How to send beautiful smiles across the miles

Do you have long distance friends and family that you FaceTime or Skype with? Although that form of communication is fun and instant, what is longer lasting is sending them a card in the mail. 

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said to me: I still have that birthday/Christmas/friendship card you sent me. And I wish you could feel how awesome it is to hear that from someone I care about. 

The next time you craft, have that special person in mind and try the card layout below. For this idea, I had my son in mind so I chose colors that were more masculine:

• Basic Black
• Gray Granite
• Smoky Slate
• Melon Mambo - for a touch of color

 Regardless of masculine or feminine, the Lift Me Up stamp set would work fine:

Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$21.00

This set is super because of the images and the phrases. And there are matching thinlits too. The background was too plain so I decided to add a Tin Tile embossed layer which took my card from 'ok' to 'wow'. 

As a final touch I added the banner and strip and then popped the hot air balloon up off the circles layers using a Stampin' Dimensional. 

Here's my card - don't miss the full instructions underneath:

Who will you send your next card to? Leave me a comment below and tell me: friend or family!

Supplies: 

• Stamp Sets – Lift Me Up (clear 142896, wood 142893)
• Card Stock – Mango Melody (146989), Gray Granite (146983), Whisper White (100730), Basic Gray (121044), Basic Black (121045)
• Ink: Basic Gray (149165)
• Stampin’ Write Markers: Mango Melody (147157, Brights Collection) Gray Granite (147158, Neutrals Collection)
• Misc. – SNAIL Adhesive (104332), Big Shot (143263), Up & Away thinlits (142748), Magnetic Platform (130658), Tin Tile Dynamic Impressions embossing folder (147906), Layering Circles framelits (141705), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)

Measurements: 
Mango Melody: 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”; 3” square (for circle); 1/4” x 5”
Whisper White: 2 3/4” square (for circle); 4 1/4” x 4 1/4”
Basic Gray: 5 1/2” x 1 1/4”
Gray Granite: 4 1/4” x 4"
Basic Black: 5" x 1"

Instructions:

1. Fold Mango Melody card stock in half to create card base. 
2. Enclose Gray Granite layer inside Tin Tile embossing folder and emboss using Big Shot.  Adhere to Whisper White layer and then to card front.
3. Cut banner end to Basic Gray strip. Adhere Mango Melody strip then adhere banner layer to card front. 
4. Diecut Whisper White circle and Mango Melody scallop circle. Adhere together.  
5. Ink and stamp Balloon on Whisper White card stock, using Mango Melody and Gray Granite Stampin’ Write markers. Diecut using Up & Away thinlits. Adhere to scallop circle using Stampin’ Dimensionals. 
6. Ink phrase using Basic Gray ink and stamp onto Mango Melody card front.