Happy Thanksgiving Card

I recently got the entire set of Tim Holtz’s Distress Markers from my good friend Janine who runs Alleystamp. I am a big comparison shopper and I do tons of research before I make a large purchase and her prices are fantastic, but it is her superior customer service that always brings me back to Alleystamp again & again. And if she doesn’t have exactly what you want she will get it for you and it doesn’t take weeks and weeks for you to get your stuff (and if for some reason it is going to take a while, Janine lets you decide what you’d like to do).  Anyway, I am in LOVE with these markers and have been playing with them like crazy.

One of the most recent cards I made using them is a Thanksgiving card for my Mom.  Since we landed in Colorado we have an interesting Thanksgiving dinner - we always get a few Papa Murphy’s pizzas the day before and feast on fresh baked pizza for our Thanksgiving meal!  Mom doesn’t have to cook at all (well, the oven does), the clean-up is super easy and everyone likes what there is to eat!  Talk about a win/win situation!  Since we cook the pizza at Mom’s, it is only polite to bring her something and, along with the pizza, this card will fit the bill. My Mom is legally blind due to glaucoma and luckily does have some limited sight left so she does best with cards that are clean and simple.  This is how I made her Happy Thanksgiving card:

To make the card you’ll need:

• Card base of kraft cardstock
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
• Wendy Vecchi’s Archival Ink in Orange Blossom
• Watercolor paper
• Twine bow (I handmade a bunch of these a while ago out of some twine I saved from when I bought my Dollar Tree Skeletons)
• Pumpkin from Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints 5 set, CMS170
• Nellie’s Multi Frame, MFD010
• Happy Thanksgiving stamp from a very old Hero Arts set (the set has four seasonal greetings in it)
• Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Brushed Corduroy, Mustard Seed, Pumice Stone and Mowed Lawn
• Watercolor Brush (I didn't have Tim Holtz's brush yet so I used an old dried out blender pen from Stampin' Up! - I just dipped it in the water for a smidge and colored)

First, I stamped the pumpkin with the Jet Black ink on the watercolor paper.  Then I outlined the pumpkin with the Distress Markers in the pumpkin colors (I’m sorry, I didn’t write down the exact order of when I used each color) and watercolor brushed them.  I colored the stem and the leaf with the Brushed Corduroy and the little stem squiggle with Mowed Lawn. Watercolor brush them as well.  Then I took the Pumice Stone and outlined the side of the pumpkin that has the leaf for a bit of dimension (I learned this trick from one of the many YouTube video’s I watched on using the Distress Markers – if you have these and are just using them to color I highly recommend watching some videos – you will be AMAZED at what these babies can do & how they coordinate with all the Distress Products – OK Ranger, how about making some Distress Markers to match Wendy’s colors?) I did not watercolor the Pumice Stone as I was afraid I'd ruin the whole pumpkin. As my pumpkin was drying I took my Happy Thanksgiving stamp and stamped it using Wendy Vecchi’s Orange Blossom, cut it out, edged it with the same ink and pop-dotted it to the inside of the card.  Then I took my pumpkin, found the Nellie die that fit it best and die cut it.  After I glued it to my card front, the finishing touch was attaching my twine bow.  The card was quick, fun and I think it looks very seasonal (even though we just had our first snow yesterday) and I know my Mom will love it.

The outside of the card

And the inside - the picture does NOT do the color justice 

I also apologize about how crooked it is - I had already filled out the card & sealed it in the envelope when I sat down to work on the pictures or I would have taken another.  Live & learn!

Here’s hoping you & yours have a fabulous holiday, be safe and blessings to you all!

I would like to enter my Thanksgiving card in the following challenges:
The Kraft Journal - So Thankful
Twisted Tuesday Challenge - Fall/Autumn, Thankful 
Use it Tuesday - Anything Goes (I have had the Happy Thanksgiving stamp in my stash for at least 10 years and this is the first time I have used it)
Craft-Dee BowZ - Anything with a Handmade Bow
Cuttlebug Mania - Thank You for Thanksgiving
LEJ Designs - Buttons, Bows or Beads 
Crafty Cardmakers - CAS

Thankful Card

I am trying to squeeze this one last “thanks” card before the holiday.  After I made this card I realized that it sort of looked like a turkey – that wasn’t my intent – LOL – but hey, if the turkey fits. . .

This is what I used to make my card:

• Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints, SMS170, wheat (stamped 5 times)
• Small alphabet stamp set – Studio G (sorry, I don’t have the font)
• Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Brushed Corduroy, Mustard Seed & Gathered Twigs
• Small water brush
• Watercolor paper
• Dark yellow base card
• Brown shiny layer from DCWV The Luxury Stack
• Orange cardstock
• Brown cardstock
• Dark brown cardstock
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Start by stamping and coloring the wheat stamp 5 times on the watercolor paper - this VERY important since the Distress markers won't watercolor on regular cardstock. I stamped mine & colored them before I cut them out so they’d be right next to each other and I could try to get the color somewhat the same.  Once they are colored, cut out only the wheat stalk.  Then hand stamp THANKFUL with a small alphabet set on a piece of white cardstock.  Trim and mat on dark brown cardstock (I know it is a tad crooked, but the stamps I used are the old rubber stamps, remember the ones you couldn't see through & basically hoped they'd stamp straight? Well, there ya go).  

Here are my "turkey feather" wheat stalks prior to attaching them

Arrange the wheat stalks behind the sentiment in a fan shape (I taped them in place with removable tape so I could be sure nothing but what I wanted showed – then as I removed the tape, I glued my wheat to my sentiment).  Mat on the brown cardstock, then the orange, then the shiny brown (there is actually a beautiful paisley type design on the shiny cardstock but there was no way I could get a picture as you can barely see it in person) and lastly, mount on the dark yellow base card.

 

A close up of the sentiment and if you look very closely

you can see some of the pattern on the shiny cardstock

up in the left hand corner

This was the first card I made with my new stamp sets and the Distress Markers.  Have you ever bought a stamp set and one image spoke to you & screamed to be used first? For some reason the wheat stamp screamed to me and this is the result.

 

And the final result

Hope you enjoyed and please consider leaving me a comment. Blessings to you & yours!

Don't forget to pop on over to Anything But a Card and check

 out the current mini-challenge!

I would like to enter my Thankful Card in the following challenges:

Card Mania - Autumn Colors

The Paper Girls - It's Time to Give Thanks

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes

Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Thanksgiving/Thanks
Make it Monday - Anything Goes
2 Sisters Challenge Blog - Thank You

And, yes, I found these challenges at Challenges for Days - the blog that fulfills all your challenging needs (ok, maybe not ALL of them, but quite a few)!