Thank you for joining us for the November Pals Blog Hop. We are thankful you are visiting today and hope you enjoy our thank you inspired projects.  

You should have just left stop number 16 on the Pals Hop – Shannon Jaramillo at ezpeasycards. If so, you are in the right spot.
 If you get off track, the full blog lineup below will help you move along
from blog to blog so you see all of the amazing creations!

I
think receiving a card at this time of the year is so special, as with the
seasons changing, the time changing, everyone seems to be “down–shifting” with
trying to get a “grasp” on the next time of rush!

To
me, this is such a time of Thanksgiving and letting friends, family and simply
people that touch your life and that you admire…sending them a card letting
them know that you are “Thankful” with how they touched your life is a powerful
and fulfilling gesture!

It
will be 3 years on December 1^st that I lost my Mom and every year I
send her caregivers a card of “thanks” as they were so amazing and I still
deeply appreciate all that they did and they are always in my heart!

Today’s
card I wanted to do something different than leaves! This is from the Wetlands
Stamp Set and it is just elegant! Now you know what I am going to say…YES – you
need to use Water Color Paper when doing this technique of water-coloring!

Water
coloring is super fun and with the Aqua Painters it is a breeze! I get many
comments saying that they are not comfortable with water coloring. The best tip
I can give you is practice…practice and practice!!!

It
truly is easy and in time I have learned that it is important to get the
“puddle” of your ink color fairly wet as if you go over it again and again as
it dries, you will create a softer and in depth look! It’s kind of like
blending!

Look
at this picture (I know it’s kind of weird to look at) but before you open your
ink pad, give it a good squeeze to get a blob of ink on the top…then you can
see how I made a section much wetter with the aqua painter! I have found that I
like adding a lighter effect and it dries super quick and then going back over!

The
size of the water color paper is a 4” X 4” square and I stamped the “wheat
grass” in Soft Suede and then Goose in Black Staz-On Ink…. why did I do it this
way? Because the Soft Suede is not permanent, I wanted a bit of “bleeding” of
color as I was painting and then with the goose…I simply wanted the crispness
of him to pop! The total size of the card is 5" X 5"!

Here
are the colors that I used. I know it seems like a lot but truly you are “taking a little her and a little there”
to create an effect that you are comfortable with! Soft Sky, Old Olive, Cajun
Craze, Soft Suede for the grass area and Sahara Sand for the goose!

Remember
to gently squeeze your aqua painter and have a paper town handy to keep the
water consistently the way you like it. I only keep a tiny bit of water in
mine…a little goes a long way! Again, PRACTICE!!!

Because
this paper is meant to hold and absorb water, you still might get a bit of
“waviness” on the end result! Because of this, I would recommend using the
sticky tape to mat it to the soft suede…now as you can see it is super flat!!!
WOOT-WOOT!

The
simple sentiment of thanks is all that is needed! I love to write very
heartfelt notes of how and why they touch my life and let them know “I thank them for what the mean to me”

Because
the size of the card is not your traditional size…no worries – the envelope
punch board to the rescue! Just follow the handy dandy guide and a cut of the
paper…a punch of the board…a score of a line…PRESTO – all you need to do is use
adhesive and you are good to go!

A
card would not be a card to me without a liner! Following my dear and wonderful
upline, Mary Fish, she created this great video that you need to watch! Click
here and see how easy it is to make a liner to fit the odd size cards!

Needed to be kind to the mailman and make him smile…so I stamped the Wheat Grass on the lower edge of the envelope! Cute…..right!?!?

John has aked me to make him up a new wave of cards as he is running low of the last batch I made him and he asked me if I would make a dozen of this one up for him! You might think – WOW….that will take forever…but it really is not a big deal….

TIP ALERT: – because you are layering these bases…take full advantage of cutting shapes out of the Soft Sky and the Soft Suede Paper…use punched, use framlits etc….SAVE PAPER when you can!

Water-coloring to me is total therapy! I am happy as a clam watching "The Voice" and I can easily color all of these for John!

Remember, break your projects down into steps…doing this will save you so much time and frustration! You can do it!!!

Now you have a lot to get to….since it is the PALS Blog hop…you need to continue to be inspired! I hope that I have inspired you today…Until tomorrow!!!

The next stop is Martie Pollard at The Crafty Bandit, stop number 18 on
the Pals Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting – and I hope to see you next month!

1. Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven's Retreat
2. Ann Schach at The Stampin' Schach
3. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
4. Carmen Sublasky at The Creative Stamptuary
5. Shirley Sumption at Look at my Cute Stuff
6. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
7. Connie Lindsey at Crafting a Joyful Life
8. Michelle Gleeson at Stampinmojo
9. Shannon Hokanson at Paper Works
10. Colleen Mollema at Uncanny Crafting
11. Lynn Kolcun at Stamping With Avery's Owlery
12. Kerry Willard Bray at Stampgoodness.com
13. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
14. Amy L. Lazzell at Just A Thought…Cards by Amy
15. Lisa Davis at Cherry St. Paper Treats
16. Shannon Jaramillo at ezpeasycards
17. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin'
18. Martie Pollard at The Crafty Bandit
19. Donna Kopenski at craftycardmaker
20. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
21. Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine
22. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
23. Linda Callahan at Stampin' Seasons
24. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
25. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
26. Beth Beard at My little craft blog
27. Debbie Crowley at expressivelydeb…
28. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
29. Sue Becker at Sue's R n R Stamping
30. Nancy Gleason at My Stampin Space
31. Peggy Noe at prettypapercards
32. Marlene Heringer at So Many Toys in Schertz