Many Thanks

There are many things I do in life that I don't ever expect any gratitude or recognition for, my motivation is not in those things. So I'm not saying if you don't get the gratitude it isn't worth doing. What I am saying is, "if I can make someone feel special, isn't it worth the little bit of effort it takes to say thank you?" I fail at this miserably most days. But I had a wonderful experience a couple of weeks ago and really felt urged to make the effort.

We hosted a women's conference at our church a few weekends ago. It was overwhelming to see women turn out to say, "How can I help?" And honestly events like the conference would never be possible if it wasn't for people stepping up and giving their time. Not everyone can be just a spectator. We are such a society of expecting people to be there for us, but what if no one was ever there, what would that look like? No one to ask for a recommendation on restaurants, no one to help us when we have lost our way, no one who was willing to serve. I hope this series of Thank You cards will 

1. Remind you to be thankful when someone helps you, even in a small way. We are quick to be critical but someone's effort is more than others lack of stepping up to be available.
2. Encourage you to serve others because it is a big deal to give your time to those who need it.
3. Be creative and have fun when creating.
4. Learn from other's mistakes when creating.

They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.

1 Corinthians 16:18 NLT

Now you know why I made these cards so lets get into the creating process. I wanted the cards to be inspired by the conference. It was a queen theme with lots of glitz and glam and that is what I tried to pull off using colors that resembled precious metals. 

The stage for the conference was decorated with these gorgeous beads that formed a curtain. I automatically thought of Charming Cascades that had a descending dot background stamp. And don't forget in March when you buy 2 stamps from CTMH you get 1 FREE!!  I used the Galaxy Gold ink by Tsukineko Brilliance to show a little glam, but I was disappointed that it didn't show as much of a metallic look like what I was expecting. So I added gold sequins by CTMH to try to bring that look back in. I also used Hero Arts Ombre Lilac to Grape purple ink pad for the Thank You sentiment. I love this ink pad!! The colors matched perfectly with what was used in the conference. You do have to more the stamps a little back and forth on the pad when inking so you don't have a line mark when you stamp. The Thank You sentiment is from the set For Every Occasion by CTMH which is retired but they have plenty of other Thank You sentiments to choose from just head over to my website www.tamra.ctmh.com.

I used the same stamps on this card but I wanted to experiment with different embossing powders. I used WOW Midas Touch Embossing Glitter.  I would not recommend this embossing glitter. As you can see the top left did not look like it had any embossing powder, the problem is that the glitter keeps the powder from adhering to the glue. When you turn on your heating tool to melt the powder it blows off the glitter. Myself and my craft room were completely shimmery by the time I finished making these cards. Also the color was more on the pewter side than the golden color that is seen online. I added silver sequins with bitty sparkles from CTMH.

Hoping that something with more of a shimmer than chunks of glitter would have a different result I tried Ranger Bridal Tinsel, and it turned out great!! Of course it doesn't stand out against the card base but it left a beautiful shimmer. I added different sized sparkles to add a little dimension and pop to the card.

D1668-Chaming Cascades

Valentine Bouquets

It has been a long time since I have really loved a stamp as much as I do the Beloved Bouquet by CTMH. The layered stamping really reminds me of stamps from when I began 8 years ago. So I also did something I rarely do which is just play. I got the stamp out and my favorite colors and just tried things out until I found the result I liked. I'll give you a little peek into my process.

Colors:

     Eggplant

     Pansy Purple (retired)

     Fern

     Ponderosa Pine (retired)

Technique:

     Second generation stamping: 

          Second generation stamping is a great technique to use with layered stamps so that you can use

          one color to create a beautiful image with depth. To achieve the lighter color with the same 

          tone you ink your stamp and apply it to the paper (1st generation). Then, without cleaning it off 

          stamp the image again, which will produce a lighter shade of the same tone. (2nd generation)

         Then you can stamp the detailed image on top of the solid image and it will appear darker and

         pop. Since you are having to stamp so much I advise making a lot at one time that way you 

         have options to choose from without having to start the process over again. As you can see I

         didn't use all of the flowers that I stamped because a couple didn't turn out very well.

     Layered stamping:

          If you don't do second generation you need a one color to be darker than the other so you can 

          see the detail of the flower. For example I used Fern (1st generation) and then went back with 

          the detail of the leaves with Ponderosa Pine. I try not to use retired colors but it was the only 

          darker shade I owned that would coordinate with Fern.

So the next thing I did was design the sentiment. I wanted to keep everything simple because the flowers are big and quite busy. I knew that I wanted to stamp the sentiment on a banner so I pulled out the Artistry Cricut Cartridge and cut a frame in Fern. I then cut the background banner in White Daisy and stamped the sentiment "Happy Valentine's Day" from the Beloved Bouquet in Eggplant and glued the two pieced together to form the banner. I then started to layout the card. I was a little surprised when I found out all of my pieces wouldn't fit on a standard A2 card so I decided to make a 5"x7" card and found a pack of gray envelopes from Hobby Lobby in my stash.  I then added a piece of Slate Cardstock to the card base to coordinate with my envelope and to take away a little of the white. I used a zip-top that was in the La Vie En Rose paper pack and put it centered behind the banner. Lastly, I adhered the banner with foam tape.

 

At this point I was pretty happy with my card except I felt that there was still too much white on the banner. I thought about adding a little bling from my stash, but I really didn't want to take away from the flowers. So I crossed my fingers and hoped that if I added a few lines by hand that I wouldn't hate it because I didn't want to have to recut/stamp the banner. Fortunately I really liked and was astonished that something so simple and subtle could make such a big difference. 

And since Beloved Bouquet is such an awesome stamp set it covers the inside sentiment as well as the front. I took the negative from the banner I cut for the front and stamped the sentiment and added one of the smaller flowers that I stamped when doing the second generation technique.    

I hope you like the card I made. Please feel free to purchase any of the items that you see on my website www.tamra.ctmh.com

Oh and another hint. While you are stamping with a stamp set go ahead and make extras especially if the creative juices are flowing. My mom's favorite flower is the yellow rose so I went ahead and stamped some Canary/Saffron flowers for a Mother's Day card. Of course I have a while to actually get that made so I will post pictures of the finished product later but, Beloved Bouquet is only available until January 31 and I didn't want you to miss out.