Thank you cards

I made up these cards to send off to the two great places we stayed at for our vacation this summer.  I folded a 4" x 12" piece of cardstock at 4" and 8" and then folded the two ends diagonally so the folds would meet over the center section.  I added triangles of decorative paper on both front flaps, layered a ribbon over the middle and captured it with the 3D foam tape I used to attach the focal element which is only glued to the triangle on the left hand side.  I watercoloured the stamped image (Magenta) and layered it to a square of coordinating cardstock. Just a square paper insert for writing on.
We had a wonderful vacation this summer in PEI.  We stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in Edmundston, NB on our way down called the Au NIDaigle run by Norma Daigle.  Large, bright, very well appointed rooms with private baths, lots of common areas, great grounds, great food and a very friendly and helpful hostess.  Check out her website!!
In Prince Edward Island we rented a wonderful little cottage only a short drive to a GREAT beach and situated on a lot next to the owner's house at St. Peters Lake, near Lakeside, PEI.  Ferne MacEwen is the owner of this little gem and she is wonderful to deal with. The two bedroom cottage has vintage decor and is neat and clean and very quiet.  She rents by the week from June to October but we would recommend going in August when the ocean is at its warmest. We checked out LOTS of beaches on the island and the best are facing the St. Lawrence on the Atlantic side - beautiful sand in long stretches that will take you hours to explore punctuated with red rocks and cliffs which are distinctive to PEI.  Check out this link for Ferne's  contact info or check out the 2012 PEI Visitors Guide on Page 181 for more information.  In the future, you can check the current edition under The Points East Coastal Drive, Cottages, Lakeside for her listing.  Most beaches in PEI have some beach glass - beautiful little nuggets of glass that have been worn by the motion of the sea and sand  - but we found the beach at Souris to be the most prolific. Be sure to go at when the tide is going out (low tide) which leaves the shore and sand bars exposed for exploring!!
Needless to say, I would highly recommend a vacation in PEI to everyone!!  It is a special part of Canada!!

Therese

Yet more acetate cards!

These are the final three of the acetates I discovered in my stash earlier. Here and here are the other cards I created with these.   I went in a different direction this time and backed them with restructructed paper which I created a while back.  I really like the look of the random colours behind the acetates so I kept the colour scheme monochromatic.  For a textured accent I pulled out my border punch (SU) and created some lacy strips using kraft cardstock and added some stitching with black thread.  I love it!!  So many possibilities for combining this punch with thread - my head is full of ideas!!  I layered the stitched strips to a black strip that was trimmed with decorative scissors, attached that to the acetate with double sided tape and then attached the acetate to the decorative paper using double sided tape behind the strips.  I used mini brads to attach the whole element to the card front!!  I can see using the little mini brads with the lacy strips as well for creating decorative elements for cards.

More acetate cards!

 I found these printed acetates in my stash and thought they would go well with the paper napkin I used to clean up my alcohol inks when I was creating my previous acetate card.  I used Sharpies,  rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab to colour the images on the back.  I simply applied a bit of blue on the petals with the marker and moved around the colour with a  swab dampened with alcohol. In the same manner, I added yellow to the centers and green to the leaves.  The colour coordinated very nicely with my background paper.

I applied white glue to the back of the acetates - same side as the colour - and placed them on the coloured paper napkin and left them to dry.  Once dry, it was easy to trim the napkin to the edge of the acetate.  I added a white layer below the acetate to help brighten the flowers because placing them directly on the cardstock dulled the colours too much.  I added a length of seam binding between the image and the greeting, gluing the ends to the back and tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I attached this element to my card front with four brads.  This was a stash buster!!  The background paper napkin didn't even make it to the stash as it was still on my work surface!!
I really love the watercolour look of the background!!  Save the paper towels or wipes you use to clean up to use as backgrounds for future projects!!

Therese