Textured Notes Thank You

Hello stamping friends!  I think we've survived the cold and damp rainy days we've been experiencing.  On to the sunshine and warmth again!  Yay!  Along with the dreary weather getting me down, a good friend from our Sunday School class passed away very suddenly last week.  It definitely threw me into a blue mood for a time.  But I realized even though I'd only known Judy for less than two years, I have many fun memories of time spent in her presence.  It's time to embrace the good memories and put away the sadness and live life to the very fullest extent possible.  Just like she would.   She loved Jesus and loved serving others and that's a wonderful legacy to leave behind.  As Judy would say, "Let's get on with it!"

Today's card idea came from the need of some masculine thank you cards.  I had a good assortment of floral thank you cards, but those really don't work too well for the manly men out there.  So, I turned to the Textured Notes stamp and die bundle for some un-girly inspiration.  These are part of the Online Exclusive products available to you.

With all the intersecting lines and angles along with the nature theme on this card, I think I achieved my goal.  There's a good number of textures and layers used here to keep things interesting.  Ready to make it?

Start with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock as a good neutral.  This measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored and folded in half.

The first layer is Very Vanilla cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  I wanted to give this some subtle interest, so the larger leafy stamp from the Textured Notes set was used.  To achieve the very light background, the stamp was inked in Lost Lagoon ink then off-stamped twice before stamping randomly on the vanilla cardstock.  This gives just a hint of color and design but really made a difference from the plain Very Vanilla cardstock.

Next there is a 2" x 4" layer of Lost Lagoon cardstock.  This lays across the card to anchor the design elements.  Before it was attached, it was embossed with the retired embossing folder called Tasteful Textiles.  I love the texture this adds to the layer, but it's still subtle and just blends in.  It's attached about 1" from the bottom of the Very Vanilla layer.  I used "green glue" to attach the layer to the Very Vanilla layer.  If there is any overhang on the sides, this is the time to trim it up. Then these both were attached to the folded card base.

Now we get into the lovely Textured Notes rectangle dies.  Each of the rectangle dies has a different texture cut into the edges.  For this card, I used three different dies.  The 2nd smallest size cut the Very Vanilla cardstock.  The 3rd smallest size cut the Pretty Peacock cardstock, and the 4th smallest cut a piece of Crumb Cake.

On the Pretty Peacock layer, the smaller leafy stem from the Textured Notes set was randomly stamped several times using Pretty Peacock ink.  This added a nice print on the darker layer.

This picture really shows off the interesting details on each rectangle layer and also the embossed Lost Lagoon layer too.

The Pretty Peacock layer was attached to the Crumb Cake layer with "green glue".  Then this was attached to the card front fairly close to the right edge.  Again "green glue" was used to keep these layers flat.

The same large leafy stamp used on the background was used again.  It's stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock using Lost Lagoon ink full-strength.  Since there is no die for this, it was fussy cut with Paper Snips.  Set aside for a minute.

The sentiment is from the Textured Notes set.  It's stamped to the left side of the Very Vanilla layer that was already die-cut.  Pretty Peacock ink was used for this.  It is attached over the two layers that were just added.  This time Dimensionals were added to give it some lift.  The leafy stem you just cut layers over this.  Dimensionals were used under the top leaves and the bottom stem, and the center part lays flat across the sentiment layer.  The leaves were curled slightly to give more dimension.

On to the inside of the card.  A layer of Very Vanilla cardstock was cut at 5 1/4" x 4" for this.  The sentiment is from the Grateful Blessings set found in the Annual Catalog.  I love both the words and the font on this stamp.  It is stamped with Pretty Peacock ink to show up nicely.  

Using the smaller leafy stamp from the Textured Notes set, the leaves were partially stamped in the top left and bottom right corners.  Lost Lagoon ink was used for this.

The layer was attached inside the card using "green glue" to hold it.

Last look.  As you can see, I couldn't resist adding a few embellishments.  I thought the metallic dots would continue the more masculine look of the card.  Three of the Adhesive-backed Textured Dots were used.  Aren't they the perfect embellishment for this masculine card?

And then I couldn't stop myself.  I added a small bow made with Linen Thread to the design.  It's attached with a rolled up Mini Glue Dot.

That's it.  I had to stop, or it would end up too girlie.  I hope you like the card idea for today.  I know I find it much harder to make the more masculine style of cards.  Thankfully, those aren't needed too often around here.  But that means I get out of practice.  Ahh, sounds like a vicious circle.

In case you haven't heard yet, Stampin'Up! is having a special sale right now.  You can Buy One and Get One 50% Off on all suites and suite products.  Definitely mix and match suites and products from both the catalog and Online Exclusives.  The more expensive item is full price, and the 2nd item is half off.  If you have questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

sharoncarr50@gmail.com