ROCK AND ROLL ON FAUX SILK

Thanksgiving Day, a.k.a. Turkey Day, is just around the corner, as they say. So, it's time to get going on those Thanksgiving cards to express your gratitude for all your blessings.

Stampin' Up!'s beautiful set, For All Things, found on page 41 of the Holiday Catalog, is perfect for not only fall-flavored cards, but for Thanksgiving greetings as well.

To make my Thanksgiving card, I incorporated a few cool techniques.

Do you remember the bright yellow "Caterpillar" tissue paper I had used in a few of my cards with the faux silk technique? Well, when I was creating this card, I wanted to use that technique with the Caterpillar tissue, and opted to stamp on the reverse side of the tissue.

My original intent was to stamp the oak leaves first onto the smooth tissue. After I was finished stamping and had crumpled my paper, I realized that I hadn't stamped far enough out to fit my cut base cardstock. I glued it in place anyway, figuring I could fill in at the edges with a few more stamped leaves.

When I attempted to fill in with a few leaves on the glued-down tissue, there, but to my wondering eyes, I made a serendipitous discovery! When I stamped the oak leaves onto the crumpled adhered tissue, the leaves looked VEIN-Y! Yes, vein-y, a very technical term.

I loved the more realistic, more rustic look of the leaves that resulted from this newly-discovered way. So, I decided to start all over from scratch. For this card, I crumpled the paper first, adhered it to the cardstock base, and then stamped the leaves all over the background.

I love the effect you get when you stamp the sentiment over the little watercolor-y background. 

For my taste, on this card, I thought the oak leaves were a bit blah when stamped merely in Cajun Craze ink. So, I decided to groove to some rock and roll. By rocking the edges only into a contrasting color ink once the stamp had been inked in Cajun Craze, it gives a touch of extra color, and thus more interest.

Inside the card I stamped the cute little acorn trio, then followed with the greeting in Cajun Craze.

Even though this Caterpillar tissue paper is not readily available, you can use any neutral-colored tissue for this project. I simply wanted to upcycle something that had been given to me.

Now, would you like to duplicate this card for your own use? It's easy. Here's how:

SUPPLIES:

For All Things stamp set

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set

Soft Suede cardstock

Cajun Craze cardstock

Very Vanilla cardstock

Cajun Craze ink

Soft Suede ink

Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Linen Thread

Glue Sticks

Tissue Paper

Paper Snips

Big Shot

Chalk Talk Framelits

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Soft Suede cardstock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Adhere a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Cajun Craze cardstock to the card base.

Crumple a piece of tissue paper measuring about 5" x 7" several times in your hands, unfolding and repeating a few times. Slightly flatten the piece. Cover the entire front of a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of scrap cardstock with glue stick. Carefully place the tissue paper onto the glued surface. Gently pat down on the wrinkles to create a veined look. Adhere extra edges of tissue to the back of the piece.

Stamp the oak leaf randomly, overlapping SLIGHTLY, onto the veined piece. When satisfied, adhere this piece to the card front.

On scraps of Very Vanilla cardstock, stamp two oak leaves: FIRST, CLEAN THE STAMP. Ink up the oak leaf stamp with Cajun Craze. With the Soft Suede ink open and sitting on the table, gently rotate JUST THE EDGES of the stamp into the Soft Suede. Check to see if you like the effect on the stamp. You can always add a bit more brown by rocking and rolling it once again. Keep the center of the leaf Cajun Craze. Stamp. Repeat with the second leaf.

Carefully cut out the leaves, leaving a border of plain paper at the edges. Tie a piece of Linen Thread into a bow, and glue this to the stem of one of the leaves. Adhere the plain leaf flat onto the card front. Attach the leaf with the bow with a couple Stampin' Dimensionals at an angle to the first one.

On a scrap of Very Vanilla, stamp the shady background, STAMPING OFF FIRST. Over the shaded portion, stamp the sentiment in Cajun Craze. Cut out the label with the Framelit from Chalk Talk Framelits in the Big Shot.

Cut a "V" into one end of the striped ribbon. Tape the straight end to the back of the label. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere the label and ribbon to the card front in the lower right corner.

Inside the card, stamp first the three little acorns in Soft Suede, stamping off first. Stamp "Happy Thanksgiving" across the acorns in Cajun Craze.

Now, share with us: How many, if any, Thanksgiving cards do you send each year? Are they all handmade?

Thankful

Smiles.