Autumn and More

Hey friends!  Let's get back to some autumn ideas again.  Today is a perfect fall day with sunshine and blue skies with puffy white clouds and temps requiring a sweater.    Doesn't that sound perfect?  It's been a great day to go out for a walk and just enjoy the beauty around me.  It hasn't been quite cool enough at night to get the leaves to start changing to those glorious fall colors.  But it's coming soon, and I want to be ready for it.  Today's cards are featuring the Gathering Together DSP with a fun fold that's easy to do.  Ready to get started?

Here are two of the cards I've made with this quick fun fold.  The colors are just gorgeous for this time of year with all the golds, rust, and browns.  The Gathering Together Designer Series Paper has an assortment of colorful prints that are just perfect for this time of year.  These cards only feature one of the prints, but I'll get around to using the other prints soon.  They are too pretty to ignore.

My plan was to do basically the same card using both Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry, just switching out which color would be the base and which one the layer.  Doesn't it give a different feel to the cards?

Let's focus on this one first.  The card base is Crushed Curry cardstock that measures 7 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It is scored at 3 1/4" and 6 1/2".  The 3 1/4" section is folded over to make the front flap of the card.

There are three Cajun Craze layers.  They measure (2) 3" x 5 1/4" and (1) 3/4".

The three DSP pieces measure (2) 2 7/8" x 5 1/8" and (1) 5/8" x 5 1/8".

There is one Basic White piece that measures 3" x 5 1/4".  There is also another piece needed for the sentiment.  For this sentiment I used a 3" x 3" piece.

Layer each of the DSP pieces onto the coordinating size piece of Cajun Craze.  I used "green glue" to attach these together, so I had a bit of "wiggle" time to get them on straight.

Attach the two larger pieces of DSP and layer onto both the outside and inside front flap of the card.  The skinny layers get attached to the right edge of the card onto the area that was scored earlier.  This will be put aside while we work on the inner Basic White piece and also the focal sentiment piece.

The sentiment I used here is from the Grateful Blessing set.  It's sort of hard to find in the catalog, but you can find it on page 98 in the Annual Catalog.  I like the nice bold size of the font, so it really makes a statement.  One of the Spotlight on Nature dies was used to cut a label with plenty of room for this sentiment which is stamped with Early Espresso ink.  

One of the leaves in the Grateful Blessing set was inked with Crushed Curry ink then off-stamped before stamping over the wording. 

To attach this to the card front, two Dimensionals were placed on the back of the circle where it would be positioned on the skinny layer of DSP.  When the card is closed the label is just a decoration.  But when you fold back on that 1" score line, the card pops open  

A double strand of the new Old Olive Linen Thread was tied into a bow and attached to the label with a rolled Mini Glue Dot.  A trio of Pecan Pie & White Dots are added to the sentiment label.  Sorry, I thought these were still current, but they sadly are not.

Here is the darker version of the card.  The dimensions are all the same as the previous card.  The base is Cajun Craze cardstock, and the layers are Crushed Curry cardstock.

Did you notice a different DSP on the skinny side piece?  That is just the backside of this lovely leaf print.  I thought it went well with these colors.

The sentiment used here and on the inside of the card are both from the Grateful Blessing set.

The leaves stamped here use Cajun Craze for the larger and Crushed Curry for the smaller.

The gems are the new Cajun Craze & Gold Dots that are an Online Exclusive item.  They really have a pretty gold sparkle to them that nicely enhances the gold touches in the DSP print. 

This card also has a double strand bow, but it uses one strand of Old Olive, and the other strand is Early Espresso.  I liked the darker mix on this card to go with the darker overall look.

I thought it might help to visualize the card using another angle of photo.  With the 1" score line on the right side, it's so easy to just slightly bend back and have the card pop open.

Since I was having so much fun making this style of card, I had to try a different DSP to see how it looked.  Love it!

The dimensions are all the same, but the colors are sure different.  This looks so summery and happy.  For this one, the cardstock colors were Pretty in Pink and Basic White.

The pretty print paper is from the Florals in Bloom DSP.  The skinny piece on the right edge is the backside of the floral print.  I thought it was a nice contrast.  I used the Pretty Florals stamp set for all the stamping on this card.

This also uses the Spotlight on Nature dies, just a smaller size.  

Three of the Holographic Dots were used here.  I was surprised how well they picked up and blended with all the colors on the card.

These flowers turned out so pretty and matched the DSP nicely.  The colors used are Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Garden Green.  When stamping the flowers, the stamps were off-stamped, so the ink was lighter and more transparent.  The sentiments were stamped full strength with the Garden Green ink.

I hope you enjoyed and were inspired to try making this fun fold card.  Just by rethinking your color palette and DSP print you could make a card to fit any occasion or time of year!  How many ideas can you think of right now?  Let me know what you do with this fun fold idea.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Quick and Elegant Christmas Card

Hello stamping friends!  I'm going to be skipping around on the seasons from now on.  There's just so many Autumn and Christmas ideas I want to share with you.  Today's card features the new Peace on Earth stamp and dies bundle.  From the name I would have expected a Christmas themed set, but not so much.  There are sentiments that work for caring about you and lovely sympathy words.  But... that doesn't mean we can't make it into a very elegant card that is right up my alley when it comes to Christmas cards.  I don't usually do too much of the cutesy genre for my own cards.  This one would be perfect for my style.  Maybe it will work for you too.

Isn't this perfectly lovely?  Using Cloud Cover and Basic White makes for a calm and peaceful looking card to start.  The Cloud Cover measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored and folded in half.  

The Basic White layer measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This is embossed with the new Peaceful Greenery Embossing Folder.  Isn't this a beautiful design? The embossing folder leaves a plain open area in the center that perfectly fits the layer dies in the Peace on Earth Bundle.  After embossing it was layered onto the folded card base and attached with "green glue".

The larger label die was used to cut a Cloud Cover piece.  The smaller label die cut a piece of Basic White cardstock.  

On the white piece, the Peace on Earth sentiment was stamped in the center.  Secret Sea was used for this for a darker accent.

The two labels were attached together with "green glue".  Then they were centered in the open area on the white embossed piece and attached with "green glue".

Next the dove was die-cut from Basic White cardstock.  There are two different doves in the set and either one would work for the card.  Using the other dove, you would need to add it to the right side instead.

I was having trouble deciding if I wanted to use the "olive branch" or the "good news note".  So of course, I made two cards so I could have one of each.  The "olive branch" was die-cut from Lost Lagoon cardstock to keep with the soft, muted theme of the card.  The dove was added to the card with Dimensionals.  The "olive branch" was attached with a rolled Mini Glue Dot behind it and tucked under the dove.

To stay with my simple and elegant theme, the Rhinestone Basic Jewels were used.  I debated about added color with either the Cloud Cover or Secret Sea Blending Brushes but decided to keep them a clear silver.

Did you get a good look at the detail on the dove?  Isn't it great?  Next time I'm thinking about adding just a touch of Cloud Cover ink to the detail of the die before cutting.  Not sure if it would work, but if it does... wowza!

Exactly the same on everything except the little note that is die-cut from Cloud Cover cardstock.  It's tucked under the beak and has a Mini Dimensional to hold it in place.

What do you think?  Elegant?  check  Quick and easy?  check

Want to give it a try?  You'll need the Peace on Earth stamp and die bundle and the Peaceful Greenery Embossing Folder.  That's all you need then get to work.  I think this would be lovely with Misty Moonlight for the accent color or maybe a green?  Try it out and tell me what you used!

Hope you're enjoying perusing the new Mini Catalog.  Don't forget to check out all the new Online Exclusive items too!  There's just so much to choose and so little time to stamp!  I'd better get back to it.  Thanks for stopping by.  Leave a comment and tell me what you think of this card idea.  I'd love to hear your feedback.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Flash Back Time

Hey there!  I've been working on the cards that will be sent out to the home-bound people from our congregation next week.  It usually takes me at least several days or more to think about what the theme for the month will be like fall, Christmas, summer, etc and what I want to use to create the cards.  With it being September already, that brings to mind going to the apple orchards to pick apples and getting cider and doughnuts of course.  So far, I haven't found much in the line of apple orchards around here.  That means I'm just working from memories right now.  Then to add to my thought process, I had a devotion that was talking about the apple of God's eye.  Figured I definitely had to work with an apple theme this month.  Since I have nothing current from SU! that features apples, it was time to dig around in the retired stash to see what I could find.  That's what I'm sharing today.  If you're only interested in current items, you might want to bail now.  I think the stamp I chose is from more than 5 years ago.  Do you have any of those "oldie but goodies"?  Come and join me for a little retro stamping!

Doesn't this look like it's a fresh-picked MacIntosh apple?  (And no worms!!)  It was so much fun creating this design.  It's not quite done yet.  I still have to finish the inside of the card to incorporate my Bible verse.  Then it will be ready to go in the mail.  Let's get started.

The stamp set used here is the Harvest Hellos with the coordinating apple/pumpkin punch.  Do you remember this?  Instead of stamping the apples before punching, I punched 25 of them from Basic White cardstock.  Then I got out both Lemon Lime Twist and Real Red ink pads and the Blending Brushes I'd be using.  Each one of the apples were individually inked with Lemon Lime Twist on the right side.  Then each of them has Real Red blended onto the left side with the color over-lapping onto the green just like a real apple.  I loved how these apples turned out!

After coloring all the apples, I used the same punch for the stems punched from Pecan Pie cardstock.  The leaves were punched from Granny Apple Green to make them a little darker than the apple.  After punching out the leaves, each one was stamped with the coordinating leaf stamp in the set using Garden Green ink.  All these pieces were set aside until I was ready for them.

Next was the layering that I wanted to use here.  I had just received the new Branching Out Dies.  Let me just say I love the shape of them!  I chose the smallest die to cut a piece of Basic White cardstock.  Then I took the 4th smallest size and die-cut some Real Red plaid DSP from another retired pack.  I was just going through all my papers to find a Real Red print of some kind that went with the apple.  So, this is it.

The card base I chose is Real Red.  It's 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  The layer is a quarter sheet of Lemon Lime Twist to match the apple.  It needed something on this layer to give it some interest.  I remembered the new Gathering Leaves Embossing Folder that just came out.  It has a nice overall pattern that fit nicely with the design of the card so far.  This layer was attached to the folded card base using "green glue".

The sentiment was next.  It is also part of the Harvest Hellos stamp set.  The smallest die in the Perennial Postage die set was used to die-cut Basic White cardstock.  After cutting, the sentiment was stamped using Pecan Pie ink.  It needed a little definition, so a small bit of Pecan Pie ink was sponged on the outside edges very lightly.

The two die-cut layers were attached to the center of the card using "green glue".  I wanted all the layers to be fairly flat with only the sentiment and the apple raised up on Dimensionals.

After getting all the layers arranged, three of the Holographic Dots were added to the design.  It's amazing how these gems picked up both of the main colors so nicely.

Ok, there you have your retro stamping class for today.  When I make the cards each month for these lovely people, I try to incorporate some of my retired stash of goodies.  If I don't get some of these supplies used, there won't be room for me in the house anymore!  At least that's what my hubby keeps telling me!  Hope you had fun playing with some of my old standbys.  Maybe this wasn't what you had in mind for today, or maybe this inspired you to dig through your treasures to see what you might have forgotten you had.  Thank you for taking the time to see what's going on in my stamp room.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon