Concord and 9th Thanks Card

In a previous version of my life, I was a scrapbooker. I was never methodical, organized, or even intentional about memory keeping; it was simply a fun way to spend time with a good friend while the kids were busy in elementary school and preschool. (They're both in college now, with the oldest about to graduate, to give some time perspective.)

I discovered the magazine Simple Scrapbooks and through those pages discovered my first crafting crush, Cathy Zielske. I've read her blog for the last several years and have also taken a couple of her classes (which I recommend). She started cardmaking almost two years ago and I watched, fascinated, as she showed her beautiful style in this new paper crafting area. Cathy also led me to discover Jennifer McGuire (my next crafty crush) and I began dabbling in my supplies again, just to start playing around.

I finally "Marie Kondo'd" the heck out of my leftover scrapbooking supplies, invested in some new stamps, dies, and inks, and I'm putting this new project out here. I'm kinda proud of it, especially considering that I can count the number of cards I've actually made on one hand. Plus, it was a fun afternoon! So here we go.

I've been practicing with the Concord and 9th "Everyday Bouquet" turnabout stamp set for a number of days, trying to figure out my problems with stamping. I'm still struggling to get nice clear, crisp images without missing blotches, but this time turned out much better so it became a card.

I stamped the images on Neenah White Solar card stock, #110, using Lawn Fawn inks in Peachy Keen, Butter, Deep Sea, and Minty Fresh. I then trimmed the panel to 4x5.25" and adhered it to a 4.25x5.5 piece of Gina K Designs "Coral Reef" card stock. I added some light touches of glitter to the Peachy Keen stamped images with a Gelly Roll Stardust glitter pen in copper.

I then die cut several of the small dies from the "Everyday Bouquet" coordinating die set in Gina K Designs "Tranquil Teal" and "Coral Reef" and covered them with Ranger Glossy Accents. I cut out the banner die from the same die set, and mounted it on craft foam. I used the "Thanks" die from the same set and cut that out three times, then glued the letters together for some added dimension, then glued the letters to the banner.

Once the Glossy Accents dried, I grouped them in bunches and adhered them to the card so the bottoms would be hidden by the Thanks banner. This did have the unforeseen consequence of lifting up the ends of the banner, so I added foam tape to the center of the banner and adhered it to the card. I finished with a light coat of Wink of Stella in clear on the letters to give them a bit of shine.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out! Pleased enough to decide to make a new blog and start writing about what I'm doing. I hope you enjoyed it and find fun ways to add creativity to your life.