Thanksgiving Cross

I originally thought I would make this card front into an Easter card, but realized it would also fit as a Thanksgiving card.  This DP in the background is from The Paper Studio, and the cross is from a mat stack by DCWV called Once Upon A Time.  After I hand cut the cross and matted it on brown cardstock, I decided to soften it by adding the edges of a doily around the edges.  The Give Thanks sentiment is by VAP Scrap, and was heat embossed with Hampton Arts brown embossing powder.  Since I don't have any of the die cutting machines, I ocassionally use my Martha Stewart scoring board for some added interest.  On this card, all I did was flipped the card over and scored it 1/8" from all of the edges.  The scoring was also done on the cross to match the background paper.

The inside included one of my favorite Thanksgiving images made by Stampabilities.  It was also heat embossed with Hampton Art's brown embossing powder that I got at Joann's.  I usually use this image on the front of the card, so it was nice to know it works as well on the inside of a card.  Since so much work is usually put on the front of the card, I like to keep the inside simple even though this image is more ornate. 

Although the deadline for Thanksgiving cards has already passed for Operation Write Home, it's not to late to mail in your Christmas cards.  You have until October 30th, and don't forget to add some Any Hero cards that are also requested at this time.  Instead of making cards specific to Christmas, I also like to make winter cards that  the troops can send for longer periods of time.  Birthday, Love, Thinking of You, Anniversary and other such cards are always needed and appreciated at Operation Write Home.  Don't forget to stop by the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog to see the latest challenge, tutorials and more!  THANKS!

~~~  Lee  ~~~

Challenges:

Stamping Vacation - No! No! Challenge; nothing that starts with S

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out in blog land! I'll be spending the day with my family, but thought I'd share the card I made for my oldest daughter's family.

I love this adorable turkey from Inkadinkado. He was stamped with black Versafine ink & embossed with black Ranger Superfine Detail EP. After coloring him with chalks to fit the muted tones of the paper, I highlighted the image with a white gel pen and then sprayed with a matte finish. The gel pen was also used for the faux stitching. All of the edges of this unknown design paper were inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink. All of these cute brads with fall designs were from the Target $1 Shop and the ribbon by Martha Stewart Crafts. The leaves were another Target $1 Shop find.

This card fit the following challenges even though they were late: Simon Says Stamp challenge which is to use animals @ http://simonsaysstampchallenge.blogspot.com and the sketch is from http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/

I'll be shopping on Black Friday with my oldest, a tradition that we have been doing together for decades. I'm doing my part to help the economy! LOL My other daughter somehow missed the shopping gene.

Happy Thanksgiving ~ Lee

Hidden Turkey Card

Since Thanksgiving is approaching so soon, I thought I'd better get some of my Thanksgiving cards posted before it's over.

This card covers a few challenges. The first is the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: "Turkey Time." Go here to check it out: http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com/ The next is the ABC-Challenge called "H is for hidden" at http://abc-challenge.blogspot.com.

I stamped the images with Black Versafine ink on white cardstock & embossed them with Black Ranger Ultrafine EP. They were colored with colored pencils & blended with a blender stub & Goo Gone. The sentiment was stamped & embossed with Stampendous Carnelian EP. All of the DP is by the Paper Studio & the cardstock pieces are scraps from my stash (yeah! Another card made that helped to get rid some more of that BIG scrap pile!).

The hidden part of the card is the turkey part. He's hidden under the Pilgrims. I just put a Target $1 Shop brad in the top of the center section so you can swing it around to view the turkey. The sentiment, "Do You Know Where Your Turkey Is?" & the turkey Pilgrims are by Westwater Ent. The turkey that's under the Pilgrims is made by DJ Inkers. The ribbon is more from my stash & the brad is from the Target $1 Shop.
Lee

Monday Lunchtime Challenge Sketch 96

It's medallion time again! I admit it, I'm addicted! There's something about stamping multiple images, cutting them out, painting or glittering them and then putting them all together with foam adhesives to make them pop that is so gratifying to me. You can truly say that no two images are the same no matter if you use the same colors or not.
The first card uses the sketch for the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge at: http://technostamper.blogspot.com/2009/11/monday-lunchtime-sketch-challenge-96.html and fits the Creative Card Crew Challenge #37 which is called "Strings Attached." This challenge is to make a card with some type of string attached & is located at: http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/

This beautiful image is the Fall Leaf medallion from Holly Berry House Originals. I just love, love, love these images & could work with them all day! The image was stamped five times on contrasting colors of cardstock with Top Boss Embossing Ink & orange Creative Zoo EP. The bottom image was cut out about an 1/8" outside of the embossed image & the rest were cut as close as possible to the embossed lines.

One nice thing about medallions is that you don't always have to layer them perfectly on top of each others if you don't want to. You can cut out several of the same image part but lay them on top of the previous image slightly askew. This way you can add more colors or more layers.

Back to the card. I was able to add to my collection of Twinkling H20s at the Rubber Stamp Chat's Virtual Convention last month, so I was itching to use them. I painted each layer a different color, and then I added a contrasting highlight color to each layer. After they dried (very quickly), I then layered them on top of each others with foam adhesives. This beautiful DP from The Paper Parachute was what inspired my colors, but I wanted some more bling, so I matted it with this textured metallic cardstock by DCWV. To get some more of the deeper purple into the card, I matted this layer on some unknown textured purple cardstock. I went looking in my stashes to find some ribbon & came across this textured thread, so I glued it onto the edges of the matting to add even more dimension. The CoMotion Happy Thanksgiving sentiment was stamped with Top Boss ink & embossed with Stampendous Pearlized Carnelian EP (my favorite EP color!). All of the edges were inked with Memories Violet ink.

The card still needed something else, so I embossed three brads with EP & put them in the corners. Now, I was finally happy with the card & I hope you are too!

My next card is for the Stamp Something Challenge Blog at: http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/2009/11/sketch-something-challenge.html

This is another medallion type stamp from Outlines Stamp Co. I just recently found this company, and you can already tell that they are quickly becoming another favorite.

This image was stamped & embossed with JoAnn's Ink Essentials Gold EP on some DP from my stash instead of my usual cardstock. The two other layers were stamped on some unknown stash cardstock. Since this image has so much detail, I didn't want to paint or glitter them. These layers were cut out close to the image & layered on the image with foam adhesive. I found some gold braid in my sewing stash that I glued on the image with Aleene's Tacky Glue. The red rhinestones were glued to the centers to resemble tree lights. I have some gorgeous poinsettia lights that I hang at Christmas that reminded me of these stars.
The DP in the background are all from the Paper Studio. These were inked at the edges with cranberry Memories ink. Since I was in my sewing stash, I also found these rickrack trims to accent the mattings. The tree was matted on a gold DCWV textured matstack & the trims were glued on with the Tacky Glue. To add some more eye candy, I added a few extra stars with rhinestones to accent the corners.
This card may look difficult, but it was really easy to cut since most of the edges are straight cuts. Instead of cutting each star out individually, I cut the bottom layers of stars out in a row. This also made the placement much easier. Don't let the look of medallions make you shy away from them. You would be amazed at how quickly you can put them together. ~ Lee