Giving Thanks

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving next week and then before we can turn around, it'll be Christmas. I don't normally send cards for Thanksgiving, but really, I should. I've been thinking a lot about that lately and I have been thinking that it is never a bad time to tell someone that you are thankful for them. It could be a family member or a friend or just some one that has done something that touched you in some way. Just think how it would make you feel if you got a card in the mail out of the blue that thanked you for something you did for someone else. You might not have even realized how much your actions or words meant to that person. Personally, I get the warm fuzzies thinking about it.

So today, to thank you, my cyber-friends, for hanging out with me and encouraging me here in my little corner of the paper crafting world, I have some thanksgiving cards to share. I wish I could send one to each and every one of you. But since I can't, just pretend that these cards were made just for YOU!


Before I start, I have to thank a couple more people. First, I want to thank Dawn Olchefske of DOstamping with Dawn. These cards are basically cased from 2 beautiful Christmas cards she has on her blog. I did change a couple of minor things and of course, made mine Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas. The next person I want to thank for inspiration is Gretchen Barron and her blog Inspiration in Action. She occasionally does something called Take it to the Top Tuesday, where she will make 3 cards using the same basic layout and colors, stamp sets, etc, but with each card, she adds a little more. I LOVE this idea and am going to try to do this more often here. Both of these women are very talented and I was inspired by their creativity.

On to the cards! Here's the first one. It's Step One. This is a great card if you are sending out several. It is easy enough for a beginner, but still very attractive.

I used the pine cone image from the Autumn Days stamp set. I colored the image with markers, stamped and punched it out. The sentiment is from the very versatile Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set. All of the sentiments from that set fit into the Word Window and the Modern Label punches. I used only two colors of cardstock, two inks, one accessory (the ribbon), and one punch.

Step Two. Let's turn it up a little.
Here I stayed with the same two stamp sets, kept the basic layout and just added a little extra. I added some Double Sided Patterned paper, more ribbon, and more layers. I used the Modern Label punch to pop the sentiment up. I also sponged around the edges of the sentiment and the edges of the patterned paper.

And last, Step Three! Here's a card you would want to send to one special person!
I kept the same stamp sets and colors, but here I added a lot of oomph! I changed the base card to Chocolate Chip, added more layers, changed the ribbon, added some hardware, and added more of the pine cone image. I sponged on the colors this time instead of using markers, a tip I learned from Dawn, because it saves wear and tear on your markers and it makes the stamping go faster when you are repeating the same image over and over. I have to say that I am soooooo in love with the wide striped ribbons!!

I even finished off the inside.

I used the scallop edge punch to add more double sided paper and a layer of old olive, and I stamped the image on the inside too. The edges of the vanilla cardstock are sponged as well. It just ties everything together very nicely. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love finishing off the inside of the cards. It just adds such a fantastic richness to the card.

Well, I guess that's it for today. I hope you will tell someone Thank You this week.

As always, I would love to hear your comments and I hope y'all have a Stamptacular Day!