A Bunch of Thanks

Hi All! Welcome to another edition of Thankful Thursday. Today's project is a group of thank you notes I made a while back using the Variety of Thanks stamp set (a hostess reward set from Seasonal Expressions 1, which retires at the end of march), the Brushstrokes stamp set (which was introduced in Seasonal Expressions 1, and will NOT retire at the end of the month), and the Paper Fundamentals Adventure Assortment paper pack.

While most of my projects include lots of layers and bling, I do occasionally prefer the clean and simple. This set of cards is just that. I let the bright, bold patterns and colors of the papers do all the work, and just added a little stamping and heat embossing.

Lets take a look.

Color: Gypsy

The note cards are standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cards made with White Daisy cardstock. I layered that with a piece of patterned paper that was cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches. The back of the paper fundamentals papers have a resist pattern, so you need to use a strong adhesive to adhere them to the base. (I used Tombow's Xtreme Adhesive.)

The sentiment is stamped on a piece of White Daisy cardstock that is cut at 3 1/2  x 4 3/4 inches and adhered to the patterned layer with regular adhesive. I stamped the Brushstroke stamp in ink that matched the patterned paper (in this case, Gypsy Exclusive ink), and then stamped the sentiment in Versa Mark ink. I added white embossing powder and heat set it. I like the texture and shine of the embossing,  but you could stamp the sentiment in White Daisy pigment ink if you don't want texture and shine. If you don't have white embossing powder, you could stamp the image in white ink and emboss it with clear embossing powder for a similar effect to the above.

Here's a close up:

And here's a look at all of the cards:

Colors: Cranberry, Cotton Candy, Hollyhock

Colors: Sunset, Honey, Pear

Colors: Topiary, Lagoon, Pacifica

I ended up making 2 of each pattern, so 20 cards in all. My goal is to start sending notes regularly to friends and family. I know we usually keep thank you notes to respond to gifts given or specific things that have been done for us, and I'll use these that way. But I also thought it would be nice to send out a few to just thank people for being themselves and being in my life. I'm grateful for my friends and family. I should probably tell them that more often....

Rose Blossom Blog Hop: Thanks for the Hopscotch

Hi All! Welcome to the Rose Blossom Blog Hop featuring products from the Seasonal Expressions 1 catalog. The products featured in this hop will be retiring with the catalog at the end of March. If you just arrived from the über-talented Shelly's blog, you are in the right place. 

Today's project features one of my all-time favorite Close To My Heart product collections: Hopscotch. This cheery collection just screams spring--and given the frigid temps here in the East, anything that gives hope of warmer weather to come gets two-thumbs up in my book!

This little thank-you note set would make a great hostess gift or would be fun to just have for your own use. The cards are 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, and the box is 3 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches. I layered all sides of the box with Hopscotch paper and Sorbet cardstock. The front of the box is decorated with Pixie Extra Thick Twine, two tags made from Sorbet and Glacier cardstocks, Gold Shimmer Trim, and bits and pieces from the Hopscotch Assortment and Complements. I used dimensional adhesive to pop things up a bit. The sentiment is a combination of stamps from the Variety of Thanks Hostess stamp set (which will also retire with the Seasonal Expressions 1 catalog) and the Brushstrokes stamp set.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the box:

Now for a peek at what's inside:

I made 8 cards using 4 out of 5 of the Variety of Thanks sentiments. (I didn't end up using "merci.") For the sentiment, I stamped an image from the Brushstrokes stamp set in Glacier Exclusive Ink on Colonial White cardstock. (The box and card bases are cut from Colonial White cardstock, as well.) I then stamped the sentiment over the Brushstroke in Indian Corn Blue Exclusive Ink and inked around the edges with Sorbet Exclusive Ink. The backgrounds of the cards show the variety of patterns that make up Hopscotch. (One of the patterns is predominantly Sorbet-colored, so I didn't use it on these cards as it was lost on the Sorbet cardstock layer.) I added a strip of Gold Shimmer Trim for a little extra pizzaz.

Here's a collage of the card styles:

And here is another look at the cards and box together:

I hope you enjoyed this little thank you project. Remember the Hopscotch collection and the Variety of Thanks stamp set will both retire at the end of March, so you want to make sure you get them soon! Now, hop on over and see what the lovely and talented Cathy has in store for you. And if you get lost along the way, here's a list of hop participants:

Lynn

Marg

Barbara

Shelly

Kim {that's Me}

Cathy