BURLAP THANKS

 Do any of you enjoy going to dollar stores? I love visiting Dollar Tree. I almost always find some sort of surprise there that I can use in my papercrafting. 

A couple months ago, our retail-starved community was treated to a new Dollar General. Recently I was there, browsing through all the autumnal offerings, when I came upon these rolls of burlap "ribbon" in a few fallish colors. And they were a delightful price: $2.00! I immediately was especially taken with this rustic looking teal color and snapped it up, knowing I would find some use for it.

Sure enough, once I got home, I discovered some retired Designer Series Paper in a gingham check with the exact same color in it!

Yay! A Thanksgiving card idea was born.

Awhile back, if you remember, I'd gone a little nuts die cutting from autumnish DSP a plethora of fall leaves. Well, obviously I had a lot of them left over from other projects I'd used them for. Once I'd decided on the notion to use some of these leftover leaves I was set. The card, from there, practically designed itself.

I had cut some of the leaves with a greenish hue, but I wanted the rusts and tans for my card to complement the teal of the burlap ribbon. So, I sifted through the supply, declining the greens.

Shown below is a closeup of the main portion of the card.

Seen from an angle, the card is blessedly flat in dimension, 

making it perfect to put through the mail, a real plus in my mind. 

With the cost of mailing, I always hate having to add additional postage 

to accommodate a little bit of bling. 

Following is a tutorial on how to create a card similar to this. If your Dollar General doesn't carry this burlap ribbon, I'm sure you could find something similar at a craft store. 

SUPPLIES:

Burlap Ribbon (This measures 2 3/8" wide. If you can't find that exact width, simply adjust the size of        the DSP to make it work.)

White cardstock

Designer Series Paper to coordinate with the burlap ribbon

Pool Party cardstock (this goes behind the burlap; find something that works with your color.)

Cajun Craze ink

Thankful Forest Friends stamp set (retired)

Die cutting machine

Tasteful Labels Dies (page 166, Annual Catalog)

Leaf dies

Burlap Ribbon

Tear 'n' Tape

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

The 2 3/8" wide burlap ribbon I used in my sample I found at Dollar General. If you can't find somthing similar to this, replace it with a complementary Designer Series Paper to the one you are using on the lower portion of the card. Cut the ribbon to about 4 1/2". I used Tear and Tape along the wired edges of the ribbon, then attached it to a 4" x 2 3/8" piece of Pool Party cardstock, trimming the ends of the burlap once it's all adhered in place. Set aside.

Just to reiterate: The burlap is adhered to a piece of Pool Party cardstock, then attached to the card.

Cut a piece of coordinating Designer Series Paper to 4" x 2 3/4". Having even edges on the bottom and the sides, adhere this to your card base.

Leaving even edges at the top and the sides, add the burlap covered Pool Party cardstock, overlapping the DSP if you need to.

From white cardstock, cut the largest label from the Tasteful Labels dies. In the center, stamp the sentiment in Cajun Craze. Surrounding the label, add tiny fall leaves. I cut mine with dies from scraps of fallish DSP. Before adhering them in place, lay the out so you like the arrangement.

Use Stampin' Dimensionals to add the sentiment to the card with the center straddling the seam created by butting the burlap and DSP together.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Burlap

Smiles.