Giving Your Hand colored Cards a Finished Look

Happy November all!  November is a special month in our family for several reasons.  In addition to the usual holidays celebrated during November (Thanksgiving, Veterans Day), for thoseof us who are who are year round soccer families it also marks the ends of the fall soccer season.  This is especially monumental if your family happens to be a travel/club team family as we are.  Ending the season was HUGE for us as we can now resume a relatively normal life (at least until spring season kicks off).

In honor of the end of the fall season, and because he has had some really big personal academic accomplishments this week, I made a quick card for my son to help him celebrate.

Card Supplies:  Patterned Paper: Echo Park (Walk in the Park) and We Are Memory Keepers (For the Record); Ephemera: Simple Stories and Jillibean Soup; Buttons: stash; Digi Stamp: Mo's Digital Pencil (AA Soccer Boy); Sentiment Stamp: Mark's Finest Papers and Stamps (Fabulous Dogs set).

Here is a close up of just the hand colored portion of the card.  I used a number of Copic marker families for my card as well as a mix of patterned paper scraps and ephemera that I had lying out on my desk. Cards are a great way to use up partial sheets of paper and other embellishments after completing a layout.

Copic Marker Colors:  Hair-E29/49; Skin-E13/15/18; Shirt-Y21/32/31; Shorts-B93/95/97/99;  Ball-C10

 Recently, I purchased a number of cut files to make envelopes, envelope liners and card bases from the Silhouette store.  I have been dying to try these out to see how they looked.  I am amazed at how much a simple matching envelop does to make a card look complete and professional.  For my card, I used a cut file to make my envelope, liner and card base. However, you can accomplish the same result by simply using a smaller version of the center portion of the envelope.  So, whether you use a cut file, punch or template to make your envelopes for your cards, try adding a liner to the envelope that matches your card to give your card a complete and finished look.