Back again!

Did you miss me?  This past week we've had no power and no internet because of Hurricane Helene.  The week with no power sure makes me appreciate turning on lights when it's dark, hot showers at the end of a rough day, internet access, food, and more. Power came on yesterday and we're rejoicing!  We were discussing how blessed we our with all our modern conveniences that we just take for granted.  I'm sure ready for Thanksgiving this year with a very long list of things I'm thankful for.  But we're not there yet.  It's just barely October, so I should stick to cards that are more fall themed.   The More Than Autumn Bundle that is used here is an Online Exclusive and just awesome!  If you don't have it already, I hope you check it out.  Anyway, there are cards sitting here patiently waiting to get posted.  So, let's get to it!

I was having fun playing with the More Than Autumn Bundle when I got the idea to pair it with some wonderful fall color DSP's.  This card uses both the Earthen Elegance and Nature's Sweetness Designer Series Paper packs.  I love this card in person, but it may be a little dark for you.  Personal Preference.

Start with a Copper Clay cardstock piece that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.  To this an interesting print layer from the Earthen Elegance DSP was added.  I love the colors and the look of the carved stylized leaves in this print.  This layer was attached to the Copper Clay base using adhesive.

Next was a layer of Pebbled Path checked print from the Nature's Sweetness DSP pack.  This was a leftover from another project that I thought was a good color blend and the right size for the card design.  This measures 3 3/4" x 2".  This is framed with a layer of Basic Beige cardstock that measures 4" x 2 1/4".  Attach these together with adhesive.  Then attach them to the center of the card front with adhesive.

Making the cup and extra pieces came next.  The cup was stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock using Pebbled Path ink.  It was colored with Blends before die-cutting.  The cup was colored with Copper Clay Light and Dark, and Ivory.  Some of the Color Lifter was used in the highlight area on the cup.

The whipped cream was stamped with Crumb Cake ink.  Then both images were die-cut with the matching dies.  I also cut "latte" from Pebbled Path and the heart from Copper Clay.  The heart was given a heavy coating of Wink of Stella to accent it.  The word was attached to the middle band of the cup, then the heart added below it.

Both sentiments were stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock.  The top piece measures 2 1/2" x 7/8".  Both Pebbled Path and Copper Clay inks were used to stamp the sentiments from the More Than Autumn set.

A small piece of Very Vanilla was used to stamp the "yum" with Copper Clay ink.  This stamp is from the Ice Cream Swirl set and I thought it went perfectly with the card.  After stamping it was trimmed closer to fit.

The cup and whipped cream were attached to the card front with Dimensionals.  The larger sentiment was attached with adhesive above the whipped cream.  The "yum" was attached near the bottom with adhesive added on the left side and a Mini Dimensional on the right side to keep it flat.

I totally love the look of this card and hope you love it too.  There are more cards ready to share with this same set.  But I won't be sharing anything else for the next several days as we're flying out to Iowa for a family wedding.  But stay tuned and I'll be back by the middle of next week - as long as we have no more crises.  Stay well.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Ready for Watermelons!

Hello my friends!  Today's post is a little different than usual.  I was planning this month's cards for the shut-ins at church when I had some watermelon for lunch and that triggered my imagination.  Remember last year during Sale-a-bration there was a watermelon stamp set as one of the freebies to choose?  Well, this month's cards are all about watermelon and the cards are bright and fun and absolutely full of watermelons!  The set I used is called Watercolor Melon.  If you don't have this particular set, I'm sure you could find something similar and take this idea and run with it.

The base for the card is Basic White cardstock.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half to give you a 'landscape' style card.

The layer is the retired Parakeet Party cardstock that is still on my shelf and begging to be used.  This has about eight full and/or partial watermelons stamped on it using the matching Parakeet Party ink.  They are stamped randomly just so the background is covered.  After stamping, it's attached to the folded Basic White card front using adhesive.

Since I was using a retired In Color, I thought I'd use another retired In Color from last year too.  This is Sweet Sorbet and is one of the red colors that I really like.  Isn't a perfect color for the watermelon?  There is a small strip of the Sweet Sorbet cardstock that measures 4 1/4" x 3/4" attached across the card about 2" from the top of the Parakeet Party green layer.  It's attached flat on the front of the card using adhesive.

Next comes the cute, scalloped rectangle die-cut from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies.  I love the tiny delicate scallop along with the stitching lines.  Just adorable.  The center of the label has some Parakeet Party ink softly blended with a Small Blending Brush.  Keep the color soft and in the center so the white edges show up well.

The sentiment used here is from the Ice Cream Swirl stamp set.  It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink near the top right side.  This is attached over the Sweet Sorbet strip using Dimensionals for a little height.

Next up was stamping the watermelons.  First the rind was stamped using Parakeet Party ink.  I love the way the rind stamps darker on the outside and getting lighter on the inside just like any real watermelon.  The inner stamp was inked with Sweet Sorbet ink and stamped inside the rind.  Two sets of the seeds were stamped on each melon. They were carefully punched out using the Modern Oval Punch that fits the watermelons perfectly.  Two watermelons were made for each card.  That means there was a pile of 55 watermelons when I was finished.  There were a few extras as a "just in case" precaution. Whew!

One watermelon was attached flat to the left side of the label using adhesive.  The second melon is attached with Dimensionals partially covering the first melon.  Then the label was added to the card front using Dimensionals.

I didn't add anything to the inside of the card because I always print out an inside piece on the computer.  So, I was done and there was a slew of cards ready to send out.  Just need the envelopes printed up for me and that's a job for hubby.  He really helps out by printing them all out for me each month!  A real time-saver!

I thought you'd like to see all the cards that I send out.  These aren't quite all of them though.  Four of them are already in their envelopes and I'm not taking them out!!  Hope these cards will bring some sweet smiles to these kind people.  BTW, I'm so excited about this Friday.  One of the ladies from church that does some of the shut-in visits is taking me with her to visit three of these people!  Woo Hoo!  It will be wonderful to have a face to put with the names on the envelopes.  

Hope you enjoyed this cute card idea and get inspired to keep sending your hand-made cards out to brighten the day for someone.  This project is truly a labor of love for me and is so worth it.  Thanks for spending some time with me.  Enjoy yourself creating interesting cards to share with others.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon