Thanx Stars

I have had this "thanx" label and the star monoprint panel sitting on my scrap desk for several weeks. I had started them for 2 different projects, which ended up taking different directions, so I never did use those particular pieces. I decided now was finally the time to use them. I felt they complemented each other nicely, so I made a card with both of them.

I used this sketch from Operation Write Home as the basis for my design:

I replaced the 3 banners with the die cut label, but otherwise, stuck to the sketch. (In fact, I'd originally created the star monoprint panel with this sketch in mind. Like I said, that card just took a different direction, so I'd never used this piece.)

I'd created the monoprint panel using a technique Tim Holtz taught in Online Card Classes' "Watercolor for Card Makers" class earlier this year. I inked up the back of the Tim Holtz "Stars" layering stencil with Distress inks, misted it with water, and then placed it ink side down onto a piece of watercolor paper. I inked the 2 mats for that panel with Mowed Lawn & Picked Raspberry Distress inks. For the "thanx" label, I stamped one of the greetings from this Hero Arts set onto white cardstock, heat embossed it, and colored it with colored pencils and Gamsol. Then I cut it with one of the dies from this set, and inked the edges with Seedless Preserves Distress ink.

For the background, I embossed a piece of white cardstock with The Paper Studio's "Tiny Stars" embossing folder. Then I blended Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink over the whole panel. This color both echoes the yellow in the monoprint panel and complements the purple on the label.

After gluing down the monoprint panel, I went to work on the label. I threaded 2 lengths of blue bakers twine through the holes, behind the label, and around the back of the embossed star panel. Because of the thickness of the monoprint panel, I had to pop the left side of the label up slightly. So I cut 3 small strips of scrap cardstock, glued them together, and adhered them to the back of the label. Then I glued the label down to the card front.

To finish, I blended Seedless Preserves on the front of an A2 top-folding card base. Then I adhered the main panel to the card base. I will use this card to write a thank-you note to a hero overseas through Operation Write Home.