Thankful for the PPA

It’s Thursday! And that means it’s time to play the Pals Paper Arts challenge! This week we are hosting a theme challenge: Gratitude and Thanks. Whether your project represents something (or someone) for which you are grateful, is a simple thank you note, or has a Thanksgiving motif, we encourage you to create with a spirit of gratitude and thanks. I opted to create a Thaksgiving card. Although I have used the Gifts of the Earth stamp set for several cards, I had never inked up the turkey image. The shape of the stamp seemed perfect for an oval, so I simply used the center of the Bigz Oval Frame Die and decorated the edges with leaves stamped from Lovely as a Tree. And if you do not recognize the sentiment, it is from the sweet little Gobble, Gobble turkey. How about it? Are you ready to talk turkey?

The Stampin‘ Schach Tips:

• When planning on sending large square cards through the mail, prepare a 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ card base. It will fit perfectly into Stampin‘ Up!s Medium Square Envelopes. As for my card base, I selected Always Artichoke. It coordinates well with Really Rust, Dusty Durango, and Pumpkin Pie for exquisite fall cards!
• Forget about diamonds…Paper Snips are a girl’s (and guy’s) best friend when it comes to snipping out intricate designs like these Oak Leaves from Lovely as a Tree. Sharp all the way to the tip, they were indispensable in the creating of this card.
• Bling it “down” for Fall! As much as I love bling, my autumn cards are better served with Vintage Brads. And for perfect placement of them, I used the Template from the Mat Pack.
• Distressing should not be distressing! I simply use a Sponge Dauber to apply the ink to the edges of the paper. It couldn’t be easier! For today’s card, Chocolate Chip was the color of choice. And what could be easier than using a Color Spritzer? If you do not have one, I would encourage you to add one to your next order. Paired with a Chocolate Chip Stampin‘ Write Marker, I used the Color Spritzer Tool to distress the background of the turkey image and the “Give Thanks” oval.
• Never underestimate the power of a Blender Pen! I do all of my watercoloring with Blender Pens and ink. I simply “dab” the tip of my pen directly on the ink pad itself. If the color is too strong, I stroke the pen a few times on a piece of scratch paper. The colors that I used for the leaves included Really Rust and Old Olive. The veins of the leaves were enhanced with a Close to Cocoa Stampin‘ Write Marker. For the turkey, from Gifts of the Earth, I used Creamy Caramel, Basic Gray, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, and Close to Cocoa. The speckling was enhanced with a white Signo Gel Pen.
• Dare to be different! I wanted my “Give Thanks” label to have a unique twist. So I inked the sentiment from the bottom of the adorable Gobble, Gobble turkey using my Chocolate Chip Stampin‘ Write Marker, stamped it onto Very Vanilla, and punched it out with the Small Oval Punch. After a little distressing, it was ready to adhere to this card’s “unique” factor…the label prepared from the Modern Label Punch. A label was punched from textured Really Rust, which was distressed, and a second was punched from Always Artichoke. This one was simply cut into two pieces and adhered to the Really Rust. Linen Thread was used to further enhance the look.
• And if you are wondering about the random leaf in the upper right hand corner…it’s only there because I spent a rather large amount of time cutting these leaves out…and by-golly I was going to use it somewhere!!!

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Stamp Sets: Gifts of the Earth (116501—Holiday Mini), Gobble, Gobble (116535—Holiday Mini), As Lovely as a Tree (115026)
Inks: Chocolate Chip (100908), Really Rust (102549), Old Olive (102277), Sahara Sand (105208), Close to Cocoa (103139), Basic Gray (109120), Ruby Red (102259), Not Quite Navy (103008), Creamy Caramel (103220), White Signo Gel Pen (105021), Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write Marker (100071)
Designer Series Paper: Autumn Traditions (115668), Autumn Meadows (116769—Holiday Mini)
Card Stock: Very Vanilla (101650), Always Artichoke (105119), Really Rust textured (108697—Earth Elements assorted)
Tools: Big Shot (113439), Bigz Die Scalloped Oval Frame (114521), Small Oval Punch (107304), Modern Label Punch (107590), Paper Snips (103579)
Embellishments: Vintage Brads (109109), Linen Thread (104199)