Happy holidays!  Hope everyone is getting some peaceful time with family and friends.

One of my favorite things to do each holiday is to send thank you cards after the hustle and bustle has settled.  So, I thought that would be the perfect theme for this week.  And, for a clever spin, I will be sharing fun ideas for using your holiday stamps ON your thank you notes.  I will also have lots of fellow artists contributing for some extra fun and variety.  Let’s get started!

Here are some thank you cards I created for some friends.  Combining snowflake stamps, glitter and a thank you greeting, I have cards that are special for the season.  And they were quick to make.  There are a few simple tips I wanted to show you, so here is a video…

Supplies:

• DesignBlock Stunning Snowflakes
• NEW Raindrop Background
  
• NEW All Occasion Messages
• Winter Chalk Ink Queue and Versamark Ink
  
• Prisma Glitter and Fine Ball Point Glue Stick
  
• Clear Gemstones
• White and Clear Embossing Powders
• Winter Notecards

Next, I asked one of my favorite stampers, Sheri Reguly, to play along.  The first card she created uses a holiday DesignBlock background stamp and playful colors.  Shari said, “After the chaos of the holidays, it was nice to just sit down and play for these thank you notes.”

Card by Sheri Reguly.
Supplies:

• Poinsettia and Birds
• Clear Design Thoughtful Messages
• Versamark Ink
• White Embossing Powder
• Hero Arts Notecards
• Felt Poinsettia and Leaves
• Assorted Crystal Gemstones
• Pale Pink Gemstones
• Other: Patterned papers (KI Memories), ribbon (American Crafts), decorative edges (Doodlebug), scallop circle punch (Marvy Uchida) and circle punch (EK Success)

Sheri’s next card actually incorporates many holiday stamps into a special thank you card.  Wouldn’t you love to receive this in the mail?  So adorable!

Card by Sheri Reguly.
Supplies:

• Pocketful o’ Holiday Trees Small
• Jolly Christmas
• Frames and Messages
• Versamark Ink
• Chocolates & Blueberries ColorBox Chalk Queue
• White Embossing Powder
• Lime Notecards
• Sparkle Gems Hearts and Assorted Crystal Gemstones
• Other: patterned paper (Heidi Grace), punches (EK Success), decorative scissors (Fiskars), chalk (Pebbles Inc.), wiggle eyes and thread

Ready to make some thank you cards?  This week I challenge you to create a thank you card that uses at least one Hero Arts stamp.  Load your cards into the Hero Arts Flickr pool by Sunday, January 4th at 11:59pm PST.  Please tag your submissions with the word “thanks“.  And, this week, we will have an extra prize if your thank you card incorporates a holiday stamp, too!  Here are the prizes…

• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• NEW! Scrapbook Page Winner (theme can just be holiday): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 1st place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 2nd place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 3rd place: $10 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• BONUS PRIZE for this week only (incorporate a holiday stamp): Three new 2009 DesignBlock stamps!  

That is a lot of prizes!  I hope you all have time to participate.

Speaking of fun prizes, let’s have a giveaway!  When making a thank you card, I often reach for Clear Design Thank You Messages set.  I love that it says “thanks” in so many different ways.  Would you like to win one?  Just leave a comment here by Wednesday at 11:59pmPST telling me a favorite gift you have received and I will pick a winner of this set…

Happy stamping…

Filed under: thanks

This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am and is filed under Motivation Mondays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.