Thank-you cards with DSP

I can't believe that we're already almost into August. I know it's cliche, but where does the time go? When I was looking through the photos of my cards to be posted, I realized I never shared this group of cards, which I made more than six months ago. Uff da. It's a good thing that thank-you cards never go out of season!

Here's the context: After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I was part of a campaign (started on Instagram) to recognize the workers who had to clean up all of that mess. So I needed to make a good number of cards in a short amount of time, and I didn't personally know the recipients, who would be both men and women. That was a challenge for me, so I decided to pull out -- you guessed it -- some Designer Series Paper (DSP). Using the DSP for the card backgrounds and also the die-cut sentiments, I created sixteen thank-you cards.

Supplies:
Stamps: Special Sentiments (Penny Balck)
Paper: Thick Very Vanilla card stock, This and That Epic Day DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: All About You dies (Concord & 9th), Bitty Banner punch (Stampin' Up!), Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

When I started making the cards, I knew I wanted to keep them flat so they were easy to mail. And I didn't want to use any bumpy embellishments that would potentially set off a metal detector or cause some other sort of alarm. That meant the DSP really needed to be the star. I settled on the (long-retired) This and That Epic Day DSP because it has good colors and patterns that are pretty gender neutral. The distressed style also adds some visual interest, and it seemed fitting when I thought about the historic documents at our nation's capital.

I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out A2-sized layers of the DSP and adhered each one to a thick Very Vanilla card base. Then I cut out a whole bunch of "thank you"s and matched each one to a card. If the background pattern was busy I tried to use a more solid-color sentiment; and if the background was a bit more plain, I went for a colorful sentiment. The "you" die also cut out a thin border around the word, so I mixed those up to add an extra fun detail.

To take the place of an embellishment, I added a little punched banner at the top of each card. On some of the cards I also added a stamped sentiment to the die-cut portion. And that's it -- simple, but just right for the occasion (at least I think so). Cards don't need to be fancy to express our appreciation (or friendship or love or whatever). I sometimes need to remind myself of that.

Thanks for stopping by!