30 Day Gratitude Challenge: Day 1

Happy November!  After a wonderful family weekend and a fun Halloween we're off the start the new month.  For the last couple of years I've used the month of November to focus on all the things that I'm thankful for and it's important that we let people know we're thankful for them and a hand written message is a wonderful and heartfelt way to do that.  So everyday this month I'll be sharing different cards and projects I've created to show my gratitude.  I decided to start the month off with a super simple and easy card that's perfect for everyday and could be made with any color combination.

I started with Bermuda Bay cardstock for the cardbase and then added a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I just got the Watercolor Wash background stamp last week (thanks to the stamp sale last month, yeah!!) so I decided to ink it up with some Smoky Slate ink for a fun background effect.  For the greeting, I used the Another Thank You stamp set and stamped the greeting in Bermuda Bay ink.  For a little bit of bling I added a string of rhinestones to help accent the greeting.

I love the simplicity of this card, and I'll admit it came together in less than 5 minutes (sometimes you need a card in a rush.

Below are easy ordering links for the products used in today's card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Enjoy!

Diana

30 Days of Gratitude Card Challenge: Day 29

Good morning and Happy Black Friday!  How many of you are just getting back from shopping?  We're in the group that shops overnight and are usually done about now so I should be just about done with my Christmas shopping now.  I know that everyone is super busy with family and recovering from Thanksgiving so I wanted to share a really simply and pretty gratitude card.  I believe in sending thank you card's for gifts I receive so I always need to have a stash of Christmas thank you's ready to go.  For this card I used the note card set as the cardbase and added a layer of Island Indigo Textured Cardstock under the Whisper White stamped layer.  The tree is from the Special Season stamp set and was stamped in Smoky Slate ink.  The greeting is from the Another Thank You Photopolymer stamp set and was stamped in Island Indigo.  The final touch was just to wrap some Island Indigo Baker's Twine around the cardfront and tied a pretty bow.

 

This card is nice and simple so you could make a lot of them in a short amount of time and be all set.  They're also very mailable which the post office will appreciate.  Are you crafting this weekend?  I'm excited to make lots of snowflakes from the new Snowflake Ornament Kit that are all so sparkly and pretty.

 

Have fun!

 

Diana

30 Day Gratitude Card Challenge: Day 19

Good morning!  Boy is cold, I enjoyed our nice mild weather we had yesterday and then was smacked in the face this morning on my run with a reminder that it is indeed fall and winter is coming.  I decided to do another combo for today's gratitude challenge card and mix it with the Paper Craft Crew sketch challenge for another soft wintry Thank You card. I had the Winter Frost Speciality Designer Series Paper sitting out on my desk from another project I was working on and just knew I could come up with a simple and pretty card. 

The card base is Smoky Slate and I added a layer of Pool Party cardstock that was embossed with the Big Shot and the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder.  Next I took a piece of Island Indigo Textured cardstock and used it as a mat for a strip of the Winter Frost Speciality Designer Series Paper.  I wrapped a piece of Silver 1/8" ribbon around the DSP piece and tucked a piece of Silver Glimmer paper that was punched out with the Label Bracket punch for some sparkle.

The greeting is from the Another Thank You Photopolymer stamp set and was stamped in Island Indigo ink on Whisper White cardstock before being matted with a piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock.  I used dimensionals to attach the greeting and the final sparkly touch is a Frosted Finished Embellishment attached with a glue dot on the bottom right corner.

 

I have to admit this card came together in about 5 minutes (which was good since I was running behind and didn't start working on this until 10:30 last night and needed something quick before I fell asleep.  It just goes to show you can make beautiful and heartfelt cards in no time.  I love it!!

 

Hope this gives you some inspiration, you could very easily change out the greeting and make this a Christmas card that people would love to receive.

 

Happy stamping!

 

Diana

30 Day Gratitude Card Challenge: Day Six, Create with Connie and Mary Color Challenge

Good morning!  It's amazing how not having any after school activities this week has liberated our schedules, I feel like I have lots of extra free time but the change in Daylight Savings Time this weekend is hitting us pretty hard so we've all been falling asleep early, even Aidan.  Anyway, for today's 30 Day Gratitude Card challenge I decided to combine it with the Create with Connie and Mary Color Challenge.  Of course as soon as I saw this color combination I thought of Christmas and our Season of Style Designer Series paper.

The cardbase is Old Olive and I added a layer of Whisper White cardstock.  I matted the Season of Style DSP with Crumb Cake cardstock before wrapping around a piece of 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon.  The greeting in the bottom right corner is from the Another Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set and was colored with Stampin' Write Markers. 

 

For the main image I stamped the cute little reindeer from the Color Me Christmas stamp set in Early Espresso Ink and colored it in with Stampin' Write Markers.  This piece was cut out with the Big Shot and the Circle Collection Framelits and is matted on a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock punched out with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch.  I used dimensionals to attached the circle element to the cardfront.  The final touch was to use the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack and Paper Piercer.

 

This card is great for the holidays, not only is it fairly flat, which makes the post office happy, but you could make this card and have your kids color in the image so the recipient would receive a piece of artwork with their thank you.  I know my parents and grandparents love to get art from Aidan so I try to have him do something in cards we send out, even if it's just his name something.

 

I hope you enjoy and have a great day!

 

Diana

Another Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set, Now Available!

Stampin' Up! has released the next stamp set in the Photopolymer Set set collection, Another Thank You.  This set has some perfect greetings to help you send the perfect appreciation greetings.  If you haven't given the Photopolymer stamps a try you really should, they work with our clear blocks and stick like nothing you've seen before.  Plus they are completely clear so you know exactly where you're stamping and what it will look like.