Give Thanks Grass Card

 Hi come on in and sit a spell while I share with you my last Thanksgiving card. Wow! I feel like someone has given time an energy drink as it is already only ten days to Thanksgiving here in the U.S.. As they say time flies when you are having fun. I sure have had fun lately hiding out in my "playroom"

My apologies first that I didn't think to take any pictures of my dried grass panel while I was creating it. I saw dried grasses growing along the railroad tracks and decided to cut some. I used a technique which I haven't used for years to sandwich them. Only thing I changed was using a re-inker instead of soap dyes.

It takes awhile for the grass panel to dry like at least a couple of days. So I started by stamping the stamptangle pumpkin I wanted to use and painting it.

Lol! I thought you would like to see my work area.  Oh and my metallic pan water colors. As you can see they have been well used. Don't worry I have an unopened set in reserve. When it comes to watercolor paints these are my go to if I want a light wash of color with a sheen. I often stamp on scrap paper so I can try out my colors.

Here the pumpkin is on the card. When I took the photo of the completed card some of the colors became washed out.

 I used Memento Lady Bug red ink to stamp with. I used dimensional dots in the center of the pumpkin and glued the side edges down which gave my pumpkin a semi round shape.

I know you want to see the completed card. So drum roll please.

For my card base I cut a circle out of the front. I used a emery board to distress the edges of the circle. Then used my blending tool to edge the circle with Scattered Straw Distress Ink.

For the background the pumpkin is on. I took two sheets of food divider paper. This is the paper you would put in between hamburger patties before freezing them. I arranged my grasses on one sheet of the paper. In my flat plastic container I mixed white glue and Fossilized Amber re-inker. Not mixing the reinker totally as I didn't want my glue to be all one color. I like the streaks of color I get when I paint the glue onto the other sheet. I use a cheap Dollar Tree foam brush so if I forget to wash it out right away I can toss it without feeling guilty. Once the glue is painted on the paper I place it down glue side and from the center out rub with my hand so that the two pieces are adhered tight. Normally I don't do this step but since the grasses had not been flatten I placed wax paper over and then placed books on top.  I let the books stay over night and then took them off. Of course anything heavy would work to flatten. Then because the glue was still wet I let it sit for another day. Once it is dry you can cut to size with a paper trimmer. I've used this technique with all kinds of things. Sandwiching lavender flowers, confetti, sequins, and even buttons. If you are using anything found in nature you will want to make sure it is completely dry first.

Since my Ki alphabet stamps are not mounted straight I decided on purpose to have the letters go up and down. Although you can't tell I stamped on pale yellow vellum. I then turned my vellum over and wiped the Scattered Straw Distress pad over the back to color it some more. I folded my strip over to the back and glued it and then inside the card. The panel hides the glued part on the inside and who really looks on the back of cards anyway.  I then saw the orange rick rack still on my table which I was going to use on another card and decided not to use it. I thought it would nicely echo the up and down of my words.

Lol! The Vanilla card stock is a lighter weight than I usually use and I didn't realize until I went to take the picture that the grass shows through the card stock to the front.

I'm entering this in the Mixed Media Card Challenge:
http://themixedmediacardchallenge.blogspot.com/2016/11/mmcc-29-thanksgiving.html

As well as the Just For Fun Rubber Stamp Challenge:
http://justforfunrubberstamps.blogspot.com/2016/11/just-for-fun-november-challenge-give.html

You still have time to enter both of these challenges. The Just For Fun challenge is about being thankful so if you are not in the U.S. you could create a project with that theme. :-)

Now I'm off to write personal notes in the cards and address envelopes so I can get my cards in the mail this week. :-)

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!