A Small Wedding Shower Gift

A young man, Andrew Ruffcorn, from our church has decided to pursue full time ministry through Kansas City's International House of Prayer.  He had some rough years as a teenager getting caught up in (his words) "sex, drugs and rock-n-roll".  Jesus pulled him out of that downward spiral in a powerful and active way and Andrew's response has been to pursue full time ministry work with the disadvantaged, homeless and poor.  IHOPKC is a great place for him.  Ultimately, during his time there he met and has fallen in love with a young woman, Jordin Hart.  We received the shower and wedding invitations, but unfortunately, a trip to Kansas City was not in our future.  What is a girl to do other than make a few cards for a small gift?

Taking a cue from the shower invitation and wedding invitation, Jordin seems a fan of kraft paper with understated, yet feminine design.  Enter my Ornate Borders stamp.  The intricate detail for this stamp created a perfect frame for a set of their first name initials.  That white pigment ink creates a stunning contrast to the kraft, don't you think?  Each corner is accented with a gold pearl embellishment. 

On the inside, a simple Thank You stamp in the same white pigment ink.  A small, gold pearl works well here too.  My thought is that they could use these as thank yous for the wedding, or if they already have some for that purpose, they could use these for everyday cards in the future.

I used the kraft paper band that came with these pre-purchased kraft cards and envelopes to bind this up for sending to the happy couple.

I've used this digi stamp before, but they seemed perfect for Andrew to use as Thank You cards for his ministry.  It occurs to me that he has many purposes to write and say thanks and some handmade cards would work well.  I colored the church with some Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Scattered Straw and Peeled Paint Distress Markers.  Manly and thoughtful, don't you think?  The digi stamp came with a lovely sentiment that I printed off on my computer on the inside.




















I banded this set in the same way and sent them off for a shower gift with a gift card for their registry.  I made a cute engagement card that I will be working on photographing, editing and posting next.  Then, it's on to making the wedding card.  Time is passing quickly (February 1/2 gone already!).  I need to get on it.


One last quick note.  Brandy and I have been friends for so long that Christmas presents sometimes seem like they are just an exchange.  We made a pact a few years ago that we'd not get presents for each other.  I'm the dirty dog who typically broke that pact when I saw something overly nice and thought that it belonged to her.  This year we decided to do something a little different.  Neither of us had a stamp to label our cards as handmade.  We agreed to pick out a stamp for the other person and get it for Christmas.  Here's the one Brandy made for me.  Isn't it perfect?  I love, love, love the design element, the font choices, the fact that it looks like a seal...  She couldn't have made a better choice for me.  All my cards will now be "branded".  Thank you, friend, for knowing me so well and showing it so profoundly.  If I get a picture of one of Brandy's creations with her stamp, I'll post it here for you to enjoy.

I'm going to link this project up over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog challenge: Simon Says Get Krafty.  They are all about kraft cardstock and/or kraft colored papers this week.  There's not much time left.  Come join the fun.