#47: Thank You Cards

I've had a lot to be thankful for in the past few weeks, which meant I went on a card-making frenzy this weekend. My dear friends at work had a lovely, impromptu birthday party for me last Friday that I thoroughly enjoyed: take out Chinese food and an elegant Chocolate Mousse Cake that almost put the entire place into a coma-- Yum!

Here's just one of the many cards I worked on over the weekend, and its sentiment is meant with all my heart!

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~Thanks embossed with a Sizzix Simple Impressions Folder and lightly highlighted with a Color Box Cat's Eye Chalk Pad in Alabaster.

~Martha Stewart's Border Punches: Doily Lace and Small Ribbon Threader

~The gold embossed card edge is actually the trimmed front of a Christmas Photo Card (adhesive strips already attached!) from a box purchased in an after-Christmas sale. Included gold-foil lined envelopes, too!

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#46: Thank you, Cherylynn & Second Childhood Creations!

Addendum added April 21, 2009
I remain grateful for the gift certificate that I was awarded, but feel compelled to add, at this later date, that there have been some recent concerns about the quality of customer service through Second Childhood. Please consider this before you order. I am anxious to clarify that although the experience I had in this instance was positive, I would not want anyone to feel that I have unfairly represented this particular online store. Thank you for understanding.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now, how cool is this? And how generous is this???

Cherylynn of the online store Second Childhood Creations has a blog, as well. Before going to CHA last week, she asked for input regarding what her fans and customers would like her to look for at the show. Imagine that! Someone who wants to know what we'd like to spend our money on!

Cherylynn asked our opinions and also offered a generous $15.00 gift certificate to a randomly chosen response posted in reply to her question-- and bless her heart, I won! I had lots to say, of course (no surprise there) but I was surprised and honored to have that wonderful Random Integer Generator choose me.

Thank you to yet another Gingerwood cyber friend!

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Edited 2/1/2009

#45: Rubber Stamp Tapestry

Although I've long admired them, I've only recently begun purchasing and using sets by Rubber Stamp Tapestry. I'm still working on perfecting the technique, but find that you can achieve impressive results with less effort than you'd think possible!

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Stamp Set: Auntie's Strawberry Garden by Rubber Stamp Tapestry
Happy Birthday Stamp by Leisure Arts
Circle Filigree Punch by Fiskars
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#44: Another Angelina Fiber Creation

Here's another Angelina Fiber creation that more clearly shows the halo of fibers around the stamped image. This was inside a tri-fold "New Baby" card. The color name of this fiber is "Calypso Blue" and has a definite iridescent sheen to it, as do all of the various fibers.

I have mostly done solid color images, but at the convention, Class Act did some wonderful things with mixed colors. For example, they used a large dragonfly stamp and added bits of pink, yellow, and orange to several shades of green for a beautiful creation that looked as if it came straight from a sunny day at the pond. It was stunning! By adding a stick-on pin back, they provided many attendees with a small work of art that took only moments to create. I'm thinking that in the future, rather than adhere the image directly to the card with adhesive, I should add a pin back. It could then be a little gift within the card, especially for birthdays and Christmas.

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Stamps:
-Onesie from a 10-pack set of wood-mounted stamps by "Studio g" (A great deal for only $10.00 then used a 40% off coupon at AC Moore! Contains images of a baby bottle, onesie, rattle, diaper pin, baby carriage, umbrella with raining gifts, and four sentiments: "Bundle of Love," "Just Arrived," "Baby Shower," and "Welcome Baby."
-"Congratulations" $1.00 clear stamp by DMD, purchased at JoAnn's

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#43: Angelina Fibers

I seem to be making way too many sympathy cards these days. It also seems, however, that of all the cards I make, sympathy cards are the most appreciated.

The heart was created using Angelina Fibers-- something I'd never heard of until I saw a demonstration by Class Act of Canada at a convention this spring. The quick instructions are:

1. Preheat a dry iron to medium.


2. Ink a rubber stamp with dye-based ink (must be rubber, not acrylic).


3. Place the stamp, inked side up, on a firm surface.


4. Place shreds of Angelina Fibers on top of inked stamp. You can use a single color (I used "Sugar Plum" for the heart above) or mix several colors.


5. Place a piece of parchment paper over the fibers.


6. Press with the pre-heated iron until you are able to faintly see the stamp design through the parchment.


7. Allow paper and fused fibers to cool slightly and remove from stamp.


8. May leave the loose fibers around the image for a halo-type of effect, or you may trim the outline of the stamped/fused image.

I bought a number of packets of fibers at the convention. Since then, I've purchased a sampler pack of 19 colors from a vendor on eBay, and have noticed that AC Moore has the fibers available online. I haven't found any bricks-and-mortar stores, however, that carry the product.

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Lace Heart Stamp: Rubber Stampede
"God gave us memories..." Sticker: Seredipity Stamps
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Textile

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