Many Thanks Mod

There are so many things to be thankful for in life - from seeing hard work pay off, to unexpected bouts of good luck, or someone's kind gesture (big or small). If I was a fairy with superpowers, I would secretly tuck a card into everyone's hand so they can give it to people around them every day. And then I'd whisper that they should send a card to that friend that just helped them move the couch across the city, or the girl at the coffee shop that makes their drink every day. And just maybe it would make everyone's day a little bit brighter...

So, it's without much surprise that Thank You cards are both my favorite and the type of card I make the most frequently. You can pair any stamp with thankfulness - from happy, bouncy kids to serene flowers, or even go completely abstract and just play with shapes. For today's card, I decided to go with a mod kind of look, pairing a chunky black sentiment with some subtle abstract flowers and a piece of striped patterned paper.

I started by creating the front panel (in white). I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to measure 5½ by 3 3/4". I used Simon Says Stamp's Favorite Flowers stamp set to stamp 3 medium flowers. I used the new ink Duckling for the solid flower, then used Melon for the scribbled inside. These two colors are somewhat close on the color spectrum, so the result was a very subtle texture. Lastly, I stamped a bunch of small dots all around the flowers with Rosie Cheeks.

I stamped the sentiment from Many Thanks in black ink. The sentiment is from a set that Dawn (owner of WPlus9 - another one of my favorite companies) created in collaboration with Simon Says Stamp. The set itself has a lot of gorgeous watercolor flowers you could layer together - but I decided not to use them since I wanted a simpler and more subtle abstract look.

For my card base, I used a top-folding craft A2 base (4¼x5½"). I adhered the piece of striped patterned paper I found in my scraps stash about ¼" from the base's border. I then adhered the white panel on top, using my regular adhesive.

The transition between the white panel, the patterned paper and the base was a bit too smooth for my liking and didn't fit with the boldness of the sentiment. So, I grabbed a black pen and drew a thick line where each panel met with the other. This brought in that extra bit of contrast I really needed, but didn't bulk up the card in any way.

Lastly, I scattered a handful of sequins from Sparkle & Shine and Moonshine mixes around the front panel. I went with gold and clear because they mixed well with the other colors on my card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~