Catching Up After Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving sign can be "plucked" out of the wings
 to find a message written on the back.



Hello friends -- Happy "belated" Thanksgiving!  You don't have to celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday to be thankful for family & friends all year round.  And I'm definitely thankful to my friendly readers; I love to read your comments & emails -- thank you for stopping by.  I sent out my Thanksgiving cards on time this year, most of them being fairly simple cards.  But I found this fun paper by Echo Park called Fall Fever Owl, and somehow ended up sketching this fun card. 

I started with pearlized tan cardstock & adhered the Fall Fever Owl CS to the front (the opposite side of the CS is the woodgrain print shown in the sign on the front of the card). I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at first, but I was thinking I'd like to have owl eyes peering over the top -- and it just sort of evolved from there.



The eyes were cut out of black, white, & blue CS in 1 1/4", 1 1/2", & 1 3/4" respectively.  I set brown cardstock between the card layer and lightly sketched a head with ears & an egg-shaped body (initially thinking it wouldn't be seen except over the top of the card).  Then I cut wonky brown hearts out of scrap CS for the feathers, and sketched wings, feet, & a beak.  I used a distressing tool to scrape up the edges to give them some fluff, and an blending tool with walnut stain distress ink to ink the individual pieces.  These are all basic shapes, so I didn't overstress it. 


 

I adhered the owl to the inside of the card with a banner strip of four owls to represent the four of us in our family.  I needed a speech bubble with four points so I drew it onto ivory CS, cut it out and inked the edges.  The sentiment, Elegant Beginnings by Stampin' Up, was heat embossed with Charcoal embossing powder. 



QUICK & EASY TIP:  The feet sticking out of the bottom made the card difficult to stand.  So I used my Tim Holtz small easel Sizzix die to cut the easel for the back of the card from heavy cardstock.  I LOVE this die for projects like this that need a helping hand to stand up, but also need to be mailed, because the easel lies flat for going into an envelope!  Awesome!  This die also cuts chipboard for a thicker stand, if needed.

NOTE:  In hindsight, I wish I had made the easel from black cardstock instead of white for a more finished look, but I did use a black sharpie for the part that was showing through the feet (which is probably why you can't see the easel from the front).



Isn't it so cute peeking out of the envelope?!

Next on the list?  Christmas Cards...mostly done, thankfully.  But wish me luck getting them posted.  Blogger is not cooperating at all. 

If you're out shopping for Christmas, be careful...it's a jungle out there.  =)
Lisa

Btw - I have disengaged the comment verification again,  Thankfully, it seemed to help alleviate the spam comments...at least for now.