SAF 2017: Autumn in the Air

I have one more card to post for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire event.  There are several projects in process, but not much near completion, so it's doubtful I will get them posted before the deadline tomorrow morning.  I'm rapidly losing daylight for photos.  Creativity has been such a struggle lately.  I watched every challenge video over the weekend, but I've had trouble getting ideas from my brain to paper.

When I saw Laura Bassen's card for one of the paper challenges, I knew that I had to pull out the Mighty Oak Cover Plate die.  I love autumn and can't wait for the leaves to turn.  (and the end of summer heat!)

I cut several colors of Papertrey Ink cardstock with the Mighty Oak die because I wanted my tree to be bursting with autumn color.  For the trunk, I also used the die on my remaining piece of faux leather from one of the other challenges.  It lost a little texture from the solid-backed die, but it still looks cool in person.

I cut a piece of Prairie Grass cardstock with an In the Meadow die and rubbed the edges with VersaMark ink for shading.  Then I glued it to a Kraft panel and added my tree trunk.  Using a negative from the die, I placed all my autumn leaves around the tree.  I also cut some vellum leaves and stitched them over some of the colorful leaves with a sewing machine.

For my sentiment, I cut a piece of Cocoa Bean cardstock and stamped an image from Scent-imentals in Dark Chocolate ink, gluing it on the ground with one more autumn leaf.  Finally, I mounted the whole piece to a Cocoa Bean card base.  I like the result!  You can see other cards for the challenge here.

Stamps:  Scent-imentals (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); VersaMark
Paper:  Kraft, Cocoa Bean, Prairie Grass, Canyon Clay, Honey Nut, Ripe Avocado, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Mighty Oak Cover Plate die (Papertrey Ink)

Colorful Fall Leaves

I managed to get a card done for this month's Papertrey Ink blog hop!  I loved the pretty autumn leaves and distressed wood background in the inspiration picture, so that is the direction I took for my card.  Even though I started it yesterday evening, I didn't finish it till just a bit ago.  You should have seen me laying on the sidewalk outside trying to catch the last of the evening light for a photo.  It looked pretty funny!

I colored a leftover piece of watercolor paper with three different shades of orange using a waterbrush.  (Orange Zest, Terracotta Tile, and Canyon Clay)  Aren't those colors gorgeous?  I cut out my leaves using a die from Leaf Prints and then stamped them with the matching vein image. 

For my background, I cut a piece of Stormy Sky cardstock into strips.  I swiped a white pigment ink pad over the strips for a weathered woodgrain look.   It made me giddy to see how well it worked!  I lightly inked the edges with Stormy Sky to give them some definition before gluing them onto a Vintage Cream card base.  The strips look just like wood planks.  Love it!

I stamped another piece of Vintage Cream cardstock with Background Basics: Sheet Music and Background Basics: Text Style, stamping off first to get a muted tone and deliberately not pressing down evenly so the image would be distressed.  I then sponged the edges with Classic Kraft ink.  The sentiment is from Graceful Greetings and I heat-embossed it using Not So Tarnished Copper by Powder Keg.  The whole piece is popped up with foam tape for dimension, mimicking the sheet music book in the inspiration photo.

Finally, I added a few Espresso sequins by Pretty Pink Posh.  Each one is filled with Cinnamon Stickles.  The card needed just a touch of sparkle to balance with the shine of the sentiment.  I was inspired by the acorns, naturally!  I love the finished card and am so happy I got into my studio to play this month.

Stamps:  Graceful Greetings, Leaf Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Orange Zest, Terracotta Tile, Canyon Clay, Stormy Sea, Classic Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Rustic Cream, Stormy Sea (Papertrey Ink); watercolor paper
Misc:  Leaf Prints die (Papertrey Ink); Not So Tarnished Copper embossing powder (Powder Keg); Espresso sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); Cinnamon Stickles

Thankful Leaves

I'm back to post another workshop card!  This one uses the lovely Vintage Leaves stamp set and Woodland embossing folder.

I inked the embossing folder with Crumb Cake ink before running it through the machine using Crumb Cake cardstock.  I got a bit heavy-handed with the ink so there is some "shading" on my tree trunks.  Hey, that's realistic anyway!  lol  I added gold Wink of Stella into the tiny grooves for some sparkle.

I embossed the leaf with gold powder on Crushed Curry cardstock and sponged ink on it randomly using Old Olive, Cajun Craze, and Pumpkin Pie inkpads.  Then I cut it out using the matching die.  I embossed my sentiment from Sheltering Tree with gold powder on Cajun Craze cardstock and layered it on some gold foil paper.

I layered all the various ribbons and trim underneath my two leaves.  The second leaf is a plain one cut from Cajun Craze cardstock.  Everything is adhered to a Crumb Cake card base.  All those pretty autumn colors are quite appropriate for this time of year!  I love fall.

Stamps:  Vintage Leaves, Sheltering Tree (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up); VersaMark
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Woodland embossing folder, Leaflets dies (Stampin' Up); gold Wink of Stella pen; gold embossing powder; 5/8" burlap ribbon, 5/8" gold satin ribbon, gold sequin trim, gold baker's twine (Stampin' Up)

Fall Watercolor

I went to a card-making workshop at my Stampin' Up demonstrator's house yesterday.  I haven't done that in a while, but a friend encouraged me to join her there.  We made five different cards with an autumn theme.  (well, one was Halloween)  I will be posting them over the next few days.  This first card used a watercolor block technique on glossy paper.

I smooshed four different inkpads (see below) onto a large acrylic block, spritzed it with water, and then stamped the block itself onto a piece of glossy paper.  It looks really cool.  A bit unpredictable.  That random blob on the right edge drives me crazy, but I am practicing the art of letting go.  lol

I stamped the tree silhouette and sentiment in Early Espresso ink.  After heat setting to make sure it was completely dry, I stamped tiny leaves on the branches and ground in two different colors.  Then I mounted it on a card base.  My daughter really liked this one.  Bonus - it's flat for mailing!

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Peekaboo Peach, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Delightful Dijon, Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Peekaboo Peach, Early Espresso, glossy paper (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  large acrylic block, heat gun

Autumn Blessings

It's time for the monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop!  I've been on a stamping marathon lately, it seems.  It's been so much fun this week!  So the challenge for August is as follows:

This month's inspiration is all about autumn patterns, textures & textiles.  Think warm & cozy woolens, houndstooth, tweed, burlap, felt, corduroy. herringbone and even argyle.  You can create your own custom patterns & textures with stamps or impression plates.  Or you can incorporate actual fabrics, felt, yarn and other textiles in a creative way.  Have fun experimenting and perhaps stepping out of your creative box.

I stumbled across my herringbone embossing folder while making other cards this week and knew immediately that I wanted to use it for this challenge.  It's perfect!  Isn't that texture absolutely luscious?

I pulled out my Leaf Print stamps and dies for this project, since autumn always brings thoughts of colorful foliage.  It's my favorite time of year!  How could I not use them?  The dies made it super easy!

I grouped the leaves together on top of the embossed chocolate layer and then added a strip that was stamped with a different pattern than the embossing.  The combination reminds me of a man's dress shirt and jacket, which fits perfectly with the challenge.  I added more texture by distressing the edges.  So cozy!  Then I just sponged my sentiment mat and added two more leaves on top to frame it.  It came together pretty quickly.  I spent the most time arranging the leaves.  lol

Stamps:  Leaf Prints, First Fruits, Background Basics: Geometrics (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Rustic Cream, Fine Linen, Harvest Gold, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Canyon Clay (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Fine Linen, Harvest Gold, Ripe Avocado, Canyon Clay (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Leaf Print dies (Papertrey Ink); Labels 18 die (Spellbinders); Herringbone embossing folder (Cuttlebug); distresser tool