Cork & Leaves for Fall

 Welcome!  Glad you could stop by today for my 100th blog post at this address.  And it only took just shy of a year to do this many.  Hopefully I can keep up the pace and do even more posts in the coming year.  Today I'm sharing one of my Thanksgiving cards that have gone out in the mail yesterday.  I've been working at them 15 minutes here, and another 15 minutes there.  You know, when you've got that stack of cards to make and you can only work on them in snatches of time.  But they're finally finished, and I'm very pleased with the finished card.  It's everything I expected it to be.

One big surprise about making this card - I totally love working with the Cork Paper!  I wasn't even planning on buying it, but I thought it would look great for the background on this card.  So I broke down and made the purchase, and I'm so glad I did.  Yes friends, I struggle with what to purchase too, just like you!  You know I can't just get everything, even though sometimes I'd like to!!  But the Cork Paper has been a lovely surprise and so easy to work with.  Now I need to see what else I can make with it!

The card starts out with Cajun Craze cardstock as it's base.  It's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded in half.  Then comes the layer of Cork Paper.  This is cut at 5" x 3 3/4" and attached with MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.   Set this aside while doing all the die-cutting.

The wreath comes from the Seasonal Swirls Dies in the July-December Mini Catalog.  There are 3 different wreath dies, and they're all quite different - pine boughs, leaves, or stars, with little bits to coordinate with each wreath to cover all the end of year holidays.  So this is a very versatile set.  I die-cut the wreaths from Soft Suede cardstock.  Again I forgot the Adhesive Sheets on the back until I was almost done, then added it for the last four wreaths I cut.  I think I need to have those Adhesive Sheets setting out on my table at all times so I remember them!!  They do make life easier.

Then on to die-cutting all the leaves. I chose the leaf spray from the Forever Flourishing Dies set.  This gives you lots of leaves for very little effort.  I cut these in So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Cajun Craze cardstocks, one of each color for each card I was making, so there was a goodly stack of them when I was finished.  

Next it was die-cutting the little pumpkin from the Seasonal Swirls Dies.  These were cut from Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  Again, a cute little pile of pumpkins.

Now on to putting it all together.  The wreath went on first with either MultiPurpose Liquid Glue or the Adhesive Sheets where applicable.  I did use the MultiPurpose Liquid Glue to attach each of the leaf sprays, angling them as I stacked them up so all the colors would show.  I attached one pumpkin in the center of each leaf cluster using a Dimensional.  There, that part was finished.

The last thing needed was the sentiment.  It's from the Sparkle of the Season stamp set that coordinates with the dies used.   I chose to stamp it on Bumblebee cardstock using Cajun Craze ink.  Then just trimmed it up with Paper Snips to fit the card.  It was attached with the MultiPurpose Liquid Glue onto the card front. 

No bling on this card for me.  I thought it was perfect just the way it was.  Can you see all the wonderful texture of the Cork Paper?  It looks like little strips of cork with all the texture included.  And the feel of it is wonderful!  I'm so glad I stepped out and tried something new.  It's well worth it!!

And in case you haven't noticed, I've almost switched out entirely to using the MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.  It gives me a bit of wiggle room when attaching layers to get them just right.  And it's great for attaching things with lots of texture.  So if you haven't tried using that yet, give it a try.  Just remember that a little goes a very long way so keep a light touch when applying the glue.

Ok, that's it for another blog post.  Hope you learned something new and are inspired to try out some new products.  It keeps things fresh and exciting.  

If you're ordering soon, please use the Current Host Code shown at the top of the blog page.  I appreciate all of your business and all of you too!  Have fun stamping and creating.  If you have any questions about my projects or ordering, you can always contact me at sharoncarr50@gmail.com.  Or just leave a comment down below and I'll get back to you.  My heart is full to overflowing with thanks for all you wonderful people!  How blessed I am!

With thanks,

Sharon