By: Bea Rosenleaf

I'm on a quest to design the perfect thank you card! My husband and I are organizing a community-wide Thanksgiving dinner for everyone in the community.  I would like to send custom-made thank you cards to donors and volunteers.  This is going to be a huge task, and I need a simple, quick card that I can do assembly-style.  I ran across this fall/thanksgiving image at my local stamp store and fell in love with it, so of course, I had to buy it.  Unfortunately, it won't work for what I want to do because the lines are too faint to be able to stamp it on a background or patterned paper.  The only way I found that I liked the image was colored with watercolors.  It turned out gorgeous! (At least in my humble opinion, it did!) So I am still on my quest to find the image I want for that 'perfect' thank you card! But, this card turned out so nice, I wanted to share it with you all.

Finished size: 5" x 6.5"

Supplies:
Stamps:
Cornucopia, U1612 (Art Impressions)
Happy Harvest (The Angel Company)
Thank you sentiment (Unknown)
Papers:
Monochromatic Purples (Bazzill)
Beeswax Canvas cardstock (Bazzill)
8.5" x 11" Cream cardstock (Staples)
140 lb. Cold Press Watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Inks:
Coffee Archival ink pad (Ranger)
Onyx Black Versafine ink pad (Tsukineko)
Other:
Aquacolor crayons (Lyra)
Water based markers (Tombow)
LePlume II markers (Marvy)
PrismaColor Gold metallic colored pencil (Sanford Corp.)
Water brush (unknown)
White gel pen (Sakura)
3 medium purple brads (Hot Off the Press)
Deckle-edged ruler
Adhesive (3M)
Craft sheet (Ranger)

Note:  Pick colors of yellows, oranges, reds, greens, purples,browns to create layers of color on the image with the watercolor crayons and markers. Also pick a black marker or crayon and a light to medium gray.  Watercolor pencils can also be used.

Directions:

1. Cut cream cardstock to measure 6.5" x 10".  Fold in half to make a card measuring 6.5" x 5".
2. Ink stamp with Coffee archival ink and stamp on the watercolor paper. Press stamp a little harder than normal to get a good impression in the dimples of the paper. Let dry well.
3. Start with the lightest colors and color the image using the following method:  Scribble the marker or watercolor crayon on the craft sheet. Pick up color with the waterbrush and begin painting in the image. Let the first (lightest colors) layer dry well before proceeding. 
4. Pick the next darker shade and add shading to the various fruits and vegetables, using the above method of scribbling and picking up color with the brush.  If you need to lighten parts, use the waterbrush and pick up color from the image.  You can use a bit more water to blend and move the colors around, but be careful not to get too much water on the paper or your colors will muddy.
5. When the medium color layer is dry, then use the darkest colors to complete the shading. Blend them in so they don't have hard lines between colors.
6. Use black, sparingly, to create shadow and depth.
7. Use a while gel pen to add highlights here and there.
8. Using the waterbrush, use a light to medium gray marker to add shadows to the background. Use the same method as described above to get a soft, blended shadow.
9. When the image is dry, use the deckle-edged rule to tear the image out.  Curl the edges by running your finger with some water around the edges. Make sure not to get the water on your image!
10. Layer the image to a piece of Beeswax canvas cardstock, cut to measure  6.5" x 4".  Attach 3 brads down the right side.
11. Cut a piece of dark purple cardstock to measure 6.5" x 5".  Attach the beeswax layer to this piece. Layer all this to the cream card front. 
12. Stamp the sentiments on the front and inside of the card with the Black Onyx ink. Be sure to let the inside sentiment dry well before closing the card.
13. Sign your work and send to someone special!

For added fun, create a glass-like look to the hurricane lamp by adding Crystal Lacquer (or like product) to the "glass" to give it some shine.