Whole Lotta Gratitude

Well, I was more exhausted yesterday than I expected I'd be and didn't get to posting...my apologies!  Thursday night was our year-end concert at school.  As the head of the music department all of the production details and organization for the concert fell to me which made for a very busy week and little time for much else.  Thankfully the show went well and we had lots of happy students and parents.  Speaking of parents, there were several who stepped up to help out with various roles the night of the show.  From selling tickets to setting out refreshments, their help is invaluable to me, as I am always busy getting students organized, tuned and into place before the show starts.  Having a group of reliable parents to shoulder some of the responsibility makes my job much easier.  To thank them I designed today's card, in which I will write a note of appreciation and send.  See what you think...I hope you like...I made EIGHT!

Thank you card using Elegant Notes (retired) and Artistic Etchings sets.

Close up of focal image.

Close up of double embossed layer...see below for details...you're going to LOVE this technique!

Inside of card using Music Notes wheel and Elegant Notes.

In designing this card I wanted it to be suitable for either a male or female recipient, as we had both moms and dads helping us out.  I also wanted it to have some musical element, for obvious reasons, so I pulled out my retired Elegant Notes set and my current Music Notes wheel.  The best part of this card, though, is the double embossed layer shown in the third photo.  I have seen this technique used before but never tried it myself and when I saw it in June issue of Stampin' Success (our demonstrator-only magazine) I just knew I had to try it.  Here is the how-to:

Choose an embossing folder with a large, bold image.  The Vintage Wallpaper one I used here works perfectly.  Take your Versamark pad directly to the SMOOTH side of the folder, applying the ink evenly all over it.  Lay your DSP (in my case, Love Letters) or cardstock into the folder and run it through the Big Shot.  Then sprinkle embossing powder all over the embossed surface, shaking off the excess.  You should have powder stuck to all of the non-raised parts of the image.  Heat with your heat tool until all the embossing powder has melted.  Voila...double delight!  A very cool technique that produced, in my case, a vintage-looking layer that was perfect for my card.  A big WOW for not a lot of effort.

As for the rest of the card it is pretty straightforward.  The ribbon was trimmed and then frayed to create the fringe.  The medallion (from Artistic Etchings) was stamped third-generation over top of the sentiment (as was the treble clef on the inside of the card.  All of the very vanilla pieces were sponged with crumb cake to age them and make them blend better with the DSP.

Making eight of these took a while.  I am really not a big fan of mass-production and am dreading having to make dozens of the same swap cards for convention!  I love the creating and design part...the mindless cutting and assembly...not so much.

I really hope this card shows my parent volunteers just how much they are appreciated!