Happy Saturday everyone! Earlier this week, I was challenged with mass producing six cards for my son's teachers. In our district it was Teacher Appreciation week. I'm not sure if that's a national week or if each district chooses their own week but in any case, I want to share with you a teacher thank you card set that worked well for the occasion.
These were relatively easy to put together and it took me about an hour once I figured out what to do. These are 4-Bar sized cards (3.5" x 4 7/8") so they are a little smaller than A2. Part of the reason I chose that size was so that it was a little less work to prepare the card front backgrounds but it was still big enough to fit a Target gift card inside.
For the card front, I cut six pieces of white card stock at 3 1/4" x 4 5/8". Next, I used Tim Holtz Distress ink in four colors by applying Salty Ocean first, then Mustard Seed, then Spiced Marmalade and finally Worn Lipstick. When I applied the Mustard Seed over the Salty Ocean, it created the greenish range you see between the blue and yellow. Once I finished blending the colors over each other, I stamped the school house on each one. Once everything was dry, I sprinkled water droplets over the top. Water and distress ink interact with each other and it lightens all the areas where water touched the ink for a cool effect.
The "Thanks" sentiment is from CottageCutz and I cut six of them out of black card stock and adhered one above each school house image. The final step was spritzing Pewter Shimmer Mist from Tsukineko over each card. I love this mist and it gave the whole background a pretty shimmer.
I completed the cards by stamping, "A+ Well Done" on the inside of the card. All the stamps come from a Close To My Heart set called, School Rocks. This is a retired set but is still available from online sellers per my check as I was writing this. I've used this set a lot as it has some super cute school images in it.
Well, that does it for me today. If you have any questions, just leave me a comment. Don't forget that I now have a YouTube channel you can visit for more ideas. You can find me there at SugarShine's YouTube Channel. I'll be back soon!
- Janet
Hi there! Just a quick posting of something I've been working on lately. I have been practicing with Distress Ink and I think I've finally got it! This is what I put together this afternoon. The rainbow background blended just beautifully and I finished it off by splattering some water on it. It's amazing what simple water does to distress ink. It is pretty magical.
So here's how I did this card. First I blended four Distress Inks starting on the bottom and working from corner to corner. I used Salty Ocean, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn. These colors blended together to add purple and orange to the mix. Such vibrant pretty colors! I've had trouble blending these in the past but I finally ditched the wood handled mini blender and tried angled cosmetic sponges. What a difference! When I could really feel how much pressure I was using and didn't have 2" of wooden stick between me and the paper, it worked so much better. The sponges apply a nice finish. If I dare say so, I think it's better than the Tim Holtz sponges! It certainly worked way better for me.
The stamps are from Close To My Heart and the set came with the Cricut Artiste bundle. I stamped the sentiment first, masked it and stamped the cupcake on top. The mask makes it appear that the cupcake is behind the sentiment. Then I drew two perpendicular angled lines and cut the middle section out making sure the stamped image overlapped on the two remaining corner sections that were still intact. I colored the cupcake and wrapper with pink and blue Spectrum Noir markers.
To put it together, I placed the blended rainbow piece on top of a dark blue A2 sized cardstock. Then I put foam tape underneath the piece with the stamped image and two remaining corners and placed it on top. A few sequins with white Perlen Pen dots and some glitter to resemble sugar on the cupcake, and the card was done. This is very simple but oh, so satisfying.
Card Recipe:
White A2 sized card base
White card stock for the rainbow distress ink - 4.75 x 3.5
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn
CTMH Birthday set from the Cricut Artiste Bundle
Tim Holtz distress glitter - Clear Rock Candy
Momento black ink
Yellow and iridescent sequins
Perlen Pen - Ice White
I'm proud to enter this card in the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp-Monday Challenge, Through the Craft Room Door-Anything Goes Challenge, Cardz TV-Anything Goes, Jo's Scrapshack-#179 Anything Goes with Kenny K Stamps
