Thank you card - using Notably Ornate

Today I want to show you a card that I made specially for one of the most elegant women I know. Normally I try to use stamps from the same set so that the card isn't too expensive to replicate, but one of my great pleasures is looking through my stamps and combining them in different ways and today's card, which uses stamps from three different sets, was a very great pleasure to make! I used a sophisticated combination of Sahara Sand and Early Espresso with touches of Whisper White and silver and felt this card was just right for my elegant friend:

The bauble is from one of the labels in the Gifted stamp set. I 'coloured' it with a versamark pen and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder before cutting it out with my sharp paper snips. The smallest stones in the Basic Rhinestones come in a strip so it's easy to add them to a tiny area like this. I sewed the bauble onto the card with silver cotton so that it is suspended. Here's a close-up:

The bird, from the Notably Ornate stamp set, is popped up on dimensionals to look as if he's carrying the bauble. And have you spotted the frame? It's from the stocking image in the Gifted set and I just can't stop using it!

Here's how to make this card:

• Colour the frame from the stocking image in the Gifted stamp set with an Early Espresso marker. Stamp it on Sahara Sand card stock and trim round the frame. Sponge the edges with Whisper White craft ink.
• 'Colour' the bauble on another stamp from Gifted with a versamark pen. Stamp onto a scrap of Whisper White card stock and heat emboss with silver embossing powder. Decorate with rhinestones and cut out. Pierce a hole in the top of the bauble and sew onto the frame with silver cotton.
• Stamp the bird from Notably Ornate using Early Espresso ink on a scrap of Whisper White card stock. Cut out using sharp paper snips and attach to the frame with dimensionals. Add an eye with a white gel pen.
• Cut a piece of Early Espresso card stock slightly larger than the frame and mount the frame panel onto it.
• Cut a piece of Sahara Sand card stock 8cm wide x 10cm high. Ink up the En Français background stamp with Sahara Sand ink and stamp onto the card stock. Sponge the edges with Whisper White craft ink.
• Stamp a sentiment in Early Espresso ink, using a stamp-a-majig for accurate placement then add the bird panel.
• Fix this to an A5 card blank.

Supplies
Stamps: Gifted, En Français, Notably Ornate
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Whisper White craft ink
Card stock: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Other: Basic Rhinestones, silver embossing powder, versamark pen

I went to see my son's school carol service yesterday. The church in the school's parish is so tiny that they can only fit two classes in it so it has become a tradition that only the oldest two year groups get to sing there each Christmas. The sight of these angelic children singing their hearts out and the sound of those pure little voices is certainly enough to bring a tear to my eye but when the children sing a song called 'Light a Candle in Your Window' it completely oversets me every time. It starts like this:

When the winter day is dying
And the wind is blowing wild
Listen for a lonely crying
It may be the wandering child

Light a candle in your window
Let the night know that you care
Light a candle in your window
It may lead the Christ child there

Well, that's it - out come the tissues! Not everyone is looking forward to a happy Christmas with a loving family in a warm, comfortable home and it's right to be reminded of that.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and take care,