New Beautiful Pumpkins

Hello, hello!  What do you think?  Are you ready for fall?  The children have been back at school for two weeks already in our area. It's gotten a little cooler lately (only in the 70's and 80's instead of the high 90's).  So, I'm declaring that fall is here and it's time for pumpkins!  Yay!!  I love this time of year and I'm always ready to jump into new autumn ideas.  Are you ready to join me?  Just a few more days and you'll be able to see the new batch of Online Exclusive items that will span autumn/Halloween through Christmas/winter and everything in between.  How exciting!  As a demonstrator I was able to see and purchase these offerings early and I've been having fun with the new Beautiful Pumpkins set.  Let's jump right in to see what I made first.

When I was creating with the Prairie Grass stamp set recently, I stamped an extra couple of Basic White cardstock pieces with the tall grasses.  I just love the look of them, so I figured it would be interesting to see what I could use with them.  Enter the new Beautiful Pumpkins set.  Don't them work nicely together?  Just a reminder - if you're looking for either the Prairie Grass or the Beautiful Pumpkins sets in the catalog; you won't find them there.  Only in the Online Exclusive section!!

The Basic White cardstock is 5" x 3 3/4" with the grasses stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink to the left side.  Old Olive ink was added with a Blending Brush to the bottom third of the cardstock.  Pool Party was added with the Blending Brush to the upper 2/3 section with blending in the middle.  I chose Pool Party for the sky area because Pumpkin Pie is opposite the color wheel and a great contrast.

This layer was attached to a Basic Black layer that measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8".  This gives just a tiny black outline to define the design layer.  Then this was attached to the folded Pumpkin Pie card base using adhesive to keep the card thinner for mailing.

Now we start in on those pumpkins.  This is a two-step stamp.  That means the stamps will add all the detail for you with the successive layers of stamping.  For myself, I think the pumpkins were easier to stamp with the darker detail layer first and then stamp the more solid lighter area last.  For the two darker pumpkins, I stamped the detail with Cajun Craze ink and then the Pumpkin Pie solid stamp over this.  For the lighter pumpkin, Timid Tiger ink was stamped with the detail first and Pumpkin Pie solid over this.  Because I stamped these onto Basic White cardstock, the highlight detail seemed too white, so I used a Water Brush and lightly moved the ink into the white areas leaving a soft peach tone instead.

The stems were stamped with Pecan Pie ink.  Then both the stems and pumpkins were die-cut with the matching dies in the bundle.

There are several die options for leaves available in the bundle.  I used the three smaller leaves for this card.  They are all cut from Old Olive cardstock.  Then the pumpkins, stems, and leaves were all arranged at the bottom of the design layer.  One pumpkin was attached flat, with the other two popped up on Dimensionals and the leaves tucked in around them.

The next step is finding a sentiment that worked for the card.  The Wonderful Thoughts stamp set has a nice small sentiment that worked nicely here.  It's stamped onto a Basic White strip that's just a touch wider than 1/2".  I used Memento Tuxedo Back ink to stamp it.  The ends were angle cut to give it some extra interest.  There was a 1/4" strip of Basic Black on my desk and I liked the look of just a small amount showing at the bottom edge.  I taped them together then trimmed the ends to match the label.  This was attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

The last step was finding the perfect bit of bling for the card.  I've been watching a good number of butterflies in our yard this year, so that's what I tried for this card.  I think the butterflies added a nice, understated look here.  

And that's it for the first 'test-drive' of the new Beautiful Pumpkins bundle that will be available in September in the Online Exclusive section of the Stampin'Up! store.  Make sure you take the time to check this out and all the other fabulous new items available there.  I think some of their very finest products are to be found in the Online Exclusive section!

Thank you for dropping in today.  Hope you like this look at one of the newest offerings by Stampin'Up!.  It was fun creating and should put a smile on someone's face.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Blended Background Prairie Grass

Hello Friends!  Today I'm going to step away from that fabulous Sunflowers 3D Embossing Folder and do a little creating with the new Prairie Grass stamp set I just received.  This is a little stand-alone stamp set that is a real treasure as far as I'm concerned.  There are three silhouette images and five sentiments to use.  You'll only find it in the Online Exclusives section in the online store.

The first time I saw this stamp set, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I love doing blended backgrounds and this would be the perfect setting for this large stamp.  The large stamp in the set almost covers a whole card front.  But it's still so delicate looking and the background shines through very nicely.  Let me walk you through the steps to make this lovely card.

The first decision was the color of the cardstock for the design layer.  I chose Basic White because I wanted the sun to be a bright white area instead of a vanilla shade.  The Basic White cardstock was cut to measure 3 3/4" x 5".  Then the large grass stamp was stamped onto this using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The image was positioned near the left side and the top of the grass was about 1/4" from the top of the cardstock.  This leaves a small bit of the stamp that is off the bottom of the cardstock.

The next step was die-cutting a 'mask' for the sun area.  I used one of the Stylish Shapes Dies to cut a circle from Masking Paper.  This is something I don't use often, but it really comes in handy to mask off an area when needed.  It can be re-used more than once if you're careful putting it on and off, so it's great when making multiples of the same card.

The mask is positioned tucked into the stamped design to make it look like the grasses were partially in front of the sun.

The first color that is blended onto the design is Daffodil Delight ink.  The ink is added heavier near the edge of the sun and blended out at least an inch.  Next some Coastal Cabana ink was very lightly added.  Then Balmy Blue ink was added to the edges in the sky area.

Next up is working in the ground portion of the picture.   First, I tried adding Granny Apple Green, but it didn't have enough depth to ground the card.  Then Old Olive ink was blended onto the design.  Perfect.

Carefully peel off the mask to use again if desired.  

The sentiment used here and inside the card is from the Hope You Know stamp set.  Lots of lovely sentiments in this set.  The hello was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink inside the sun area.

I wanted some birds flying in the background.  The bird stamp in the Sunrise Sailing stamp set was stamped 3 times to fill the design a little.  Memento Tuxedo Black ink was used for these too.

It was time to get the card put together.  This layer was attached to a Basic Black layer that measures 4" x 5 1/4".  They are attached with adhesive.  After adhering together, Linen Thread was wrapped around the bottom of this three times then tied into a knot.  The ends of the thread were frayed.

This was all attached to a folded Old Olive cardstock base.  Dimensionals were used for this.

The inside of the card has a Basic White layer for the sentiment that measures 4" x 5 1/4".  This sentiment coordinates with the sentiment on the front and is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

To coordinate with the front, I stamped part of the large image along the left bottom corner of this layer.

The edges all around this layer also have a small amount of Balmy Blue (top 2/3) and Old Olive (bottom 1/3) blended on.  I liked just a little bit of the extra color added here.  I also added a 1/4" strip of Basic Black cardstock to the bottom edge with adhesive.

This layer was added to the inside of the card with adhesive.

One last look at the final design.  Oops, I forgot to mention that two of the Adhesive-backed Dragonflies & Birds were added to the design.  I thought they coordinated well with the stamped birds and added just a small touch of bling.

Just a reminder that the 2025-2027 In Color Sale is going on through the end of the month of August.  There are actually three pages of products that are on sale for 15% off.  You don't want to miss this sale.

Thank you for stopping by today to see what I've been working on lately.  Hope you give this idea a try and then come back for another idea boost.  Should I add another card idea or two using the Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder?  I still have more ideas, but I don't want to totally bore you with them all.  Just because I'm nuts about this embossing folder doesn't mean everybody else is.  So, what do you think??  Whatever you prefer, make sure you keep creating and then sharing your "art with heart" with your family and friends.  It's sure to put a smile on someone's face!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

sharoncarr50@gmail.com