Angie's Thank You Card

I am lucky enough to live about 30 minutes away from a fantastic pain clinic.  I've been a patient there for about 5 years and have seen staff, including doctors, come and go.  Throughout all the upheaval, I've been blessed with awesome people.  I've been treated with respect, dignity, and my medical treatment hasn't suffered a bit.  The office manager, Angie, told me at my last appointment that she was leaving, sort of.  She'd probably be popping in (she travels from Utah) occasionally and as soon as her husband finds employment, she'd be back at the clinic full time.  I really grew close to Angie and I decided I wanted to make her a Thank You card for all her help (I don't do this nearly enough - it's going to be one of my resolutions!)

Anyway, there was this technique I'd seen where the sentiment literally pops out at you.  I thought I had pinned it, but couldn't find it, so off to Jennifer McGuire's blog I went.  If you want to try something new, Ms. McGuire's is the place to go.  She has a TON of cool techniques on her blog. If fact, I got lost checking everything out! But I did find the technique I wanted to try; it's from 2013's Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember event, and as always there is a fantastic video - Jennifer named the card An Autumn Hello.  

Here is my version:

What I Used to Make my Card:
Water Color Paper
Distress Oxide Ink in Worn Lipstick, Broken China, Cracked Pistachio and Wilted Violet
Distress Spritzer
White Card Base
Matching Color Cardstock (I used Mint Green)
Thanks - Stamp & Cut from Hero Arts, #DC-152
Little Things for Lucy's Cards, Jewels, Ice Cube Mix, #LBJ03

I first made my Distress panel using the Oxide Inks on a piece of watercolor paper, smooshing the inks about and spritzing them with water (if you aren't sure how to play with Distress Oxides, feel free to take a look at my Pinterest Board - there are a lot of different techniques out there!)  Once the panel was to my liking, I set it aside to dry overnight.  Since I am die cutting the paper, I want it to be thoroughly dry or it will rip.  Trust me on that one. 

The next day, I chose where I wanted my "Thanks" die cut to be, and cut the word out of the panel.  Be sure to keep ALL the INSIDES of the LETTERS - you'll need them! I set my word aside and made a stack of paper with the mint green card.  I made two stacks of three sheets each and glued them together with a glue stick, just as Jennifer did in the video.  Well, when I put the die and paper through my Big Shot, all of the extra glue smooshed out of my stack and got everywhere.  I should have let them dry overnight as well! Eh, nothing a few about ten wipes couldn't clean up! So I cut "Thanks" out of both stacks and then glued them together.  I decided to give them a bit of time to adhere to each other, so I took the afternoon off. 

For some reason this looks much lighter than the card is.
The card above is true to color.

Later, I attached the water color panel onto my white card blank.  I adhered my original (oxide inked) "Thanks" to the mint green stack, and then carefully placed that back into the spot created from the initial die cut.  This is where you need the little "innie" pieces - you then have to glue the "innie" cut outs onto the card. I didn't take this into consideration, and the next time I make one of these cards I will use a larger die but it really wasn't that difficult at all.  I used a toothpick and a straight pin to work the pieces in where they belonged.  I am very pleased with this card - it looks very difficult to make, but was easy (my favorite kind!)

Before I go, I want to remind you all that Halloween is literally around the corner.  It's my very favorite holiday, but can be a horrible event for your fur babies (black cats can be at GREAT risk - if you have a black cat, please keep it indoors for this one night).  Please keep them safe inside, preferably a room away from where you will meet trick-or-treaters.  Some pets don't like the door bell (my Mew freaks out!) so we actually sit outside and distribute the candy so no extra doorbell stress.  Finally, absolutely NO CHOCOLATE for dogs - it's deadly! 

Thanks SO much for reading this all the way to the end! I hope you enjoyed my card and got inspired to try something new of your own ~ Fondly, Christi

I am going to enter Angie's Thank You Card in the following challenges:
Allsorts - #435, Sentiment in Focus
Just Us Girls - #413, Wild Card Week, Word Cut Dies
Less is More - #348, Watercolor
My Time to Craft - #355, Die Cuts Only
Creative Friday - #189, Die Cuts/Punches
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Use Your Dies
The Crafter's Cafe Challenge - Use Die Cuts and Punches