This is a Thanksgiving card I sent to family members this year.

My original idea did not include the use of a bokeh effect. I first stamped the sentiment, ‘H * appy’ and found that I wasn’t getting the solid coverage I wanted. To counteract the splotchy sentiment I used small sponge daubers in an array of autumn colors to create bokeh dots over and around it. I die cut the house twice from a coordinating die set and then glued the 2 pieces together and mounted it where the ‘A’ should appear in the word ‘happy’. I added the little smoke swirl coming out of the house’s chimney. The smoke swirl is from another stamp set (see below). The photo doesn’t show it very well, but I used my clear Wink of Stella pen to go over the house to add a little shimmer.

I really like the final effect even though this wasn’t the original design I was going for.

Supplies used in making this card: Stamps: Avery Elle’s Fill In the Blank, Papertrey Ink’s Year Round Happiness, Essentials by Ellen’s Cozy Christmas by Julie Ebersole (for smoke swirl); Inks: Papertrey Ink in Ripe Avocado, Limeade Ice, Terracotta Tile, Canyon Clay and Harvest Gold; Dies Avery Elle’s Icon Fill in the Blanks Elle-ments dies (for the house); Papers: Neenah Solar White 80 lb. for the card front, mounted ontp Papertrey Ink cardstock in Terracotta Tile, mounted onto a card base using Neenah Solar White 110lb. cardstock. Other supplies: Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, Wink of Stella pen (clear).