The Gift of Thyme

Yes, you're in the right place. At first glance, this card may not feel much like an "Ardyth" card. And although the image and font may not feel familiar, I figured that the simple layout and the stickles may help you recognize it as one of mine!

Last Thursday, our bookclub met at a restaurant for our final pre-holiday meeting. The book was Blood, Bones and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton. Not my favourite, but it was quite interesting. Anyway, we had agreed that everyone would bring a spice/herb/flavouring/condiment as a little gift exchange. One lady brought pomegranate syrup and a recipe for a divine salad to make with it. I haven't tried it yet, but it has goats cheese in it, so I'm pretty sure it will be good. Another brought lavender that she puts in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. They're delicious - a grown up take on the childhood classic. Another brought the custom, home made mixture of herbs that she uses when she roasts meat and vegetables. And so on. I am really bad at that kind of stuff, so I decided to go with what I know - stamping. I made each lady a set of 4 of these cards.

I chose an 'herby' looking stamp (from Papertrey) and inked it in turquoise before inking it in Soft Suede (think rock and roll with more coverage!). This way, each impression had a hint of bluey-green, and each impression was unique. Some of them had quite a bit of turquoise showing through. I used Fabriano cards that are 3.5" x 5" and feel amazingly luxurious (I always have some of these on hand for a quick simple gift like this). I think the sentiment came from a free 'Thank you' set that I got with an order at one point, but I could be wrong - please correct me if you know!

I told everyone that I had chosen thyme as my gift - a nod to the herb stamp, but also a play on the word, representing the time I spent putting them together. The ladies were pleased - everyone can use thank you cards at some point!

And our next book is The Life of Pi, in case you were wondering.