Thankful Mandala

Hello friends!  Today I am over on the Birch Press Design blog sharing these two cards using the Thankful Mandala stamp set.  I chose to work with this stamp set because it was something very different for me, and I'm so happy that I decided to challenge myself because I love how these cards came out!  

The very first thing I did after receiving this stamp was to actually cut it down!  Yes, this was equally as scary as it sounds!  I knew this could go wonderfully right, or horribly wrong really quick and that I was taking a chance at potentially ruining a $25 stamp set!  But, I didn't particularly like the large square shape of the mandala, so I trimmed off the outermost layer to give more of a peacock edge shape.  I regret that I did not take a picture of this process so you could see exactly what I mean.  
​Fortunately, it worked out just fine! Phew!​

Card details: 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I stamped the large mandala in Versamark ink on black cardstock and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I cut the mandala in half in order to separate it on the card. I adhered each half to the top and bottom of the card base. I die cut the larger outline word "thanks" from gold foil paper and the smaller word outline from black cardstock. I mounted the two together using a Tombow tape runner and adhered both to the center of the card using foam adhesive. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment "for all you do" in the middle of the card in Memento Tuxedo black ink. ​

Card details:

For the second card, my card base is a sheet of turquoise cardstock. I stamped the mandala in Versamark ink on another sheet of turqoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I trimmed the image down to 5" x 3 3/4" and mounted this stamped mandala onto a scalloped sheet of white cardstock. I adhered both sheets to the card base. I die cut the word "hugs" from both gold foil paper and white cardstock, layering the two together using a Tombow tape runner. I stamped the words "it's your birthday" in Versamark ink on a thin strip of turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I notched both ends before adhering it to the card below the word "hugs" using 3M foam adhesive. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope today's post will encourage YOU to try using a stamp set that might be a bit out of your comfort zone!  You just might find that the end results were worth it. 

XO, Crystal 

List of supplies: