I have to admit that initally, I wasn’t so overwhelmed with the colour in this card – Emerald Envy….but as I used it on this design, it REALLY grew on me! I love the bold tone, and it’s perfect for this easy and effective card design to celebrate any occasion! You may have overlooked this combination of products in the catalogue…I know I did initially! It combines the Celebrations Duo Textured Impressions FolderS (yes, you get two of them – one says Celebrate, the other says Happy)…and the Happy Celebrations stamp set. You emboss the word – well, I guess it technically debosses, because the word is indented – and then stamp over it with the sploosh image (for lack of a more technical term) to have the word really stand out.
The thing I love about the more graphic background type stamps is that they are very forgiving. If you don’t get a perfect image, or if you happen to smudge it with your finger….it kind of fits in still. It does help to stamp on top of a Silicone Craft Sheet or Stampin’ Pierce Mat when you are using Photopolymer stamps – that extra cushion helps with the images. Since the stamps are a little more flat than the traditional red rubber stamps (no extra padding behind the image), you do have to watch when you ink them up as well. Too aggressively inking your stamp will often wind up with you having ink on the block and then in unwanted spots on your card (or your hand). Ask me how I know these things…. Let’s return to the Easy and Effective Card Design to Celebrate though, shall we?! hahahaha.
Thanks to my helper (thanks Mom!), I produced a whole whack of these easy and effective card designs over the past little while – and now am in the process of delivering them all… Since I was doing an epic production, I ended up doing just a single layer version of this card (see the stack in the image above). I like simple designs anyway, and this simplifies the design a bit further. Sometimes it’s more important to be able to just get things done rather than fussing with them forever and then never getting the card sent. I figure that the recipients of the single layer cards can always trim down the front of the card to 5″ x 3.75″, adhere it onto a 5.25″ x 4″ piece of Emerald Envy, and then adhere it onto a half sheet card (8.5″ x 5.5″, folded at 4.25″) for that extra layer look if they wish, right?! When I send thank you cards or follow up cards to customers, I usually have a sticky note inside that reads “please reuse this card” so that the recipient can “pay it forward” so to speak – or they can keep it as a prototype to copy for their own creations. “Sharing is caring” as my son often says to me (though usually that’s when I have some food or something that he wants….).
This Saturday is my Annual New Catalogue Open House & Retired Product Sale from 9am til noon. Please RSVP if you are able to join us in Burlington ON – I’ll send you directions, and will set aside a copy of the new catalogue for you. If you are intending to shop the retired products, it’s first come, first served, and cash sales. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
