NATURES AUTUMN WREATH

I decided to use the wreath die from Natural Prints Dies, the coordinating dies in the Nature's Prints Bundle, to make my Thank You card today.  Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a Thank You Card seemed appropriate.

The Basic White wreath is layered over Vellum that has been embossed with the Fern 3D embossing folders.  Dry Embossing Vellum is a technique that has been around awhile and seems to be making a comeback.   Kathi Ondus, my Connect to Create partner, reminded us of the technique of a few weeks ago.  When you emboss Vellum with an embossing folder it turns the embossed areas white and is really pretty.  My photo above doesn't do the technique justice, probably because I backed it with Basic White cardstock, but it is an amazingly simple and stunning technique.  If you are not familiar with it check out the video to see some additional examples.

The small Autumn Bouquet that decorates my wreath was made with several of the stamps from Nature's Prints.

The Fern was stamped with Evening Evergreen Ink, the stem behind it was stamped with Cajun Craze and the flower was stamped with Black Memento and colored with Stampin' Blends.  All images were die cut with coordinating dies.  Two long stems were cut from Gold Foil with other dies from the bundle and tucked into the bouquet to give it a bit of shimmer.

The sentiment was Heat Embossed with Gold Embossing Powder to tie in with the sprigs of gold in the bouquet.  The die used for the sentiment is also from the Natural's Prints Dies. After die cutting the sentiment, I die cut a second one from Evening Evergreen cardstock and then cut it in half horizontally and spread it apart a bit to create the small border above and below the sentiment.

The inside of the card was stamped with the same colors as used on the card front and a bouquet was created in the top left and bottom right corners.  This still leaves plenty of room for a short personized thank you note.

For more details on how to create this card a FREE TUTORIAL is available for download at this link.

For more information on the products used, please refer to the Product List below.  If you would like additional information on any product, just click on the link which will take you to my Stampin' Up! online store.

I wish you all a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating with family and friends and remembering all you have to be thankful for!  I know I am thankful for each and every one of you!

Product List

Nature's Prints Bundle (English) [158801]	Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119684]	Evening Evergreen 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [155574]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101650]
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101856]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]	Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad [155576]
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [147085]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154883]	Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154888]
Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154879]	Brushed Brass Butterflies [158136]	Evening Evergreen 3/8'' (1 Cm) Windowpane Check Ribbon [158135]	Fern 3 D Embossing Folder [158804]
Metallics Embossing Powders [155555]	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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NATURE'S PRINTS SYMPATHY

It is a new week so you know that that means.  It is time for a new featured Bundle of the Week, and this week I am going to be using a favorite bundle from the current Annual Catalog, Nature's Prints.  I love it because it is versatile and can be used for many different occasions.

Today's Sympathy card combines two techniques that were previously demonstrated on Connect to Create.  

For today's card I used a card base from Pool Party & Soft Sea Foam Cards & Envelopes which was one of the FREEBIES from the last Sale-A-Bration.  I could just have easily used Soft Seafoam Cardstock, but since I had them, I thought I may as well use them.

The background was made with Polished Pink, Coastal Cabana and Soft Seafoam ink using the Plastic Wrap Water Coloring Technique that Kathi Ondus demonstrated recently on our Connect to Create YouTube Collaboration.  If you missed the video, check it out.  This technique makes beautiful backgrounds.

After creating the Plastic Wrap background, I added some lines of glided leafing to give it a little sparkle.  

There are many ways to apply Gilded Leafing to your cards and I demonstrated three ways in a Connect to Create video on November 9. For this card, I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen method which was the 2nd method shown in the video. If you missed the video, you can watch it below or access it at this link.

The large Coastal Cabana Leaf on the card front also uses Method 2 to apply some Gilding Leafing accents to the leaves.

The sympathy sentiment is from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  When I initially purchased this stamp set it was part of a bundle that included dies to create a grove of trees.  Those dies have been retired, but I was so happy when I saw that the sentiment stamp set carried over into the current Annual Catalog.  The fonts are clean and simple and there are a variety of great sentiments for various occasions.  I find myself reaching for this set often.

On today's card, I wanted to minimize the size of the sentiment so as not to cover up the pretty background, so I just fussy cut it, but for those that dislike fussy cutting, the Inspired Thoughts sentiments are sized to fit a variety of punches and dies from other sets.

The inside sentiment is also from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  Both sentiments are embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.

If you would like to recreate this card, I recommend watching the videos to learn the techniques, but I also have a written tutorial for you with all the dimensions and step-by-step assembly instructions.

You can find more information on the products I used by clicking on any of the products in the Product List below.  You will be taken to my on-line Stampin' Up! store where you can see all the details.

Product List

Nature's Prints Bundle (English) [158801]	Inspired Thoughts Cling Stamp Set [155536]	Pool Party & Soft Sea Foam Cards & Envelopes [159940]	Soft Sea Foam 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146988]
Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101910]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [147097]	Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad [147102]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Polished Pink Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [155713]	Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [147166]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [131164]	Metallics Embossing Powders [155555]
Soft Sea Foam 3/8" (1 Cm) Seam Binding Ribbon [159680]	Simply Elegant Trim [155766]	Gilded Leafing Embellishment [154560]	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053]
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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SCRAPBOOK SATURDAY - REMEMBERING BAXTER AS HE GREW

As I worked to pull the photos together for this album, there were several photos that didn't really fit into any particular "story", but they were just too cute to leave out.  

So, today's two pages share those photos.

Baxter came to live with us when he was about 4 months old, and he was a rescue puppy.  The people that were going to purchase him planned to breed him, but they learned he had a heart murmur so he could not be bred, and they no longer wanted him, so they turned him over to the Bichon Frise Rescue Club.  

When we visited a local breeder in our area (who happened to belong to the Bichon Rescue Club) to look at some 3-week-old puppies she had for sale, the rescue pup was there.   She was calling him Bearsy, and he was a playful happy little guy.  Fast forward, if truth be told, Bearsy chose us.  We brought him home a couple days later (we had to be checked out), and from then on he became Baxter!

CUTE PUPPY PICTURES

RANDOM FAVORITES