pretty papers

Whenever there is occasion to send a card, I try to make one by hand. For one thing, I can be pretty frugal and another, I have a lot of pretty papers and punches to make one.
Lately, I have been in the habit of using my xacto knife to cut out shapes and motifs. I usually spend over an hour on a card. Once I get going, I tend to get a bit carried away... On this card, I used a stencil to draw out the large floral shape and the smaller motif on the bottom. I cut them out and put a contrasting color behind them. I love, love, love complementary colors and try to incorporate them as much as I can. I've also been using brads to create little accents here and there.
This is a card that I recently made for my sister's birthday. (However, she will probably see this picture of it before it gets to her; a little sneak peak- Happy Birthday, Alice!)
I hope that everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!
**There's still over a month away before Christmas and plenty of time to be crafty-- keep those hands moving! <3