Play Ball!"" teacher thank you notes

Whie there isn't any actual stamping on the front of this card, I did use Stampin' Up! product and actually put my creative mind to work on coming up with a baseball themed card using only what I had available.  Amazing, isn't it? And how awesome that my stamping toys can be useful even if I don't have "just the right stamp" for a project!   In figuring out the design, I looked at a real baseball and tried to "copy" it as closely as possible.  My friend, Cheryl,  had asked me if I might come up with a couple of thank you cards for her to use for sending in the "end of year" teacher gifts for both of her kids.  I don't make cards on commission for sale because it stresses me out too much worrying that the cards will be perfect,  Since Cheryl is a very good friend who has done many baseball related favors for me, I turned down the paid job & told her I would be happy to make them as a favor for her,  That took the pressure off for me and she was very grateful to get some baseball themed cards! ;-)  I love winning situations, especially when it comes to baseball!

So, for the front of the card, I just figured out what size circle I could use for a "baseball" then cut it out and used my paper piercer to pierce semi-circles on either side of the circle then used a Real Red marker to make a "stitchs" to simulate the red stitch linse of a baseball.  MUCH easier than actual sewing, too!  I used the large square sallop die for the base of the card (using Night of Navy cardstock) then cut a slightly smaller piece of Real Red cardstock (4" x8" & folded) for the actual card and attached the "baseball" to the front of that.  Of course, since we live in "St. Louis Cardinals" territory, I had to use Cardinals colors!   The inside of the card was simple, I stamped the bird & "thank you" sentiment from Cheep Talk (item #113204  for@@26.95) in Real Red ink and left some space for a personal note.  My friend was thrilled with the result and I was thrilled that I didn't "strike out" when the game was on the line!