DIY Sea Shell Thank You Card

I love creating beautiful cards to give to friends.  Recently my wife and I traveled to Florida to stay for a week with friends.  They have a beautiful condo right on the beach and we had such a nice time.  I wanted to create a beachy sea shell thank you card to send to them and the project I will share with you fits that bill! I will be using Stampin' Up! and My Favorite Stamps products for this card.

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Stamp Your Images Using a Stamp Positioning Tool

I used two step stamps with this card.  Two step stamps can create cool shading effects if the stamps are lined up correctly.  Sometimes that is difficult to do when stamping with a block.  I love using a stamp positioning tool to get a perfectly clear stamped image with two step stamps. With this project I am using the Stampin' Up! Stamparatus, but you could also use the Misti or Tim Holtz's Stamp Platform.

After laying down the cardstock on the positioning tool,  lay down your stamp with less detail.  Make sure to give some room between your stamp and the straight edge of your positioning tool.  I find that sometimes it is difficult to get a clean image when your stamp is right up against the edge.

Make sure your magnets are holding the paper in place but are not touching the stamp.

Pick up your stamp by placing the plate down on it. Press gently and then pick it up.

Ink up your stamp on the plate and then lay it down on the paper.  Be sure to get a nice even stamp.  When you lift the plate, if you see any area that did not get evenly stamped, you can place the plate back down to touch up the stamped image.  If you need more ink, then you can add a little ink and lay the plate down to stamp up the area that was missing ink.

With two step stamps, I typically will use a lighter ink on the less detailed stamp and the darker color on the more detailed stamp.  In this case I used Stampin' Up! Highland Heather for the less detailed stamp, which I laid down first, and then Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grape for the detailed stamp that goes down second.

Once you have stamped the 1st stamped image, then you will need to line up the second stamp on top of the stamped image you have already laid down.  Most two step stamps will have some kind of indicator on the stamp on were to line it up.  In this case I used some of the detail to make sure I had the edges lined up perfectly.

Once you have the 2nd stamp lined up on the paper, press the plate down and pick up the 2nd stamp.

Ink up the 2nd stamp with the darker ink color and stamp the image onto the paper.

The beauty of using the Stamparatus is the hinge stamping you can do.  You can pick up the plate and place it 2 or 3 notches down so you can create multiple images without having to reposition the stamp to a different spot on the plate.

For the small circular shell, I used the same colors, Stampin' Up! Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape.  Because this two step stamp in very uniform in shape it is difficult to determine by the detail of the stamp where to line it up.  This stamp has a notch to help you with alignment.

You can also use the hinge stamping technique here to get multiple stamped images without having to reposition the stamp on the plates.

For the fan shell, I used My Favorite Things Crushed Coral ink.  I decided that, even though this was a two step stamp, to only use the detailed stamp.  While I was using the Crushed Coral MFT Ink,  I went ahead and stamped the sentiment.

Fussy Cut and Die Cut Your Images and Sentiments

This particular stamp set does not have coordinating dies, so I just fussy cut the images with a small detail scissors.

Next, I used a stitched oval framelit to cut out the sentiment. I used Stampin' Up! Stitched Oval Framelits, but you could also use Lawn Fawn Stitched Oval stackables.

To give the sentiment some dimension, use craft foam.  Cut a smaller version of the oval with a die and the bigshot.

Use wet adhesive to adhere the craft foam to the sentiment.

Set the sentiment to the side to dry.  You can use a clear block to add some weight.

Create your Embellishments

Next we will get the ribbon embellishment ready to assemble.  I cut the ribbon (see the different options of ribbon and twine in the supply list) in about a 6 inch piece and used a glue dot to adhere the two tails together.  It will then look like a support ribbon you would see for breast cancer or other types of cancer.

Speaking of which, if you would like to check out my card project I for my friend who has melenoma, brain cancer, and MS, you can check that out here.  The ribbon shape I am describing for this card is the same shape I use in that card.

For the twine measured off enough to wrap 3 fingers worth 2 to 3 times.  Then used a glue dot to adhere one end to the ribbon.   Next loop the twine and come back to the center and adhere with a glue dot.  Continue this until you have used up all of the twine.

When you are done, your ribbon and twin should look like the picture below.  It does not have to be perfect.  In fact, when it is not, that is what gives it that whimsy look.

Use another glue dot to put on the back side of the large conch shell cut out then adhere it to the ribbon.

Once you have the ribbon adhered to the big shell, then run some adhesive to the back side of the coral shell and adhere to the front side of the conch shell. Do the same with the smaller round shell so it is peeking out from behind the bigger conch shell.

Use foam squares to raise this up on your card front. Don't take off the tape.  Just set it aside for now.

Next take the Coral Crush cardstock and run it through the embossing folder.  I used the Stampin' Up! Seaside Texture Impressions Embossing Folder, but you could also use any embossing folder that has waves to it, like this.

Adhere Card Panels Together

Use a stronger adhesive like Tombow Xtreme Glue Runner to adhere the card panels together. I used Stampin' Up! Fast Fuse, but they no longer carry that product.  I was sad about that until I discoverd that Tombow sells a refill that fits the Fast Fust dispenser.

For the sentiment that is on the craft foam, I used the Tombow Mono Liquid Glue.

Bling Up Your Card

Next its time to bling up the card a bit with some enamel or epoxy dots.

I used the Stampin' Up! epoxy dots here but you could also use these dots as well.

Create the Inside Panel

Next adhere the small strip of designer paper to the bottom of your inside panel.  I used the Stampin' Up! designer series paper but you could also use something like this pattern paper from My Favorite Things.

Next stamp a sweet sentiment inside that matches the recipient.  In my case, I sent this card to friends that I wanted to thank for allowing us to spend time at their condo and ultimately spending time with us.  Because as the sentiment says… Life is better with friends. 
I've listed some other stamp sets that you might be interested down in the supply list.  You can never have enough sentiments on hand.

Add Your Personalization on the Back

I recently started stamping the back of my cards with my own personalized stamp.  It has my business logo and my contact information.  I do this so in case the recipient is interested in purchasing some of my cards or they share with a friend, my contact info is right there for them.  Plus I think it gives a nice touch.  I had this photopolymer stamp created by an artist on Etsy.com.

If you have a personalized stamp you want to add to the back of your cards, be sure to do this before you assemble your card.  If you mess up your stamped image on the cardstock base, then you just messed up that one piece of paper.  If you mess it up after you have assembled your card, well now you have ruined it all.  So do yourself a favor and stamp it before you assemble your card.

Assemble Card

I always like to adhere the inside first before I adhere the card front.  Since this part is not that heavy, you can probably get away with using a adhesive that is not that strong like the Gina K. Adhesive Dot Runner. That way, if you lay it down wrong, it is much easier to pick it up and reposition it.

Lastly, adhere your assembled card front to the front of your folded card.  Since this is pretty heavy, I would definitely recommend using a stronger permanent adhesive like Tombow Xtreme Glue Runner.

 

Final Project

    

Download the PDF tutorial with all of the dimensions

Want to recreate this card for yourself? Fill out the form below and you will get access to my Free Resource Library where I have a pdf with all of the cut dimensions to this card.

>>ENTER THE FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY HERE ~~ YOU WILL NEED THE SECRET CODE<<

Watch the Video Tutorial

Join the Color Theme (Pink-Red-Purple) Card Swap

Would love for you to join me in my Color Theme card swap that is taking place February 9, 2019. It's a mail in swap.  You can get details of the card swap here.

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