Happy Thanksgiving

The stamp of the month at Ellen's store this month is this pretty Indian Corn stamp. You get a jump start on your fall cards also by purchasing an entire kit to make the fun card Ellen has on her blog. My sample uses the Indian Corn stamp but I've chosen other supplies to show you how versatile this stamp can be. The card base paper is Vanilla Bean by Memory Box, other cardstock is More Mustard by SU! I stamped the SU! French Script background on the More Mustard cardstock in More Mustard ink. Polka dot patterned paper is by Basic Grey. Happy Thanksgiving sentiment is from Stampin' Up! also. The three little decorative pearls are Mocha color.

Now for the main image, I stamped it on Papertrey white cardstock then colored in with Copic markers. I love how I was able to color the teeny tiny individual corn kernels by using the sharp tip of the Sketch markers. I have my markers a ton and all of the tips are still very pointy..I love the great quality of Copics!! My image seemed pretty stark on the white cardstock so I used a trick I learned from Debbie Olson. I cut and embossed my image with a Spellbinder's rectangle die template. Then I left the metal die template on the image, turned it image side up and used my Copic Air Brush System to add some shading to the image. The cardstock stays snug in the die template so you can get a real crisp outline when airbrushing. I used a YR24 Pale Sepia marker and made sure to shadow the outside edges the most, leaving the area around the Indian Corn mostly white. I love the professional touch that this adds to stamped images. If you get an airbrush system, I highly suggest practicing with it lots and lots on scrap paper. Hold the airbrush tool different distances away from your image you want to airbrush and test the effects. For a fine, light mist hold the airbrush further away. For darker coverage, spray the airbrush closer in. Tip of the day: Have you ever thought about sending Thanksgiving cards to a few people instead of Christmas cards? I always thought it would be fun to select a few people on my Christmas list and send them Thanksgiving cards that have a list of the things I'm thankful for printed inside. You could also wish them a joyous holiday season. Dunno if I'll ever do it, but it's a thought....could save some time at the holiday hustle and bustle season.

Supplies from Ellen's store: Indian Corn stamp and Stamp of the Month card kit, Decorative Pearls, Copic Markers, Copic Air Brush System, Memory Box notecards, Spellbinder's Die Templates

Design Team News: Be sure to check out the home page of the Spellbinder's site to get all the details for the 2008 design team contest.