A Season of Thankfulness

Hero Arts

November brings one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. I wanted to make a few cards for dear friends, so I decided to do it Japanese style with Etegami.

Etegami is Japanese postcard art that usually shares heartfelt feelings. Instead of the traditional handwritten words, I used one of our messages from the Color Layering Pomegranate set.

Another characteristic of Etegami is painting, so our Reactive Ink pads became paint. I used our Handmade Watercolor Paper and cut it down a bit for standard size postcards. Then I experimented with a few fall colors. I used Lemon Drop, Fruit Punch and Green Apple. Don’t see green in there? That’s because the red and green make brown.



Use a teflon mat or freezer paper to play with your colors. Get a spritz bottle for water, and few brushes and PLAY. I inked up a REAL leaf with black and pressed it into the paper. Cover with a paper towel and brayer over it for pressure.

You could also run the piece through a die cut machine like a printing press. Paint around it freely. Or use the leaf as a mask and paint or spritz around it. Every creation is different. WARNING…this is FUN!



May your November be full of craftful moments and no calories!!


  • Marty

    Cool technique- I will have to try this!

  • Anne

    Sally you are my kinda crafter !
    Thanks for the inspiration!
    Always like to use natural stamps!

  • Helen

    Like your design and the technique for achieving it, Sally. tfs

  • Barbara-Jean

    Beautiful cards, great directions and I love the “fun” warning! Also loved my year in Japan!

  • Em

    Gosh that does look like fun. Can’t improve upon Mother Nature as your designer.

10 Responses