Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Winter Thank You Project

Hi there,  So glad to have you stop by for a visit today!  I hope you are enjoying the holidays.  I thought this would be a great time for a fun thank you card challenge.  We all need thank you cards at this time of the year and frankly, I got a late start on making Christmas art and wanted to keep it going a bit longer.  So I created a winter-themed set of thank you library pocket cards.  You might remember that I made a set of library pocket Christmas cards at the beginning of the holiday season.  I thought they were so cute and that the format would work great for my Christmas thank yous.  
Plus I wanted to try my hand at a few very cool techniques I have seen lately.  Did you see Tammy Tutterow's frosty debossed snowflakes?  Very cool!  This is my first attempt and I think I might have scraped off too much crackle paint because the debossed areas aren't very crackly.  And of course, you can see the crackles better IRL.  The silver snowflake is one of the bronze ones I sell in my Etsy boutique.  I altered it by dripping Ranger Silver Alcohol ink mixative on it.  


Then Shelly Hickox took the crackle deboss to the next level by applying it to die cut foil tape.  Check out her gorgeous tag here.  What a seriously cool technique that is!  Mine is a little shaky.  I made it exactly the way Shelly described and I think I used the exact same materials, but I had a bit of a problem getting the Rock Candy distress paint to stick to the foil tape.  It dried and cracked beautifully, but when I handled it, the crackle paint came off in chunks.  I added more two more times, but each time it came off.  You can see a couple of places where it is missing on the front snowflake.  I finally gave up and figured only a card maker would notice it was missing anyway so I can probably use it as is.  
Inspired by another amazing technique and tutorial on Shelly Hickcox's blog, I tried her Faux Mercury Glass technique.  I was having problems with my heat gun so I only applied one coat of UTEE to this guy.  It really needs a second coat to get the glassy depth to it.  But it was a lot of fun to do and something I will definitely try again ( I have a new heat gun coming from Stampin' Up so will give it another try next week).  
I mixed a bit of the silver alcohol ink mixative with some Stickles for a silvery bling on the corrugated cardboard holly leaves.  It really doesn't look great in the photo, but it looks quite pleasing IRL. 
I used some lovely winter bird vintage images from LunaGirl.  With my Photoshop Elements, I erased the 'Merry Christmas' from each image and added 'Thank You' to each card.  They were printed on my home printer and distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink.  
I used a library card stamp from PaperTrey Ink to stamp the back of the tag.  My thank you message will be written on that side.  

This was such a fun little project.  You can make these very easily.  I used a free template from Mirkwood Designs to trace and cut the pocket and you can download a sheet of library cards from Pine is Here.  There's some scissor work involved, but I think in the end you will find it very enjoyable to make.  These sweet little cards will fit perfectly into an A2 size envelope.  

How about giving one a try?  You certainly do not have to make a set of 4.  If you make one and want to share, please leave a link in the comments section here so we can all see and be inspired by your work!

Thanks again for stopping by and for your lovely comments!



Products Used:


17 comments:

Pam said...

These are fabulous! I printed the template for the pocket card & the library cards. Guess what I'm doing in the morning? Thanks for the stunning inspiration!

Karen Aicken said...

Oh wow Linda ... these are fabulous! So many wonderful details on each one - thanks so much for sharing!
Cheers, Karen

Scrumplescrunch said...

Hello Linda
Once more you have come up with some gorgeous creations, I love them all.
Smiles:)

Inkypinkycraft said...

These truly are beautiful, I want to try the faux mercury..you have made a fab job! Just love these , they are stunning.happy new year hugs trace x

Hanneke said...

Oh, I love these thank you cards! They all look so wonderful and I bet everyone would be happy to receive such a wonderful thank you! I think the snowflakes you made look great! Hugs, Hanneke

ednamburgess said...

These tag/cards are the cutest. Beautiful! Makes me want to make bunches of them. Great ideas. Edna

Suzi Mac said...

Beautiful thank you notelets Linda. Sorry I haven't been around much, life gets in the way sometimes. But I still visit just to look. lol. Wishing you and the family a wonderful New Year.
Hugs
Suzi x

Marjie Kemper said...

These are so beautiful, Linda. They're a thank-you but a gift in their own right. Love all the techniques you tried.

Cheryl said...

These are so gorgeous! I love the details you included on each one.


Wishing you a year of health, happiness and creativity! Happy New Year!

MarcyK924 said...

FABULOUS, Linda! Thank YOU for showing the techniques you used! I love how you alter your embellies!

Shelly Hickox said...

Linda, these are so incredible!! I'm thrilled that you tried my techniques - they look great.

Every single thing you do just blows me away. Thanks so much for all of the inspiration this past year. Best wishes for an equally creative New Year! xoxo

Denise G said...

i love your tags. i hope it is okay that i pinned them tonight! thanks for the inspiration on your blog. i finally made my flowers from the etsy order i made with you so long ago.. they turned out really cute and everyone loved them. thanks.

Deb Neerman said...

WoW! Love these sweet library card pockets ... am definitely gonna give these a try!

Thanks for the inspiration, Linda, and a very HNY to you and yours!!

PS: Got my cardboard and white burlap today ... LOVE!!! Many thanks!

Sharon Wheet said...

I just love these tags! They are just so perfect! and they would make beautiful 'thank you' notes for Holiday gifts received. What a great idea, and thank you for all the info. I believe that I will make some! Thanks for the inspiration, and the great eye candy!

MarcyK924 said...

I tried the metallic alcohol inks on the snowflakes and they came out PERFECTLY!! Love this technique!

storybeader said...

the cards look great! I love your idea of including photos of the materials used. And good idea of changing "Christmas" to "thank you," which can be anytime! {:-Deb

Lisa Minckler said...

You are just a plethora of useful techniques and inspiration and you certainly aren't helping my budget any...LOL. OMG...I need all of this stuff!! :D

LOVE your tags! My goodness....
Oh to be in your brain for just one day.
hugs,
Lisa xx

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