Give Thanks

Finally, a card! I got the inspiration for this card from Stampin Up's Autumn Vine DSP, and I love the the way it turned out! The colors are Baja Breeze, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel. The dots around the tree branches were also inspired by the paper. If you don't have this paper, you must get it before the Holiday Mini Catalog expires.

Large images, such as this from Season of Friendship, are hard for me because they take up so much room on the card front, there isn't a whole lot you can do (or maybe it's just me!). After the image was stamped, I spent quite a bit of time fiddling around with design ideas for the rest of the card. First, I came up with the label from the Curly Label Punch Bundle. "Give Thanks" came from a retired SU set Fancy Flexible Phrases (at least, I think that's what it's called... I'm too lazy to get up and go look)... it's similar to the current Everyday Flexible Phrases. Turns out they are the perfect size for this label!

I then added the Baja Breeze striped ribbon because I just can't make a card without adding ribbon! {LOL}

The card still seemed too plain to me, which is when I got the idea for the photo corners. With the points of the leaves, I think it was a good call.

I was hoping to get more Thanksgiving cards done, but time is running out. I'm going to have to start working on Christmas cards soon. Besides the zoo and holiday boutique, and then recovering from the boutique (i.e., catching up on chores around the house), all of which have severely cramped my stamping time, my dad and his wife paid a (sort of) surprise visit. They live in Mississippi and came out west to visit my dad's brothers in AZ, and decided to continue west to California to see me and my family and my brother. It was wonderful to have them here for five whole days. I don't get to spend nearly enough time with my dad and Wanda, living so far apart. My kids get a kick out of Grandad... he's sort of a novelty to them. And Wanda is the most wonderful lady who has truly transformed my dad over the past 10 years. I miss my mother like crazy, but out of great tragedy, God gave us a blessing in the form of Wanda and the influence she has had on my dad, and what that has meant to all of us.

I hope to get some stamping done this weekend, although now that Dad and Wanda are gone, I again need to catch up with chores and get ready for Thanksgiving. No rest for the wicked.

Thanks for stopping by!