Teacher Thank You Gift Card Pocket Card

I can’t believe another school year went by already!  My oldest will be in MIDDLE SCHOOL next year!  My son will be in third and the twins will be going to first grade.  So crazy!  Time sure is flying by.  We’ve been super busy this spring and life doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.  Life is about the journey, not the destination though, right?

I really like how this teacher thank you card came out.  I am in love with the Daisy Delight stamp set and punch.  They always turn out beautifully.  And I love the idea of the hidden pocket inside for a gift card.  Let me tell you how I put this together.

First I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and cut it halfway down the long side, so the piece is 4 1/4″ x 11″.  Score this in the middle at 5 1/2″ and also 2 7/8″.  This will fold in to form the pocket on the inside of the front.  I decorated this with a piece of Designer Series Paper in Lemon Lime Twist and then the flap with a solid piece of Lemon Lime Twist stamped with Lemon Lime Twist.  Can you tell I like this color?  Ha!  Actually I think the pocket is a bit over-decorated so I think I may just do the lemon lime twist on the white fold-over pocket on the next one.  I do have to make 4 of these for the kids’ teachers.  I also punched with the Every Day Label Punch on the edge of the pocket before I glued down the edges with Tear and Tape.

The ink colors I used are Basic Black Archival (retired), Lemon Lime Twist, Call Me Clover, Sweet Sugarplum (retired), and Blackberry Bliss.  (I guess I could have used Rich Razzleberry stamped off, but this was easier since I had it.  I’ll link to Rich Razzleberry below.)  It is all stamped right on the card base except for the front Daisy, which is punched out with the daisy punch.  I stamped the daisy in Sweet Sugar Plum and then used a sponge dauber right on the stamp in the center in Blackberry Bliss.  After punching the flowers out I sponged lightly again in Blackberry Bliss in the center.  I punched out a 1/2″ circle in Lemon Lime Twist for the center of the flower and put the largest Faceted Gems in clear on top.  So pretty!  I really like the gradient in the leaves.  I got the idea from Pinterest from Artisan Paula Dobson.  The leaf fill stamp is stamped in solid Lemon Lime Twist and then I sponged on Call Me Clover on half of the image before stamping it over the outline I had already stamped on the front.

I also stamped the cute little bee from the Touches of Texture stamp set and colored in the body with Crushed Curry and a Blender Pen.  I also colored the wings with Wink of Stella.  Love the subtle sparkles!  I think the teachers will like these.  I left the inside blank so I could write a really detailed note about how much we appreciate them.  I’m going to have the kids include thankful notes to fold inside as well.  Teachers love to hear how the kids loved being in their class.

Have you made any teacher gifts this year?  I’d love to see what you’ve made!  You can add a picture to our Facebook group .

Happy stamping!

Product List

Daisy Delight Photopolymer Stamp Set

Daisy Punch

Touches Of Texture Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Call Me Clover Stampin' Pad

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

1/2" Circle Punch

Clear Faceted Gems

Sponge Daubers

Blender Pens

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Everyday Label Punch

Tear & Tape Adhesive

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive Refill

Stampin' Trimmer

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Lots of Lavender

This Lots of Lavender set is super pretty!  I used every single stamp in this set on each card and envelope set.  And these cards have a fun secret.  THEY SMELL LIKE LAVENDER!  What?!  Ok, maybe you guessed that from the one where you can actually see the lavender through the shaker window…but they actually all have lavender chambers behind the front panel.  Super fun, right?  There is a limited time to earn this set for free, but for now Sale-a-bration is still going strong!  I’ll be featuring the free sets you can earn with your qualifying purchases until SAB ends March 31.  We made the ‘amazing’ one above in our weekly Cocktail & a Card class this week and I also made that one for my second ever Facebook live.  You can view that video with this link and see how I put the shaker part together.

All of these cards are your regular A2 size cards (half a sheet of cardstock folded in half) and the white panels are all 4″ x 5.25″.  All of these have discreet small holes poked in the front so you can smell the lavender through the cards.

This was the first card I tried.  I used Sweet Sugarplum cardstock and ink, but then added some Soft Sky ink over the top to make the lavender a little bit more blue.  I think most people are using Wisteria Wonder ink for this set, which looks fabulous, but that is a color that I don’t have in my collection right now.  It’s a way to stretch your imagination if you have to use what you have!  You can see the small circle of holes I poked to the lower right of the flowers in the window sheet.  I like this one, but I’m not a super fan of seeing the lavender.  They just look dry and not really super pretty like the rest of the card.  The sentiment here is from Picture Perfect Birthday.  I love the fonts in this set!  So scripty and pretty.  I especially love the one that says ‘treat yourself.’

On the next two cards I decided to hide the lavender so you can smell it but not see it.  I really like the color Rich Razzleberry so I decided on the others that I would just do a stamp-off technique to get a lighter purple.  I made a mask using a sticky note pad that is fully sticky instead of just at the top.  I fussy cut around it and stuck it on the center flower and then did the side ones.  The purples here are all Rich Razzleberry in either full strength or stamped off once.  The green is Pear Pizzazz.  The ‘Thank You’ sentiment here is from another free Sale-a-bration set Heartfelt Blooms.  You really can’t see the holes very well, but there are many throughout the blooms so you can smell the lavender.  A word about getting dried lavender: I bought mine through eBay.  I had no idea how much a pound of dried lavender would be.  I have 2 ginormous bags of dried lavender now.  Haha!  I show one of them in the video above.  You probably do not need to buy this much dried lavender!!

I really liked the clean look of this last one and it was the easiest to do for my class.  Which one do you like best?  Did you get this set for SAB?

Please click on the links below to shop for any of these products.  Happy stamping!

Product List

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Sweet Sugarplum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack

Window Sheets

Lots Of Lavender Photopolymer Stamp Set

Celebrate You Thinlit Dies

Heartfelt Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Old Olive 1/8" Sheer Ribbon

Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Organza Ribbon

Paper-Piercing Tool

Foam Adhesive Strips

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

 

Watercolor Stocking Christmas

Watercolor-Stockings-Web

I love how this card turned out.  I’m choosing this one to send out to family and friends this year with the exception of one special card I’m making for my grandma.  I love watercolor washes and this is a great way to add a splash of color on shimmery white paper and a textured snowy background.

You can follow along how I made this card on YouTube here.

The items I used in this card are listed at the bottom of this post and also in the video.

Watercolor-Stockings-close.jpg

The variation I did for my grandma is using the Quilted Christmas DSP to look like a quilt on a watercolor background.  She has made dozens of quilts over the years and this piece reminds me of a square quilt she might make to hang on the wall.  I used two different paper patterns from the same DSP stack.  The red star background fit perfectly behind the 3″ x 3″ quilted piece to look like a border!  I was thrilled about that.

Watercolor-quilt.jpg

I’m really thrilled with how these two cards turned out.  I’m excited to see the variations that come from doing multiple cards because watercolor is never the same twice.

The shimmery white cardstock is a dream to watercolor on.  I love how it has that wonderful subtle shimmer!  I used all the colors from the DSP: Garden Green, Real Red, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party and Blushing Bride.

Watercolor-quilt-close.jpg

Please share with me the cards you are making for your family this year!  I would love to see them.  You can post on my new Facebook group here.

Merry Christmas!

Product List

Hang Your Stocking Photopolymer Stamp Set

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Christmas Stockings Thinlits Dies

Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Quilted Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Aqua Painters

Paper Snips Scissors

Fast Fuse Adhesive

Big Shot

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Snowy Season’s Greetings

I love the texture in the Cable Knit embossing folder!  It adds so much depth to cards.  This card features stamps from Snowflake Sentiments.  This is a really easy and pretty card.  I used Whisper White, Pool Party and Dapper Denim along with a splash of silver from last year’s Sale-a-bration sale.  (Next one is coming up soon in January!)

I did not shoot a video for this one, but it’s fairly easy to explain so I’ll just give the measurements here:

Whisper White base – 5.5″ x 8.5″, folded to 5.5″ x 4.25″

Whisper White Stitched Shape oval – largest oval

Dapper Denim layer – 5.25″ x 4″

Pool Party layer – 5″ x 3.75″

1 Whisper White medium envelope

Directions:

Stamp the 3 different sizes of snowflakes in Dapper Denim onto the Pool Party layer.  I found it easier to cut my 3 small snowflakes into 1 and 2.  They line up nicely if placed together on the block and then I can use a single one when needed.  After it is all stamped, emboss the Pool Party layer with the Cable Knit embossing folder with the ribs going up and down.

Stamp the greeting in Dapper Denim in the middle of the Stitched Shape oval.  Stamp the single small snowflake in Pool Party in random places around the sentiment.  Run a line of Fast Fuse on the back of the oval and attach a silver ribbon.  Trim the ends on an angle.  Place Stampin’ Dimensionals above and below the ribbon on the backside of the oval.  Since the oval is so big, I recommend 4-6 dimensionals.

Snowy-Season's-Greeting-close

Attach the layers using Fast Fuse, since the Pool Party layer is so textured.

On the inside I stamped a retired greeting from Jar of Cheer in Dapper Denim and a few scattered small snowflakes in Pool Party.  I also stamped the envelope front with a big snowflake in Dapper Denim and the triple line of small snowflakes along the back flap (not shown).

Snowy-Season's-Greetings-inside

Shop with me here and click Shop Now or click on products below.

Order completed cards from my Etsy store (new!).

Follow me on Facebook.

Get inspired on Pinterest.

Check out my tutorial videos on YouTube.

Please support small businesses and families.  Have a fantastic day!

Product List

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Dapper Denim 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Jar Of Cheer Photopolymer Stamp Set

3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack

Fast Fuse Adhesive

Stampin' Dimensionals

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Big Shot

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Greenery in the Snow

Greenery-close-up.jpg

It’s time to start preparing for Christmas!  Be ready to send out lovely Christmas cards to your family and friends this year by starting early and not being in a rush for once.  (Tell me it’s not just me!)  I recently got these Pretty Pines thinlits and I LOVE them.  They are so versatile and lovely.  They make great accents on cards, tags and gifts.  Love love love!

For this card I used the Softly Falling embossing folder on the background and the Everyday Label Punch along with the Pretty Pines thinlits.  I put Wink of Stella on the Real Red twig shape things because Wink of Stella is freaking awesome and it dazzles up everything.  Wink of Stella would also make a great stocking stuffer…just saying.  😉

The card also features the stamp set Snowflake Sentiments.  This stamp set has AMAZING greetings.  I really hope this one sticks around for a long time.  (And if it retires I’m still going to use it!)  I did use the pine branch from the now retired set Merry Patterns, which you could have earned for free in October 2017.  You can easily use another stamp as an accent on the envelope such as a single or triple small snowflakes or one of the larger ones from the Snowflake Sentiments.  You can see all the included stamps in the links at the bottom of the blog post.

Greenery-inside.jpg

 

You can check out my YouTube tutorial about how I put this card together.  And if you’d like to purchase any of these amazing materials to make your own fun Christmas cards you can buy them directly by clicking on the picture links below.

We are celebrating my family Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving so I really have to get a scoot on!  We usually get together in a big gym and enjoy snacks.  The boys run around and play ball games and the girls and I get together and do paper crafts.  Then we have a big dinner (including fondue) and finish up with stockings.  We recently started a new tradition of having a paper tearing competition.  It sounds so weird but it’s totally fun!  We have dozens of strips of newspaper about 6″ wide by the height of normal newspaper.  We have double elimination rounds and go two by two against each other tearing from top to bottom without going off the edge.

What are some of your fun family traditions?  Share with us in the comments.

Product List

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Merry Patterns Photopolymer Stamp Set

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Always Artichoke 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

Everyday Label

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Big Shot

Fast Fuse Adhesive

Stampin' Dimensionals

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Thankful Petals

Time to be thankful!  I am thankful for my family, my friends and for a wonderful hobby I can share with all of you.  This one uses the Blossom Builder Punch and the Bunch of Blossoms stamp set.  There are great sentiments on this stamp set along with the Just Add Text stamp set I used on the inside.  For a YouTube tutorial click here.  To experience making this card with me please join me for this week’s Cocktail and a Card class!

The petals and leaves are bending up from the card for a fun 3D effect without extra bulk.  There are no dimensionals used.  The colors I used were just Rose Red and Old Olive.  I made my own DSP (designer series paper) because I didn’t have enough plain Rose Red cardstock and I didn’t have any DSP that used Rose Red.  I guess I could have used something with Old Olive but I really wanted the Rose Red to pop on this one.  I also did a Marina Mist version for the YouTube tutorial, although many colors will look fabulous with this design.

 

The dimensions for this card:

Whisper White cardstock – 8.5″ x 5.5″, folded in half to 4.25″ x 5.5″

Whisper White cardstock – 4″ x 5.25″

Whisper White cardstock – 3.25″ x 4.5″

If you want to purchase anything I’ve used on this card simply click any item below and it will take you straight to my Stampin’ Up! page for that item.  I hope you have a wonderful day and I sure am thankful for YOU!!

Product List

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$9.00
Bunch Of Blossoms Photopolymer Stamp Set

$21.00
Blossom Builder Punch

$18.00
Just Add Text Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$18.00
Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50
Basics Pack 2 Washi Tape

$8.00
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

$7.00
Liquid Multipurpose Glue

$4.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Gold Embossed Leaves – Sept. 2017 Paper Pumpkin Alternative

Leaf-blog

It’s time to be thankful!  I love the gorgeous colors on the trees this time of year.  And while it is almost 90 for one more day, tomorrow promises to be much cooler.  I am getting a little excited to wear my hoodies again.

This card is made using the September Paper Pumpkin kit stamps.  The leaf stamps are so pretty!  And I realized the shape of the beautiful gold foil stickers matches the leaf from the Colorful Seasons stamp set from the catalog.  I have been eyeing that one for a while, because it covers all four seasons quite wonderfully.  And I am thrilled to have received these leaf stamps in this kit, along with the nice fall ink color Cajun Craze.

For these cards I took a Crumb Cake base card and stamped the smaller leaf all over the front in Crumb Cake ink for a tone on tone look.  The card on the left is using cutout shapes from the kit and the one on the right was created just by using the stamps and cardstock from the catalog.  For the small leaf I just embossed gold on Early Espresso cardstock and fussy cut it out.  The tag was copied from the kit using Whisper White cardstock at 3/4″ x 1 5/8″, cut at the corners and hold punched.  Then I laid the bottom onto my Versamark ink pad and embossed that part with gold embossing powder, then repeated that for a nice thick solid band.

To create the rainbow leaf I used Shimmery White cardstock (excellent for watercoloring).   I embossed the large leaf stamp in gold embossing powder and heat set it.  Then I stamped 4 colors along my F acrylic block, like a paint palette.  I used Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze and Real Red.  Using the aquapainter I wet the image and then added color to it.  Since the paper was wet, each color blended nicely with the next.  I did wipe off the brush tip between colors so the colors on the palette didn’t blend.  I painted well outside the outline so that when I fussy cut the large leaf there would be no white border.

For the inside of the card I used an image from the Bunch of Blossoms stamp set that says, “Thank you very much.”  It showed up well in Cajun Craze on the Crumb Cake cardstock, without having to add a white insert like you would with darker card bases.

Here is a YouTube tutorial on making this card.

leaf-close.jpg

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Daisy Thanks Card

Flower-Thanks-Web

Crafting is so therapeutic!  This card makes me so happy and it was quick and easy to put together.  I’m sure it will brighten someone’s day.

We’ll be making this card during this week’s Cocktail and a Card class.  If you are in the Williamston, MI area, try to make it out once just to give it a shot.  I think you’ll really enjoy it.  Plus it’s only $5, so there’s no risk!

The center daisy was stamped on scrap paper and fussy cut out.  The other flowers are stamped directly onto the second largest stitched shapes framelits circle.  The fussy cut flower is popped up on dimensionals.  The circle is on dimensionals as well, over top of leaves cut out in vellum and pear pizzazz using the Lovely Laurel Thinlits.

You can follow along on my YouTube tutorial here.

Please visit my online store here to check out other products or to place an order for your favorite items.  Just click on the Shop Now button.  Have a great day!

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Cocktail and a Card Classes

CCSept7-2017You’ve had a hard day (week? year?!).  The kids are whiny, work is stressful and you just need an escape.  Great news for you!  The new Cocktail and a Card Classes start this Thursday from 7 pm – 8 pm.  This is an inexpensive, quick and fun way to de-stress and hang out with old and new friends.  Get your craft on with friends and a drink.  What’s not to love?

This week we are kicking off with some sweet bubbly champagne and a fun birthday card.  You need this!  And for only $5, you have no real excuse not to come.  We want you to relax with us.  You’ll be able to have fun creating, know you have a card ready to go for that next occasion and watch that joy spread when you finally pass it on to a loved one.

Visit Delight of my Art on Facebook for details and to register for each weekly class by that Tuesday at midnight so I can prepare your materials (and buy enough booze!).  I hope to see you there.  Come stamp with us!

http://www.facebook.com/delightofmyart