Five for Thanks...

My post title today is ambitious: I'm assuming that I will actually be making five projects before the weekend is out. Let's stay positive and say that this will definitely be happening. The inimitable Julee Tilman put out five Thank You/Gratitude challenges on Black Friday and was nice enough to give us the weekend to complete them. I'm adding my completed projects to this post as they get completed, so please check back today and tomorrow to see if I managed to do them all!
You can scroll down to view details of each project, or click the links below to view each one.

VSNOV09A * VSNOV09B * VSNOV09C * VSNOV09D * VSNOV09E

Color Challenge - VSNOV09A

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First up was a color challenge using Turquoise, Olive, Black and White. I'm out of Old Olive so substituted Kiwi Kiss. No sketch to work off of for this one, so I did a simple card, creating background paper with a stamp and an embossing folder. For just a little extra touch, I sponged the edges of all my elements to give it a smoky look.
BEAN NOTES: Verve Grateful Elegance and Waltzing Mouse Vintage Labels No. 1 Stamps; Stampin' Up Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, and Kiwi Kiss Classic Dye Ink; SU Whisper White, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, and Kiwi Kiss Cardstock; Cuttlebug Moroccan Screen Embossing Folder; Big Shot; White Grosgrain Ribbon (generic); Black Brads (generic); Foam Dimensional Squares (generic) HAPPY BEANS: Sponge Dauber

Sketch - VSNOV09B

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My second card turned out to be quick and easy due to the fun sketch provided by a few of Julee's fabulous design team members. I substituted these pretty leaf images for the rectangles and went for my favorite color combo (which would be any kind of blue and brown!) I used a Stampin' Up rub-on for my sentiment (which sometimes feels like cheating, but they are SO convenient) and finished off with a little white gel pen.
BEAN NOTES: Papertrey Ink Turning a New Leaf Stamp; Stampin' Up Chit Chat Rub Ons; Making Memories Chloe's Closet Designer Paper; SU Baja Breeze, Whisper White, and Chocolate Chip Cardstock; Blue/Green Brads (generic); White Signo Uni-ball Gel Pen
HAPPY BEANS: Crop-A-Dile Chomper

Embellishments - VSNOV09C

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This challenge was, well, challenging as we had to create something using a combination of embellishments that started with a particular letter, in this case V-E-R-V-E. Alas, I wasn't able to use all of the letters, as I didn't have a second "V." What I did have was "V-ellum," "E-mbossing," "R-ibbon," and "Eco-Friendly," (as in re-cycled paper and ribbon from another card!) I tried embossing on vellum for the first time and was quite pleased with the results. Here I used Basic Black and black embossing powder, which gave my blossom an interesting slick effect. I created my own designer paper with the same stamp for a cohesive look.
BEAN NOTES: Stampin' Up Fifth Avenue Floral and Papertrey Ink Big & Bold Wishes Stamps; Vellum (generic); SU Kiwi Kiss, Perfect Plum, and Basic Black Classic Dye Ink; SU Whisper White Craft Ink; Copic Sketch Markers; SU Stampin' Write Markers (Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss); SU Whisper White and Old Olive Cardstock; Eggplant Textured Cardstock (generic); Paper Shapers 1-3/4" Circle Punch; White Organza Ribbon (generic) HAPPY BEANS: SU Basic Black Craft Ink; Black Embossing Powder (generic); Microbeads (generic)

Mini Pizza Box - VSNOV09D

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So, it looks like I might be able to pull off all 5 challenges, as I just completed number 4, but I shouldn't count my chickies... I know that this was a "thankful" set of challenges, but I really needed to make a gift box for my lovely sister-in-law, and this wonderful mini pizza box tutorial from Jen del Muro had me hard at work on one for Christmas. For this project, I relied mostly on paper, cutting out images from designer paper and zipping cardstock through my Big Shot.
BEAN NOTES: Taylored Expressions Holiday Wonder Stamp; Stampin' Up Melon Mambo Classic Dye Ink; Jolly by Golly Designer Paper; SU Melon Mambo Designer Series Paper; SU Soft Sky, Regal Rose, Whisper White, and Old Olive Cardstock; Foam Dimensional Squares (generic); Signo White Uni-ball Gel Pen; White Grosgrain Ribbon (generic)
HAPPY BEANS: Tim Holtz Faded Jeans Distress Stickles

Gift Card Holder - VSNOV09E

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Yay! I finished up my fifth project just as Sunday wound to a close. The fifth challenge was to create a gift card holder and Julee's team provided some great tutorials. I especially liked this pop-up gift card tutorial and thought I'd make my own version. This is a super quick little way to really make a gift card special. For mine, I chose to stick to white and turquoise for a clean and simple look. I made use of a snowflake punch (using both the positive and negative) to decorate both outside and in. A bit of scoring and a gemstone finished off my sweet little card holder.
BEAN NOTES: Papertrey Ink Holiday Button Bits Stamp; Stampin' Up Basic Gray and Tempting Turquoise Classic Dye Ink; SU Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise Cardstock; Martha Stewart Snowflake and Simple Scallop Punches; Scor-Pal; SU Word Window and w-1/4" Circle; White Grosgrain Ribbon (generic); Punches
HAPPY BEANS: Clear Gemstone (generic)