A shabby chic thank you card for our dogsitters

Yesterday, hubby and I went to the races at York, followed by a concert by Blondie at the racecourse. Despite poor hubby still being unwell and despite the fact that we didn't win a sausage the whole evening, we still had good fun ;-)

It wasn't the best concert we've been to, the accoustics were pretty strange with the way the noise bounces off the stands, but I've got to say I think Debbie Harry did a good job and put on a fair show for someone of her age.

As we were going to be out for a longer time than our little Bess can plait her legs for, we arranged for my MIL and FIL to come and stay over to dogsit. This is the card I've made to thank them for helping out.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Simply Said, Strength and Hope

Plain Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron

Textured Cardstock: Baja Breeze

Ink: Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz

Seam Binding Ribbon: Baja Breeze

Punches: Decorative Label, Itty Bitty Shapes

Bigz Dies: Top Note, Beautiful Butterflies

Embossing Folder: Vintage Wallpaper

Other: Basic Pearls

Tools: Big Shot, Sponge Daubers, Crop-a-dile

The card base is an A6 landscape of Very Vanilla. All layers throughout were sponged with Crumb Cake ink before assembling. Top Notes were die cut from Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla card and the Vanilla one was then cut out along the perforated border before embossing with the Vintage Wallpaper folder. The textured Top Note layer was sponged with So Saffron ink. The two Top Notes were matted together, punched with the Crop-a-dile and threaded with Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon before adhering first to the Textured Baja Breeze card mat and then to the card front. A bow was tied around the ribbon over to the left of the card. The thank you sentiment was stamped in Basic Gray ink onto Very Vanilla card and punched out with the Decorative Label. The dotty flowers were stamped off to the side of the sentiment in Pear Pizzazz ink and tiny Basic Pearls added to the centres of the flowers. Two more Decorative Labels were punched from So Saffron card, cut in half and adhered behind the sentiment before popping up on dimensionals on the card front. A small butterfly was die cut from Vary Vanilla card and stamped on one side with text in Basic Gray ink and on the other with the butterfly in So Saffron ink, both stamps from the Strength and Hope set. A small flower was punched from So Saffron card and adhered to the centre of the butterfly with a glue dot and finished with a large Basic Pearl. The butterfly was then added to the card front with glue dots.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx

Elegant monotone card using the Simply Said stamp set

Here's a card that I'll be demonstrating at a workshop tonight. I want to show the difference in results between stamping with the Craft White ink on it's own and using the Craft White or Versamark with White Embossing Powder. I'll also be showing how well the Signo White Gel Pen works with White heat embossing. It's the perfect finishing touch for adding a little "colouring in" that makes an image really pop!

Recipe

Stamp Set: Simply Said

Cardstock: Concord Crush, Whisper White

Ink: Craft White, Versamark, Versamarker, Signo White gel pen

Punches: Corners, Word Window, Modern Label

Other: White EP

Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy

The card base is an A6 portrait of Concord Crush, matted with Whisper White. Another mat of Concord Crush was stamped randomly (and off the card) with one of the large fill flowers from the Simply Said set and then in between with the dinky flower, both using Craft White ink. This was set aside to dry before adhering direct to the card front (Craft White is a similar ink to Versamark and needs a little longer to dry or you can use a heat tool if you're in a hurry). The dotty flowers were stamped onto a panel of Concord Crush card with Craft White/Versamark ink and then heat embossed with White EP. The flowers were then coloured in with the White Signo Gel Pen (using a light pressure so that the inks flows). This image was matted onto Whisper White card and Whisper White punched Corners were popped up on dimensionals on opposite corners. The whole layer was then popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The sentiment is longer than this but only the "thank you" was inked, using a Versamarker to allow more precision, and then heat embossed with White EP. This was punched out with the Word Window and then adhered direct to a Modern Label punched from Concord Crush before popping up on dimensionals below the main image.

The embossing really stands out colourwise and texturally in comparison to the muted, almost distressed effect of the Craft White ink. Both excellent effects in their own way.

Recipe (inside)

Stamp set: Simply Said

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Concord Crush

The insert was quick and easy to create with this same set. The sentiment was stamped with Concord Crush ink and then the flowers were stamped repeatedly off the bottom of the page.

If you'd like to order this set, or any other SU! products then please email me.

Off now to the workshop!

Sara xx

A sunny thank you for the Mojo Monday challenge

I hope that you're still enjoying the extended holidays. Now that Christmas is over and done, I'm in need of some thank you cards and decided to use the sketch inspiration over at MojoMonday as my starting point:

I opted for the square design and chose some sunny colours to add a bit of brightness to all this grey weather.

Recipe

Stamp set: Simply Said

Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Versamark, Signo White Gel Pen

DSP: Sunny Garden

Punch: Full Heart, Corner Rounder

Other: White EP

The card blank is a 5" square of Peach Parfait. Squares of Sunny Garden DSP had the outside corners rounded and were adhered direct. The flower spray from the Simply Said stamp set were stamped twice, side by side, in Versamark onto Peach Parfait card, heat embossed with White EP and then the flowers filled with the white gel pen. This layer was then matted direct to Daffodil Delight card and then popped up on dimensionals in the centre. The solid heart was stamped with Daffodil Delight onto Daffodil Delight card. Using the stamp-a-ma-jig I then stamped the words heart around it using Peach Parfait ink. The thank you sentiment was stamped over the top of both with Poppy Parade ink and then the heart punched out and popped up on dimensionals.

Think I'm going to need a few more thank you cards over the next few days. I've had such lovely presents and a hand-made thank you card shows how much they're appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx