Thanks so Much

For my card, I decided to try a technique I'd seen Jennifer McGuire use, called iron-off embossing, in this post on the Hero Arts blog. I used this sketch from Operation Write Home for the basis of my design:

I stamped a piece of watercolor paper with a background stamp by Stampabilities in Versamark ink, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I smooshed Distress Inks in Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, & Mowed Lawn on an acrylic block. I picked up color with my water brush, one at a time, and painted it over the stamped image. Once the ink was dry, I ironed off the embossing powder, rounded the corners with my 3/8" Corner Chomper, and adhered the panel to a piece of black cardstock.

The greeting is from Lawn Fawn's "Grand Greetings" stamp set. I stamped it in black pigment ink on yellow cardstock, then clear heat-embossed it. I cut the panel into a banner shape, and adhered it to the card front. I glued 3 gems from The Paper Studio's "Jewel Tones Mosaic" set onto the front with Glossy Accents, then adhered the completed panel to a white A2 card base. I felt the card didn't look complete, so I ended up going around the focal point panel with a white gel pen to create faux stitching lines.