Two Thank You Cards For Friends

Our friends Gill & Brett along with their children Naomi and Max had us over to their house yesterday evening.  Our friends Debbie and Mike came too.  We had a lovely meal and played a music quiz game which was a lot of fun.  One of the rounds involved charades which proved hilarious!  I took along the two cards I'd made to say thank you for our Christmas gifts. 

First is this robin card I gave to Debbie and Mike which was inspired by a card made by Alison at the Glitter Pot.  I sat in on one of Alison's Glitter Pot classes where she used the beautiful IndigoBlu 'Rockin' Robin' stamp for one of the class Christmas cards.  I resisted the temptation to buy the stamp that day but then it appeared in the Glitter Pot sale after Christmas so I got it then!  I know it's a Christmas stamp really but I thought it would work well as a wintry after Christmas thank you card for my friend Debbie who is a bird loving member of the RSPB. 

I stamped the image in Soft Suede ink onto Very Vanilla CS, stamped the robin portion on a Post-It note to create a mask and stamped the robin portion again on a separate piece of vanilla CS.  I cut the mask and coloured the bird body first using Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, then masked the body part and used Festive Berries Distress Ink to colour the robin's red breast.  I inked the edges of the Very Vanilla panel with Festive Berries ink, layered the panel onto a Soft Suede mat and glued that to the front of the Real Red A6 card base.  I stamped the sentiment on a piece of vanilla CS, fussy cut it, inked the edges and popped that up.  I fussy cut the robin, popped him up and added a black gem for his eye.

Here's the inside and the envelope with another beautiful IndigoBlu stamp - 'Snowflake Lace'.

The card for the Paton family is so different from the shabby robin card!  I bought the very pretty X-Cut 'Floral Cluster Circle' die on Saturday and couldn't wait to make a card with it.  I made a 5 1/4" square card using Lost Lagoon CS, die cut the fancy circle from Pool Party CS and glued a Rich Razzleberry 4" die cut circle behind.  I die cut just the butterfly portion from sparkly Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, lifted the wings up and glued that over the top.   I matted a square of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper onto a Rich Razzleberry layer, added brad bases with Pool Party Candy Dots and attached that to the card front.  I popped up the fancy circle layer and sprinkled on some rhinestone gems to finish.

One of my other purchases on Saturday was a sale bargain border punch.  I was impatient to try that out also so I used it to decorate the inside and the envelope.  I am VERY happy with my new crafty acquisitions and the two cards went down well with the recipients - definitely a win-win situation!

Supplies for robin card:
Stamps: IndigoBlu 'Rockin' Robin' & 'Snowflake Lace', 'Thanks!' from SU! 'Vintage Verses' set, inside sentiment from SU! 'Wetlands' set
CS: SU! Real Red, Soft Suede & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Real Red & Soft Suede, Ranger Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs & Festive Berries Distress Inks
Tools: Sizzix 'Banners, Fancy' Framelits die set, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania black gem, SU! Soft Suede Candy Dots, Dimensionals, Post-It note

Supplies for fancy circle card:
Stamps: Hero Arts 'Sending Smiles Messages' clear set
CS: SU! Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry & Whisper White, SU! Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Ink: SU! Lost Lagoon & Rich Razzleberry
Tools: X-Cut 'Floral Cluster Circle' die, Sizzix 'Circle #1' Originals die, Woodware 'Petal Chain' Deep Lever Border Punch, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: SU! brad bases & Pool Party Candy Dots, SU! rhinestone jewels, PaperMania aqua gems, 3D foam tape