Blue Thanks

I have the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Thank You Heart dies, and every time I go to use them, I'm stumped. The detail of the words seems to need a plain background, but I can't do plain (yawn) so I haven't used the dies yet. Until today!

I watched this video by Kristina Werner over at the Simon Says Stamp blog, and the way she colored her background and embossed the white sentiment? BINGO!

Here's my card:

On this first card I used the same colors Kristina did: Distress Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn. As I struggled to get all the bits of glue on the back of the sentiment, though, I got a clue and re-cut it from a piece of white card stock stuck onto a piece of a Sookwang sheet. That made the whole thing into one big sticker, and I lined it up with the blue heart.  THIS I like!

Then I thought to try Evergreen Bough in place of the Mowed Lawn, because it was a bit less green (more blue), and here's how that looks:

It's more subtle of a look. I like them both, I think. I ran a piece of white card stock through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug folder, and since I didn't have paper the right color, and I didn't feel like inking the edges of the card front, I chose a "close enough" color of washi tape and used it instead. Way less messy. :)

Here are the two cards side-by-each so you can see the different colors:

Both have their merits. Oh, and that Cuttlebug folder works best on a 4x5.25 piece of card stock. I've been spoiled by the larger folders that do the whole A2 card front. I failed twice before I trimmed some card stock down. Sigh. And I was going to round the corners, but I forgot. Double sigh.

I think I'll change gears and play with some colored pencils next.

Thanks for stopping by!

Product enablement list:
Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Thank You Heart dies (SSS)
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Distress Salty Ocean ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Peacock Feathers ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Mowed Lawn ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Evergreen Bough ink (SSS | EH)
Blending tool (SSS | EH)
Ranger Craft Sheet (SSS | EH)
Sookwang sheets (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder (SSS)
Washi tape (don't know which company)