Just when you thought it was time to put away the cards and stamps and address book, you realize that you need to write a whole bunch of thank you’s for all the wonderful gifts you received over the holidays!

Over the next few posts, I will be sharing a variety of thank you cards I have been crafting for family, friends and clients this past week.  You will notice some themes–wreaths and rustic!  (There is one little outlier who will make an appearance in my next post!)  I had so much fun with some new techniques and new products.  Add in some great sketches that seemed to be living in my subconscious and I became a card-making machine!

So these first cards were a take on the CAS(E) sketch below:

In true CAS form, I wanted to maintain a lot of white space, yet offer some unexpected elements like the white-on-white wreath and embossing.  I’ve been having great fun building these little “nests” of color, form and texture in my most recent creations.  Here I have used a variety of dies, scraps from die cuts and punches, and enamel dots to build the focal point.

What I discovered through the process is just how valuable the scraps that land on the floor or table after you die cut or punch a shape can be!  The little green leaves here are actually the insides of the “t” in my “thanks” die!

For my next card, I kept most of the embellishment clustered to the left of the sentiment, but made the wreath a bit more of the focal point.

For both cards, I used a variety of products: Papertrey Ink’s wreath die; Memory box leaf and bird; Sizzix flag dies and embossing folder; EK Success edge punch; Avery Elle tag die & sentiments; scraps from other dies; Gina K, Bazzill, & Ellen Hutson papers; snowball and enamel dots.

Head over to CAS(E) for some awesome interpretations!  And please stop back here for more thank you inspiration!  Your visit and comments are always appreciated!