Thanksgiving Annual Cards
While I was making my mailing list out, I realized a couple things that make this annual card making session more important to me than making Christmas Cards:
- Thanksgiving is my favorite of the two winter holidays
- No more Christmas vs Hanukah decision
Plus, who doesn’t love getting an orange envelope in the mail, right? Colored envelopes and stamping a little something in that lower left corner is especially fun for those that have Informed Delivery through the Postal Service.
I created stacks of pieces over the course of several stamping “appointments” with myself. Time is a precious commodity this time of year, and I had a lot of cats to herd through the gates of Craft Fair, Book club formations, Christmas Party arrangements for 217 (yes, that’s not a typo), and getting my Prayer Garden water feature installed (more on that later).
I’m using a couple of different products to get the sentiment right, and oh my gosh this Soft Seedlings stamp set is my ultimate for Autumn cards this year!!! I wanted to have a specific size stamped panel, didn’t have the hired help for die cutting, so I just whacked away 2″ from the top and side of an 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet of Very Vanilla card stock. From there you just cut in half, and in half again. Save those 2″ strips for sentiments, or just recycle; you have to choose whether you can save pieces.
Layered Leaves embossing folder was offered in the 2018 Stampin’ Up! annual catalog. This is one of the original 3D embossing folders, so the sandwich you need for your Big Shot is:
- Big Shot platform WITHOUT the Thin Die Adaptor plate
- Embossing folder with one layer of Cardstock inside
- One cutting plate over the top
I’ve seen some of you try to force more through your machine, but don’t. My Big Shot is 12 years old and runs like a top. Always use a cutting plate as your top most layer whether it’s a regular thickness, your special blue plate (when those were offered by Stampin’ Up!), or the adapter plate that currently available.
I used my 10 Second Bow Maker from I Teach Stamping and made the Linen Thread bows with extra long tails. Tombow green glue is GREAT when it’s completely buried in layers, but it doesn’t dry hard or safe to the touch. For these bows, I used the Fine-Tip Glue Pen and waited ten minutes for drying in place with an acrylic block holding it down. It was worth the wait! Look how pretty they all look!
I used my Stamparatus in every layer. I free handed the Soft Seedlings image because these distINKtive stamps only need a single stamping to be perfect. The sentiments needed a second stamping, and the alignment on the envelope corner needed to be “just so”.
I hope you like these cards and want to copy the layout! I skewed the stamped panel on the front and added three Champagne Rhinestones in addition to my tiny bow. Everything is glued together with the Tombow green glue and no Dimensionals this time. Here are measurements for you:
- 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ Crumb Cake scored at 4-1/4″
- 5″ x 3-3/4″ Mango Melody embossed with Layered Leaves
- 4-3/4″ x 3-1/2″ Very Vanilla stamped with sentiment FIRST and Soft Seedlings SECOND
- Beauty of the Earth (retired) Designer Series Paper cut 6″ x 1-5/8″ wide – this gave me 28 pieces from two sheets of DSP and very little scrap
- 5-1/4″ x 4″ Very Vanilla interior panel
As I mentioned earlier, I created these pieces over the course of several stamping sessions, starting with scoring and cutting 14 sheets of Crumb Cake for the card bases. By doing these steps in this order, I was able to get everything ready for assembly in my final session, and as a card maker the biggest lesson is in getting comfortable with these dimensions and learning just how little scrap is left from the creation of 28 cards. Learning by doing!
This is the way you get started with my Online Course, “4 Cards in 30 Minutes.” This course gives you more than 20 step-by-step photographs showing you how to cut your full sheet of card stock down from first cut to final assembly. Five full card layouts are completed so you learn what your favorite look is, and makes you comfortable whenever the card making occasion arises. When you buy the course, you are given the opportunity to subscribe to an exclusive email list of only those cards that you can make 4 of in 30 minutes.
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