You're so kind.

Good morning! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a fruitful Black Friday shopping extravaganza. I have a card and a deal to share with you today, so I hope you have a little fun money left!! 

So, I'm a little skeptical of jumping on bandwagons in general. I like to think that I am my own person, that I do what I like because *I* like it, and not because someone has told me it was cool. BUT.... I have totally and completely jumped on the colored pencil on kraft paper bandwagon. And I'm loooooving it. (My only problem is a  lack of colored pencils, ha!) Let's get started on some details for this project! 

This card is an homage to the most recent Concord and 9th release. Their frame card dies are SO incredibly innovative, and I am totally smitten. I need more hours in the day to make all of the projects that I have in mind with them. I had some down time while I have been sick over this past week, so I was able to sit down and just play... such fun!

I started by stamping the totally stunning floral bouquet from the Hello Lovely stamp set a few times on a panel of kraft paper using black ink. (It's nice that you don't have to really worry about which black ink you're using with colored pencils... just grab whatever is closest and go!) I colored it with a variety of Prismacolor colored pencils... I have the 36 pack, so my shading was a little limited. Hopefully Santa will bring me a larger package for Christmas. ;) Tip: I have found the blender pencil to be invaluable. I'm honestly so used to my Zig markers that I found the colored pencils a little daunting at first, but the blender pencil made such a huge difference that I can't stop using them haha! I added a few white dots to the ends of the stamens on the flower centers to add a little dimension and interest. 

For the greeting, I decided to stick with simple white. Since the colored panel doesn't have any white (other than those few gel pen dots), I thought a white die cut would really pop off the page. I die cut the Happy Frame using the Kind add-on dies out of white card stock and placed it approximately where I wanted it on the colored panel, then used the "you're always so" stamp from the coordinating Kindhearted stamp set to heat emboss directly on the colored panel using white embossing powder. (That was a leap of faith, for sure. I was a little-a lot- afraid of messing up the panel!!)  I used dimensional adhesive to make the die cut pop even further off the page, literally. It's hard to see in the photo, but the last step was to take a Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen and color a few layers on the "kind" die cut just to add some shimmer. 

Now, for the sale!! Concord and 9th is generously giving their customers not only a 20% discount off of the entire store, but orders over $100 will receive a free Thanks card die!! If you've had your eye on any of the incredible dies and gorgeous stamps they've been releasing lately, this is the perfect opportunity to snap them up and get a generous freebie in the process! 

The sale runs from this morning, 11/26, through 11/28 at 11:59 pm MT. 

Now, go forth and shop! :)

Have an absolutely fantastic weekend, friends!