Sending Hugs

I read recently that the average hug lasts only 3 seconds, but that if it lasts for at least 20 seconds, it can be very therapeutic. A hug is a simple gesture to give someone who is going through a tough time. My counselor has even said that he believes hugs can transfer energy from one person to another. So what better way to help "energize" a cancer patient (or anyone, for that matter) than by giving him/her a hug! The challenge theme for October 16, 2015, for Splitcoast Stampers' "Hope You Can Cling To" card drive is "Hugs!" The idea is to use the word hugs somehow on a card.

For my card, I first chose a piece of patterned paper from the "Off the Bolt" 4.5x6.5" pad by The Paper Studio. I cut it to 4x5.25", and die cut a window, using one of the "Stitched Rectangles" dies by Simon Says Stamp. The neat thing about these dies is that they have faux stitched lines on both the inside & outside of the cutting line. That gave a nice finishing touch to my window.

I cut a piece of dark pink cardstock to 4.25x5.5", laid the patterned paper panel on top, and traced around the window. I used my pencil lines as a guide to position my stamps. I used the "Sending" stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "Sending Happy Thoughts" for the first part of my greeting. I don't have a "hugs" stamp that would work, so I spelled that out with Lawn Fawn's "Riley's ABC's" letter stamps to finish my greeting. I heat embossed both words with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, then erased my pencil lines.

To assemble my card, I applied foam adhesive to the back of my patterned paper panel, and adhered it to the pink cardstock. I also glued down some pearls by The Paper Studio around my greeting, using dots of Ranger Multi Medium Matte. Finally, I mounted the card front to a white A2 card base.