Thanksgiving Crusade Process

Whenever I undertake a sizable project like the Thanksgiving Crusade, it helps to get a bunch of relevant supplies together. For instance, here's everything I have that's fall-themed in stamps and punches:

Generally, I organize these into plastic baskets so all the stuff I might use is gathered in one handy place, and then the ideas start flowing. As you can see, there's a lot of fall-themed stuff here! It's just a starting point, however. Sometimes ideas spark in very strange ways.

Today's card resulted mostly from a cool color combination on Pinterest of aqua-blue and dark brown. Now, brown is easy for fall, but how do you use aqua on a fall card? Hmmm. As I glanced through a magazine (some random issue of Take Ten), an artsy card with wood grain background caught my eye.

Wood grain? Well, why not!

I like it! Fresh and different. But no way did I think to pull that wood grain stamp out with my fall stamps. Now, it seems a perfect idea (although not always with such a creative color, perhaps!).

So if you pull supplies for a project, don't limit yourself to just what is in front of you. Relax and let random ideas connect in your brain, and see what happens when you play around. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But you learn something every time!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts wood grain background. Simon Says Stamp Autumn Blessings
ink: Hero Arts, Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Papertrey twine, Martha Stewart leaf punch, dimensionals, glue pen

Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge 2015

Welcome to the 2015 Thanksgiving Crusade!

For newcomers to my quixotic Thanksgiving marketing campaign, allow me to explain. As the capitalist marketing machine takes over holidays, certain values fall by the wayside, including gratitude for what we have.

Halloween has become big business, taking over multiple aisles of Target in early September. Halloween is a holiday dedicated to children in store-bought costumes begging for candy and adults dressing up in increasingly clever and competitive costumes for elaborate themed parties that involve a lot of drinking.

These two activities sometimes merge. In our old neighborhood, a number of folks hand out beer and wine to the adults even as they hand candy to children. Crowds of buzzed adults walk from house to house escorting children high on sugar. While entertaining, it's not exactly a celebration of family values, now, is it?

As soon as Halloween gets close, even more Target aisles are filled with Christmas stuff. Christmas has become so commercial, and it's all about getting more stuff...at least to our public culture. Christians sometimes reign in the commercial aspects in the name of celebrating the Reason for the Season, but under the onslaught of sales and advertising and children's wish lists for Apple products, it can feel rather greedy and grasping, all about getting and spending rather than a baby born two thousand years ago.

Now, consider how many Target aisles are dedicated to Thanksgiving, the holiday stuck between Halloween and Christmas.

None.

Not one.

Thanksgiving gets an end-cap. Maybe two. (Let me note that Hanukkah also just gets an end-cap.) Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to being grateful for the harvest, for friends and family, for enough food to get through the winter. The simple things. But these days, it's more about football, parades, the necessary day before Black Friday (which now starts on Thursday night!!!!), and gorging ourselves senseless.

Now, if you've paid attention to all the "happiness research" that's come out in the past decade or so, you know one of the key components to happiness is gratitude...being grateful for what we have, for those small things that make life easier, more comfortable, more beautiful, safer, healthier. Gratitude doesn't feel the need to shop to excess, and thus there is no reason to market Thanksgiving anywhere except the grocery store.

But I've ranted long enough. Years ago, my pastor preached a sermon about saving Thanksgiving. He suggested writing letters to people for whom you are grateful: old teachers, friends you've not seen in years, the barista at Starbucks, your neighbor who always waves at you but whose name you don't know, your mom. His suggestion resonated with the card-maker in me, and ever since, I've done as he suggests. 

There are plenty of excuses not to participate. We're all so busy. There's so much to do, and we don't need ANOTHER item on our agenda. It's football season. I'm making Christmas cards. Yadda, yadda.

Whether you live in a country that observes a formal Thanksgiving Day or not, I challenge you to make the time to express your gratitude to at least five people this fall. My friends in Canada will celebrate Thanksgiving on October 12 this year, and we in the United States will celebrate on November 26. If you're in another country, just pick a deadline that works best for you and play along.

Isn't thanking the special people in your life worth a bit of your time and attention?

Of course it is!

The Thanksgiving Crusade is an actual card-making challenge, with an InLinkz button and everything. I'm even going to send four random entrants a small token of appreciation! You'll find the button on the Thanksgiving Page of this here little blog. 

The InLinkz button will be open on the Thanksgiving Page until midnight on November 26, 2015. Winners will be announced on November 28, and the small tokens will be sent out as soon as possible after receiving addresses!

I'm going to kick off my Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge with the two following cards using the First Fruits set from Papertrey Ink (which is now in the vault).

These crisp, clean images are evocative of the season, and the simple, strong colors make a bold statement. This is what clean-and-simple gratitude is all about. But your challenge card(s) need not be CAS. Mine all will be, but this challenge is open to all styles...and all grateful hearts.

Rules for the Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge

1. Make a card that expresses gratitude: fall, Thanksgiving, or thank-you themed cards will do. It doesn't even need to be CAS! The important thing here is expressing gratitude, not conforming to a particular style or number of layers.

2. Post your card somewhere accessible on the Internet.

3. Link to your card using the InLinkz button on the Thanksgiving Page. If you link to your blog, please make double-darn sure you link to the individual post and not your blog's main page.

4. Enter as many times as you like.

5. Have fun and be grateful!!!!


I hope you will join me in rescuing Thanksgiving from the end-caps. 

An Addendum to Yesterday's Post

My endorsement of Delicata Golden Glitz ink yesterday prompted several questions, so today's post gives a fuller account of the ink and how I use it.





Delicata ink is a pigment ink...and most definitely NOT the fast-drying kind (like Brilliance or VersaColor). For those who haven't used ordinary pigment inks (a common brand is ColorBox), here are a few characteristics you need to know.

1. Pigment inks are thick, creamy, and opaque.

2. They tend to be archival, color-fast, and suitable for scrapbooking.

3. They dry very slowly on porous paper (like Papertrey, Neenah Solar, and such), making them ideal for heat embossing as they stay wet and hold the embossing powder very well.

4. They may NEVER dry on coated or smooth paper (like vellum or Gina K's white card stock or SU's whisper white). And I mean never. Especially the metallics. I've let them sit for weeks on coated papers to dry and still had them smear. They simply must be heat embossed on smooth papers.

5. There are several really cool techniques, for those inclined to techniques, that can only be done with pigment inks and take advantage of their creamy texture, slow drying time, and blendability. I do not do these techniques myself, being generally technique-challenged, but there are surely hundreds of videos on YouTube to help you explore their virtues.


The card I posted yesterday, made with Papertrey's porous white card stock, sat undisturbed for over a day before I checked it and found the Delicata had, indeed, dried. In excessively humid environments, drying time might be even longer. Had I used Brilliance Galaxy Gold, however, the card would have been dry and ready to handle in a manner of minutes. It would not have been quite as golden-glitzy. I keep this drying time in mind when I make the choice of which gold ink to use, and it's nice for my purposes to have both.

I hope this helps you either a) use your Delicata more effectively or b) make a decision about whether you must have one of your own. I love mine, and am willing to wait for it to dry because of its beautiful, bright shimmer. But when I'm rushed, I stick with Brilliance.

Once again, I have demonstrated how we can NEVER have too many ink pads.

Happy stamping!

A Lovely Gold Ink

What happens when you combine a classic PSX stamp and a lovely gold ink?

This:

This card is extremely simple, so I added a heart to the envelope flap (also PSX) for impact. The wonderful detail of this card is the ink, which is Delicata Golden Glitz. This ink is divine.

I questioned buying this ink pad because I've been happy with Brilliance galaxy gold. But the Delicata is so very lovely. For those of us lazy folks who whine like toddlers because we don't want to go to the bother of plugging in our heat guns to emboss have a simple, easy option when we want gorgeous gold shimmer. 

If you don't have a Delicata golden glitz ink pad, consider getting one. 

That is all.

(Note: this endorsement is entirely unsolicited and given of my own free will with not a single bit of compensation. I share because I love you and want you to be happy. You're welcome.)

Supplies

stamps: PSX

ink: Delicata golden glitz

paper: Papertrey white

accessories: envelope

Inspired by Ava Gavloski

It's not often I get 3-dimensional, but sometimes, it's just really appealing. Such was the case with today's card.

The pink isn't quite so bright IRL!

This pink confection comes to us courtesy of Smooch (Leslie, are you reading?). The shimmery ink was brushed loosely onto the card base and covers the wooden heart. So much fun!

Y'all know I can't do cards like this without inspiration from someone more skilled in collage/embellished/layered stuff, and this inspiration comes from Ava Gavloski's card in Take Ten.

I love the softness of Ava's card, with the feathers and burlap string and fabric. It's so textured and well designed! How could I not let it inspire me?!?! Thanks, Ava, for your beautiful card!

Where are you getting inspiration these days?

Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted sentiment
ink: Memento cocoa
paper: Windsor & Newton watercolor paper
accessories: fabric, tape runner, twine, wooden heart, Smooch, glue, heart rhinestones

Drawing the Line on Christmas

Yes, I'm starting to think--seriously--about Christmas cards, although I will shortly be kicking off my Thanksgiving Crusade to give my Canadian friends time to make cards for their Thanksgiving. But I send over a hundred individually-designed Christmas cards a year, and waiting until the last minute just won't do. I have about twenty in my stash now, but here's the latest one, made with a Wreath for All Seasons by Papertrey.

The vertical line element is not uncommon in graphic design, and you'll find several examples of it on my Pure Inspiration Pinterest board.  I drew it with a metal ruler and the fine end of the Memento cocoa marker. The wreath and word "Christmas" are in cocoa, and the berries and "Merry" are Hero Arts red royal, which is a simply delightful darker Christmas red.

Check out how the wreath makes a C-shape. Get it? C for Christmas?

I'm feeling very clever.*

Random berries are highlighted with red Smooch, although it may be hard to tell even in the close-up, but in real life, the random shimmer adds a nice hint of dimension to the design.

For the last few Christmases, I have purchased cards to send when my output didn't match the need. Many of the recipients don't even know I stamp or don't care. No one has complained so far, and I love that the pressure is off. Christmas shouldn't be about pressure, should it? Of course not!!!

Have you started on your Christmas/holiday cards yet? How many do you usually make? Do you ever send store-bought cards if you can't make enough? Or do you avoid the holiday stress and just send professionally-printed photo or store-bought cards?

*In all honesty, I didn't notice the C of the wreath until the card was finished. I'm not that clever.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey A Wreath for All Seasons
ink: Memento cocoa and Hero Arts red royal
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: ruler, Memento marker, Smooch, post-it for masking

Simplicity Grunge and a New OLS Challenge

The new set from Simon Says Stamp called One with Nature is super and so very suitable for clean-and-simple designs. I stamped the outline leaf and sentiment, and loved the simplicity, but it still needed a little something to add interest.

That's when Papertrey's Grunge Me popped into my mind.

Yes! Lime grunge was just the right thing.

The blotches, combined with the clean lines of the leaf and curvy, handwritten-looking sentiment, create a fun and stylish design!

Look around in your stash and see if you can combine a background, an outline, and a sentiment. And if you add a number, it will qualify for the September One-Layer Simplicity Challenge hosted by our very own Ardyth: What's Your Number?

I hope you'll click on over and play along!


Supplies
stamps: SSS One with Nature; Clear and Simple Stamps sentiment; Papertrey Grunge Me
ink: Memento cottage ivy, cocoa; Hero Arts lime
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none