Saying thank you with a rose

It's always nice to be able to give a little Thank You Gift to someone to show how much you appreciate them and what they have done for you. As my regular followers know I have been recovering from surgery and have been out of action for a while. Even though I haven't been able to stamp and create for a few months I have been thinking of little gifts I could make to show my appreciation for my friends and family who have helped out and kept me sane/distracted. So when I read a post by Kylie Bertucci inviting Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world to participate in a blog highlight with the theme of Thank You I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my cards and gifts.

Welcome if you have been having a look at all of the projects and have just landed here.

A card with a heartfelt message is always appreciated but adding a little set of gift cards makes the thank you just that bit more special. They can be kept handy for when the recipient needs them. This is the packaging and tag/card for my gift.

I had intended to attach the tag to the front hanging off on a jaunty angle but the proportion was all wrong. I was too attached to both and couldn't let either go so I decided to secure the tag to the back with a peg (clothespin)!

I designed this gift bag and card set using the great products from the 2016 Occasions catalogue from Stampin' Up!. I have paired the Rose Wonder stamp set, Rose Garden thinlits dies and Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP). If you order these 3 products before the end of March you can choose from a free product (like the Botanical Gardens Designer vellums stack) from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. You'll find the link to my shop on the right hand side of this blog.

This cute gift bag was quite easy to make once I stopped overthinking and over-engineering it!

I tried to use the partial diecutting technique but as I needed both sides and the bottom to remain intact it became a tad difficult. So the easy solution was to make a medium gift bag as you normally would using a Gift Bag punch board and a piece of Shine On DSP 15 x 28 cm. Then I cut out the front panel shown in the picture below stopping about 1cm before the bottom score line. The large rose is then adhered to the edges using a Fine-tip glue pen. The gift bag is assembled in the usual way and I have lined it with pieces of  Botanical Garden Designer vellum.

After several attempts to secure the bag (including punching holes in the vellum) I decided to simply tie some Bermuda Bay stitched ribbon around the bag to cinch it in a touch and attached the tag with a clothespin.

These 4 gift cards will be popped inside the bag as a thank you gift.

The base of each gift card is a piece of Shine On DSP. I've kept the inside very plain - the pattern of the DSP did all of the work for me.

My recent confinement to bed has meant that a lot of ideas have been pinned, saved and sketched. The one technique that I was really drawn to was Ink Smooshing. I looked at several videos and tutorials and had a go at using acetate as seen here in this great video. I was somewhat successful in using this technique to create the backgrounds for these gift cards. Well let's just say 'Not bad for a first effort!' Working on a small piece of paper was a bit more difficult that using a larger piece. In a future post I will show you more cards with some instructions - I'll have had more time to experiment by then!

For a bit of extra glam I have used the Clear Wink of Stella and lightly brushed over the watercolouring. I love the subtle sparkle.

The tag to go on the front was created using the same ink smooshing technique. It has a special message on the back from me expressing my gratitude. The edges have been made using the Curvy Corner Trio punch.

 

I also made envelopes to match using the envelope punch board. The ink left on the acetate after watercolouring was used to decorate the envelopes. Why wipe off the ink on a cloth when you can use it! I'm not sure if I love them but I can touch them up with ink in places later on if needed. (I'm at the stage where I have been staring at them for too long!)

Thanks for popping by. Apologies for the dull photography. The Sunshine Coast is not living up to it's name today! Make sure you take the time to look at all of the different projects that are featured on Kylie's blog and please take the time to cast your votes for your favourites.

Product List

Rose Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set [140697] $47.00	Rose Garden Thinlits Dies [140619] $54.00	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle [140804] $85.75	Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper [140579] $22.75	Watercolor Paper [122959] $8.75	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] $14.00	Gift Bag Punch Board [135862] $32.00
Envelope Punch Board [133774] $32.00	Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum Stack [141019] $0.00	Bermuda Bay 1/8" Stitched Ribbon [140569] $10.50	Clothespins [133764] $7.00	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309] $12.00	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171] $11.50	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad [138324] $11.50
Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323] $11.50	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [126948] $11.50	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173] $11.50	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $12.25	Silver Foil Sheets [132178] $7.00	Silver Metallic Thread [138402] $5.25	Curvy Corner Trio Punch [139683] $35.00
Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] $12.25	Kraft 12" X 12" Card Stock [133674] $10.50	Stampin' Spritzer [126185] $5.00