November is rolling in and I start thinking about the everything I’m grateful for. So it’s time for some Thank You cards!

I wanted to go for a something striking, but simple. I went for a monochrome green ink on a single layer white cardbase. After folding the cardbase in half and burnishing the fold, I used some masking paper to cover the 1″ in the very center of the card. Masking paper lets you cover a portion of your cardstock and stamp with a nice crisp line between the white and stamped portions. You can also use masking paper when you want images to stamp images showing that one image is behind the other. I’ll show you that some other time.

I use grid paper to align my masking paper (obsessively measure) to make sure it’s centered and straight. The curse of the engineer. Then you can start stamping. I used the Forever Fern stamp set with three of my favorite Greens; Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green, and Evening Evergreen. Scatter the ferns and colors around where you like the color combos and look. One easy way to work with this card layout, you can arrange the leaves where you like them, then rotate the card 180 degrees (upside down) and repeat that same arrangement on the bottom half. Add a few scattered splotches to the card to tie it together.

Once you have your leaves and spots settled, you can remove the masking paper from the center. Be careful when pulling it up, that you don’t rip the top layer of your card base. You’ve already put a lot of work into it, so take care. Now, you can add your sentiment to the blank space between the leaves. I went with a simple Thank you, from the Plentiful Plants stamp set.

Next up, we want to add some bling to our card. When you’re going for a simple, single layer card, it’s always a good idea to add something shiny to catch the eye. Today, I’m using the Stampin’ Up! Gilded Leafing for a gorgeous gold touch. I am using Sticky Strip, the 1/4″ double sided tape, and a few glue dots to adhere the gold leaf to the card. I start with a full width strip of sticky strip along the edge of the masking paper. If you had any stamps that didn’t get a clean edge, you can use the tape and gilding to cover any slight imperfections. I added a few glue dots in the stamped area. After exposing the adhesive, apply the leaf to the tape and glue dots. Make sure you’ve got all of the sticky spots covered.

Using something soft, like a sponge, a blender brush, or your finger, rub the leaf unit all of the excess falls off of the card, leaving only a smooth burnished surface of gilded leaf on the adhesive. And your Thank you card is ready!

im submitting this card to the #tgif challenge this week.