Nature's Harvest with Blending Brushes

Hi there!  Happy Sunday to you.  Hope you've been able to spend time in worship today.  It's the perfect way to start off your week with your focus trained back on God's grace again.  Always need the reminder and always a blessing.      Today I want to share a card I made a couple of weeks ago to share with friends in Michigan.  It makes use of the awesome Blending Brushes that I really adore to do all the soft coloring!  So it's a win-win for me-pastel looks and so easy to make!

I can't get over how much I like the look of the colors softly blended on the die-cut images.  It always surprises me when I get something this wonderful just by blending ink onto cardstock and then die-cutting an image!  It's just like magic to me!

This card started with a strip of Very Vanilla cardstock, Bumblebee and Pumpkin Pie inks, and a Blending Brush.  I was just playing around with the colors adding in splotches all over, but not covering in totally.  I added in some Old Olive splotches to stay with sort of harvest-type colors, but it just wasn't right yet.  I added some Blackberry Bliss smudges in the last open areas to finish it.  I still wasn't sure what I would do with it.  

I had planned on using the Gorgeous Leaves stamps and Dies for making a card, but the colors just didn't seem bold enough for that. In fact, it looked pretty boring.  Then I remembered the Harvest Dies and thought I'd try die-cutting some of those shapes to see how they looked.  I had just read an article about putting packing tape (!) over the blended colors to make them shiny and brighter, so I had to try that too.  Oh my goodness!  It's so pretty!

Can you really see how gorgeous those blended colors are together?  Now that the 'pretties' were made, it was time to figure out a card that would showcase them.  I figured I'd use Blackberry Bliss cardstock to match the ink, but found that the Rich Razzleberry cardstock blended much nicer with the flowers.  So that's the card base, cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4".  The next layer is Old Olive cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  This was die-cut in the center with the Stitched Rectangle Dies to make a 1" frame around the center opening.  At this point, it was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder that is retired.  I liked the look of just a little extra texture it gives the finished card.

It needed a little more brightness to it, so a Stitched So Sweetly scalloped rectangle was cut from Very Vanilla cardstock, then a Stitched Rectangle Die slightly larger than the last one was used to cut a skinny frame of Vanilla to layer onto the card.  

Before putting the pieces together, I die-cut one of the long skinny stems from Early Espresso cardstock to give the flower bundle a little more fullness.  The look of them together was too dark, so I tried a branch from the same die set cut from the Sale-a-bration free Be Dazzling glitter paper.  This was the perfect bit to brighten the whole card up!  This glitter paper is made with larger pieces of glitter so you have an almost mirror effect going on.  Quite striking!

Working with the two frames that weren't attached yet, the pieces were put together in a pleasing look and attached behind the Very  Vanilla frame on the bottom, but overlapped on the top and sides.  After the pieces were all attached, the Very Vanilla frame was attached to the Old Olive frame using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  This was all attached to the card front using the Liquid Glue also. 

The inside of the card has a layer of Old Olive with another layer of Very Vanilla  on top of that.   At this time there are no sentiments either on the front or the inside of the card.  Since it looks quite generic,  I can add a sentiment to fit the occasion when I'm ready to use it.

Just wanted to add one more picture to show you the detain that is embossed in the image when you die-cut it.  It's very subtle, but just adds an extra touch of specialness when it's finished!  To me this card not only has visual appeal with the mix of fall colors and the stitching and die-cuts, but it has 'touch' appeal too.  I find myself touching the different textures, from the embossed Old Olive layer, to the embossing on the flower and the almost 'grittiness' of the glitter paper.  I love to pick up a card and not just see but feel all the different textures.  That makes it a real win in my estimation..

Ok, that's it for this post.  I added a few extra pictures this time around.  I hope they give you a real feel for this card.

If you're ordering yet in September, please use the Host Code shown here.  I really appreciate your order.  It's been a real blessing having you still order from me even though I've moved away.  I'm so grateful for the internet and phones so we can still be in touch.  

Reminder:  Sale-a-bration only runs through the end of September!  Time is running out for taking advantage of earning free items!

Hope you're enjoying this slightly cooler weather as we slide a little closer to fall.  I'm curious to find out how fall in South Carolina compares to the fabulous and colorful fall days in Michigan!

Make sure you find some time to relax and be creative.  It's really a good way to rejuvenate your spirit and make yourself happy.

Many Hugs,

Sharon