adventures that were more work than expected

I've been working on custom thank you cards for a friend who organizes and flies in kite events.  I was really excited when I received this stamp set for attending OnStage Local last year - it's perfect! The request was to include a beach scene, if possible, and Amanda did all the thinking for me with her card.  My watercoloring skills, even with an Aquapainter, are not strong, so I decided on sponging.  That meant masking, including the little kite flier.  That was a bit more work, but much better results for my skill level.

I didn't want a square card, since those require extra postage, so I borrowed Peg's framed layout.  I planned to emboss the frame, but couldn't decide where to put a sentiment, so instead used several stamp sets.  That was a bit more work, too, but I think it was worth it:

stamp sets - Happy Home, Another Thank You, An Open Heart, Crazy About You, Petite Pairs, So Very Happy (retired); ink - Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Marina Mist; Stampin' Write markers - Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit (retired), Gumball Green (retired); card stock - Naturals White (retired), Gumball Green (retired); Big Shot with Ovals Collection framelits

Since kite-theme thank you cards took most of my crafting time this week, I'd like to submit these at the Watercooler, where Anything Goes this week.

When I finished six sets of four kite cards, I had an evening left to work on a card for Jingle Belles' Washi Wonderland.  Some time ago I learned that washi tapes fit the wider stripe of our Stylish Stripes embossing folder, so I decided to try that.  Since I hadn't put away the Circle Card Thinlit that a friend borrowed and recently returned, I decided to try that, too.  One of my favorite bloggers used to say that she "stamped without a net" and that's exactly what was going on here. Narrow washi tapes fit that stripe, but one of my two Christmas design tapes is wide, so I needed to do a bit more work.  I put strips of the tape on an empty Stampin' Dimensionals backing sheet and trimmed it.  Then I applied it to the card and trimmed the edges.  Trimming the edges on a straight piece isn't difficult, but I hadn't really thought through the process of trimming the edges inside a curve in the middle of the card - that turned out to be a bit more work.  To match the stamp to the washi tapes, I decided the stamp needed to be multi-colored, and therefore done with markers.  Yes, a bit more work, but again, worth it.  After all that was done, I didn't like the plain white right side, so I found a coordinating piece of paper.  It needed to be retro fit around that cut curve in the middle of the card, so, I'm sure you've guessed, I needed to to bit more work.  (whew)  At least, I found places for the trimmed-off narrow strips of washi tape, and you almost can't see the seam:

stamp set - Wishing You (retired); ink - Cucumber Crush; Stampin' Write markers - Cucumber Crush, Real Red, Garden Green; card stock - Whisper White thick; specialty designer series paper - In Color envelope; Big Shot with Circle Card thinlits die and Stylish Stripes embossing folder; washi tape - unknown