenge. The caveat to this challenge: no red, no green. Red and green is traditional... but I have always been a fan of adding metallic hues to my holiday cards. I love gold, silver, copper or bronze accents this time of year. Christmas cards are my favorite to make, so I will always take extra time and effort to make them look elegant and special. 

On this card I choose the same layout as the one on the card I featured in my Friends of Unity blog hop post which you can see here. I choose navy and silver for this card, but unfortunately the navy did not photograph well and looks black in this picture. There are so many techniques you can do with vellum and/or a heat embossed image, but I stopped here as I felt any addition at this point would take away from the elegance and simplicity that I have obtained in this card. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps:

...Poinsettia with Love (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Dark Indigo (Papertrey Ink)

Brushed Silver (Recollections)

Vellum (Stampin Up)

Ink:

Versamark (SU)

Accessories:

Marvy Heat tool 

Tim Holtz Stamp Platform (Blitsy)

Silver embossing powder (SU)

Friends of Unity December Blog Hop

Welcome Unity fans to our Friends of Unity December blog hop! This month I am featuring my favorite new reindeer stamp. I wasn’t sold on this one until I started seeing all the awesome creations from other fans just like you! 

When I decided to use this stamp set for my design, this idea popped in my head. I loved seeing the reindeer heat embossed, so I knew that would be one element of my card. I went back and forth on the color choices between gold, silver, or copper... then what colors next? I loved the elegant and simplistic look of the gold with the black so much that I didn’t attempt any other color combinations. I debated on the red nose... and as you can see Rudolph decided to make an appearance.

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps:

...Cheerful Prancing (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Vellum (Stampin Up)

True Black (Papertrey Ink)

Brushed Gold (Recollections)

Ink:

Versamark (SU)

Accessories:

Tim Holtz Stamp Platform (Blitsy)

Marvy Heat Tool

Gold Embossing Powder (SU)

Christmas Red Stickles (Simon Says Stamp)

FRIENDS OF UNITY BLOG HOP MEMBERS

Crystal O. Minkler

Wynne Grob

Eileen Mathys (You're Here!)

Robyn Jordan

Jeanie Hays

Amber Trubiak
Dawn Fields