Stamped Focal with Dazzles - and an envelope tip!

 Well, Thanksgiving will be here before I know it, so I'm working hard on getting my Thanksgiving cards done!  This focal is a pretty simple one, but a few little things really help dress it up. 

The card starts with cream colored card stock. A piece of brown cardstock is cut just smaller than the card front so the card itself forms a mat. Similarly a piece of patterned paper is cut just smaller than the brown.

The focal itself is simply a greeting stamped in brown ink on a cream colored piece of card which was then die cut (Resplendent Rectangles die #3 - numbered from largest (1) to smallest (5)) and placed on a second die cut mat (same die set, die #2). A couple little leaf outline stickers (from Autumn Scrapbooking Dazzles) were backed with the patterned paper before adding them to the focal.

A strip of the brown card stock was cut with a fancy edge and then cut into two pieces to form the borders.  A couple of thin strips of the patterned paper finish the borders.

The ribbon was simply knotted before adding it to the card.

Then I ran into a problem.  I didn't have an envelope to fit!  Crafter's Ultimate Companion (Enveloper) to the rescue.  EXCEPT, I didn't want to use my 12 x 12 papers and a letter-sized sheet was too small.  What to do?  Suddenly I saw the brown paper that had come in a package I recently got.  It was plenty wide enough, and though light-weight, it worked well for making my envelope. I was glad to find another use for this brown paper!