Teacher Gifts

(click on any row to see photo larger)

This is a set of four cards - I've made two identical sets to be end-of-year gifts for Sammy's two pre-school teachers.  The cards are huge compared to what I usually make - 6x8inches - though they don't require extra postage.  They are the size of a large Christmas card, so they look really nice.

For the blue one, I wanted something masculine since it's sometimes hard to find or make handmade cards for guys.   I guess we just get all girly with our crafting!  The strip of lattice paper is silver paper that was embossed with the Stampin' Up Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  The sentiment is embossed in beautiful silver and then punched out with the Decorative Label punch.  The white frame is hand cut around the negative from the same punch, then attached with dimensional adhesive so that it stands up from the card.  Such a good idea and I got it from Britta, a college girl with great stamping videos.

The other three cards are made with a Top Note cut out of vellum paper and a punched bird.  For the orange card, I left the vellum smooth for a more graphic look.  For the pink and green cards, on the other hand, I wanted more of the distressed look so I dampened the vellum, crumpled it into a little ball, then smoothed it out again (thanks to Cheryl's technique lesson during her class teaching this layout, the subdued version).  It feels a little scary the first time you totally crumple up your little paper you are planning to use, but it turns out to be a super easy technique! 

I made a few of the pink ones for myself and I'll be using them to safely mail some 5x7 photos since they are not only large but really sturdy and the envelopes are nice and stiff too.