Truly grateful

Hello, crafting friends!

Although we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, I personally think that gratitude is a brilliant idea any day of the week or time of the year. But today's card was made for all my crafting pals in the US, many of whom will be having a scaled-back version of Thanksgiving this year. Thank you for always being there to make me gasp with your talent and smile with your fun :)

I started this card by cutting a card panel with a Heffy Doodle stitched rectangle die and stamping the bottom third with the Gingham stamp by Kaisercraft. The gingham was topped with a lantern from a new stamp set by Reverse Confetti called... yes, you've guessed it: Lanterns! 

I stamped one of the candles from the set inside the lantern, then made a mask to cover it up so that I could blend some ink into the background, using a circle stencil to create a glow from the flame. Once the mask was removed, I coloured the candle and lantern using alcohol markers.

The Lanterns set contains a Christmas and an autumn arrangement and I chose the autumnal one with its leaves and pumpkins. It was stamped, coloured and fussy cut and then I popped it up on dimensionals in front of the lantern. The finishing touches were the sentiment from Reverse Confetti's Fall Foliage, and the hearts, which came from Uniko's Simply Said Blocks.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

Delighted that this card was the Diamond Winner at Color My Heart Dare :)

CHALLENGES

I used the gorgeous autumn colour palette at Color My Heart Color Dare 421 where I chose all the colours except Desert Rose. I'm also linking up with Make My Monday where the challenge is Thankful and joining in with Heidi's Occasions challenge at Watercooler Wednesday. I shall also share at NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) with the lovely Lanterns stamp set.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I started a gratitude journal about five years ago while recovering from illness and have been keeping one ever since. Before I settle down for the night, I go back over my day and write a list of all the things I'm grateful for, ignoring anything that hasn't been so great. I highly recommend this habit - especially during the uncertain times we are living in now - as it's a way of focusing on all that is good in our lives. A warning though, I started with a tiny notebook but now regularly run out of space in my  A5 page-a-day journal!

Thank you for visiting me today! Sending hugs,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello crafting friends!

I was feeling very pleased with myself for remembering that today, my friends across the pond celebrate Thanksgiving. But then I realised that none of them will actually SEE the card I've made for them today because they'll all be busy celebrating Thanksgiving...! Well, it's the thought that counts isn't it? Happy Thanksgiving!

The gorgeous Stampin' Up stamps and dies I've used today were a generous gift (thanks so much Em, I'm really enjoying using this set!) It's the Barn Door stamp set and the coordinating Sliding Door dies. I started by stamping the door on pale blue/green card stock, cutting it out and layering it on a slightly darker mount. I attached this to a card panel in the same blue.

Time for some detail! I used my Funky Fossil brick stencil and a Spectrum Noir marker to add a tone on tone background and scored lines at the bottom of the panel to suggest steps. The handle is die cut from silver mirror card - how cute is that?! - and I used markers to ink up one of the wreaths from Barn Door and die cut that too.

Finally I stamped the word 'Blessings' from one of the sentiments, fussy cut it and laid it across my wreath, added a gem and popped the wreath up on dimensionals. The panel was mounted on a card base in the same blue.

CHALLENGES
The code word at Addicted to CAS is Blessings/Blessed so I shall link this card up there. Goodness, I'm just wondering if it's CAS enough... here's hoping it will pass!

AND IN OTHER NEWS
I'm wondering, not for the first time, how it all works with Thanksgiving being so close to Christmas. I imagine people travel to spend time with their families but what happens then? Do they all go off and then come back again for Christmas? What about New Year? Does everything shut down for a month?! Could someone please put me straight?

Thanks for visiting me here today. I'll be back soon!