Aloha, all!
When I mailed my Halloween cards a full week in advance, I thought that would be plenty of time for everyone to get my cards. I especially wanted my grandchildren to get theirs because I added a little something in the way of Trick or Treat in each of their cards. But only 1 of the 5 got their cards on time! So today, 12 full days before Thanksgiving, all of my Thanksgiving cards went into the mail. No treats in these cards as they are mostly for adults in my life (OK, one grandson is already an adult; but he’s still a kid to me!). But I would think there’s a much better chance that the cards will get to their destinations early.
The Quite Curvy Stamp Set
The Quite Curvy Stamp Set that I used for this card is definitely not a fall-themed stamp set. In fact, it’s in the Stampin’ Up! Mini Catalog that covers the early months of 2021 as well as the Spring season. But, with a coordinating Christmas stamp set (aptly named, “Curvy Christmas”) and coordinating dies, it’s available for purchase right now. (Check the end of my post for the product purchase details.)
Despite this being a spring-themed stamp set, somewhere along the way, I saw a card that someone had made that included coloring the leaves in the curvy leaf stamp autumn colors. So off I went to try it. I liked it so well that I decided to make this my main Thanksgiving card. Yes, I had 8 or 9 other cards that I’d made with a Thanksgiving theme. But I really had fun making this card.
I colored most of the leaves using the Stampin’ Blends Light markers in Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Mossy Meadow. I wanted to use the gold Bumblebee Color, so I colored those leaves using the Bumblebee Stampin’ Write Marker.
Deciding on the Layers
Usually when I trying to figure out which colors and papers I’m going to use for my card base and layers on the card, I stand back and move colors in and out of the picture and end up with the combination I like best. Not this time. I had counted the number of people I wanted to get Thanksgiving cards from us and the number was 16. I simply did not have enough of any one color cardstock for this card except for Cajun Craze. Even then, what I really wanted to do was to have a full layer of Cajun Craze over the Cajun Craze card base. I didn’t have enough for that. If I cut the typical 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer in half (2″ x 5-1/4″) that would work. But then I needed more than a 2″ piece of the bottom layer IF I was going to create a curved top on the layer to complement the curve of the leaves.
Sigh. I couldn’t come up with enough paper of any color. But wait! I had taken advantage of Stampin’ Up!’s offer to purchase some new product for the OnStage at Home Make and Takes. There were two monochrome Bumblebee prints in the printed papers we could order for that AND I had some Bumblebee printed paper in the In Color set that I’d bought when the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog was released. Yay! I had enough!!
And Then There Was the Ribbon
I didn’t originally plan to use ribbon in this card. I was just going to add some enamel dots over to the left side of the card as a nice little bit of embellishment. But after all that fussing with the cardstock and papers, I was left with this hugs area of Bumblebee monochrome paper with nothing on it. I kept making my cards hoping that I’d just get used to that open space. But I never did. What to do.
The first thing that I tried was the 1/4″ In Color Ribbon that included the Bumblebee color. But I’ve been into that roll of ribbon, and I did not have enough. Then the “aha” moment. I had ordered but never used the Bumblebee 1/4″ Gingham Ribbon. It was a 10-yard spool of ribbon. Out came my trusty calculator. I wanted 22″ to wrap the ribbon around the card base and tie a bow. Let’s see: 10 yards = 360″ which, divided by 22 = 16.36, or just a hair more than I needed for my cards. Hmmm. But what if the 10 yards was more like 9-3/4 yards. Just to be on the safe side, I decided to cut just 20″. That made my tying a bow a bit trickier. But I’d done plenty of tricky things with this card already.
The Bottom Line
My cards are done and in the mail! That’s really the bottom line for my story. But I think that the real message here is that, if you want to do something, don’t get stuck on one idea for your project. Let your mind be open to other ideas if what you originally wanted to use isn’t available or just won’t work. There are likely plenty of alternatives in your crafting stash!
I hope you take advantage of all the fun Stampin’ Up! products that are available to make and send Thanksgiving cards this year. It’s a good year to send lots of extra cards to bring a smile to people’s faces!
Happy Stamping!
Here are the products from the Stampin’ Up! January – June 2021 Mini Catalog and the Curvy Celebrations promotion that you may purchase from now until January 4th:
- Quite Curvy Bundle, #156228, $41.25. After January 4th, you will be able to purchase the stamp set or the die set individually.
- Curvy Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set, #155364, $21.00. This is ONLY available until January 4th. It will not be in the new Mini catalog.
- Classic Christmas Designer Series Paper, #155969, $11.50. This is ONLY available until January 4th. It will not be in the new Mini catalog.
- Quite Curvy Variety Bundle, #158396, $70.50. This includes all the above. As a bundle, it will only be available until January 4th. It will not be in the new Mini Catalog.
