Day 2 So Thankful

I would really like to tell you how much I appreciate all of your wonderful positive comments. I am simply overwhelmed, I thought I would have to pay my friends to follow me. :) I may still have to pay my son . . .
I have read all of the comments and am still new at blogging, so I am not sure of the etiquette around responding. So, for now please except my blanket thank you for your support.

Since I am often on a craft budget, when I buy something I usually try to buy something with the most versatility as possible. So in the spirit of reduce, reuse, recycle, I want to recycle one of my favorite embossing folders.
Both cards started with Sizzix's Autumn Sunflowers Set.

 Card number one was my thanksgiving card last year and I made the original at Memento's Make and Take Tuesday. We embossed the Bazzill Kraft back ground paper and  used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink pads and foam topped handles to gently apply ink to the raised areas on the page. This gave a very nice distressed country look.  The colors we primarily used were scattered straw (sunflowers), walnut (the wheel barrow) and wild honey for the pumpkin. I also used the walnut to give the edges a little help.

I made a wall decoration for my second look, I loved the country look of the first but I have a hard time coloring outside the lines, I prefer clean lines.
I used a 6 by 9 canvas board as the backing. When you use canvas or a canvas board, you should apply a thin layer of gesso to seal the canvas, it also makes a great surface to ink on, the ink moves well, you have time to smooth things out, eliminating any rough lines or edges. Using  walnut distress ink and a  large stamp with words on it, I randomly stamped the edges of the background.
I embossed two 5.5 x 8.5 sheets of tiara white paper and cut out the sunflowers, wheel barrow and pumpkin. I left the squigglies and leaves behind. I inked them with the same colors I used in the previous card. and use brushed corduroy  on the edges.I also used peeled paint for the leaves and grass. To give emphasis to some of the elements I used a foam makeup applicator (dollar store find) and rubbed it directly on to the ink pad, and then lightly layered color on the elements I wanted to emphasis. I glued the wheel barrow straight down over the embossed card and pop dotted the pumpkin and flowers, adding a little Glossy Accents for shine.  Finally I stamped the sentiment, "So Thankful" which seemed to be the perfect thing to say.

One of the reason's that  I love Jill Foster's Stamp of the Month club, is that it appeals to my sense of frugality,  she will use one stamp or a set of stamps and you get 3 completely different looks (Check out Jill's classes at http://www.ilovemementos.com/ ).

 That's it for today, as my favorite AA Milne character says, TTFN (ta ta for now)