Shaded Spruce Splendid Thoughts

This month I used Shaded Spruce & Splendid Thoughts to create 40 Note Cards and Envelopes, along with the Washi Tape punch to pop up my sentiment. It fits perfectly, leaving just enough space for a Linen Thread bow. I went back into the wood mounted stamps to use that favorite splatter from French Foliage, too.

Notable Note Cards are all about sending YOUR words in YOUR handwriting. After recent events, A Happy Hello is a great sentiment, and your inside thoughts about a happy memory you share with your recipients are so very needed! In my recent mailings, I have included a recipe for my Chocolate Chip Cherry Oatmeal Cookies. It’s a great recipe to spread by hand in a sheet pan and then cut into cookie bars, too.

Postage increases keep me from adding too much embellishment because the thickness could define my sweet little cards a ” package “, and demand higher postage. Last I looked postage was 68c each, if you can believe that! I also have had some cards go missing, never delivered to my sweet step-daughter who never cashed her birthday check ….. because it never arrived!!! Grrr!

Lots to decide in stamping this sweet little thing, especially when I haven’t been creating cards in WEEKS! I’ve just been having such a terrible time with my guts and it has stolen my joy, kept me from sleeping, made making food choices ridiculously difficult, and I just haven’t known what to do. While I was resisting using the Flowing Flowers yet again, I stamped one thing and then walked away for about an hour, stamping another and walking away again ….. but I wouldn’t give up. I finally came up with this card.

HOW TO DO IT:

• Stamp the stem in Shaded Spruce right in the middle left to right and down to the bottom two thirds. Leave that top third for your splatter!
• Stamp the splatter in Mango Melody three times, inking up the first two times, but not the third. If your ink pad is well-inked, you will get a great image all three times.
• Take the second stamp in this two-step stamping set and apply the shade in Soft Sea Foam to that stem. Keep in mind that this is a completely abstract stamp set, so those two-step images are not meant to line up at all, so just place the image smack in the middle. Trust me, it will be okay.
• Now you can apply your little bee image in Pecan Pie. There’s plenty of room for you.
• When it came to the sentiment, I went again with the Honey Bee Stamps sentiment set called Mail Box Memos. and then punched it out with the Washi Tape punch from years ago. Punch the sentiment out a little to the right so you leave enough room for your embellishment. I used a Linen Bow, and you could use en enamel dot or rhinestone.

This collection of stamps can be increased when you make an A2 card that measures 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ when finished. You could even stamp everything in ” landscape ” mode rather than “portrait” which I use exclusively with my Notable Note Cards.

Having a reason to send a card during the summer is challenging if there aren’t any birthdays in your family. I included a recipe for my favorite cookies (well, SECOND FAVORITE, any way). What do you include in your mailing?