Autumn Wreath

I have been out looking for a beautiful Autumn wreath for my front door. So far I haven't found one I really want. I guess this is what inspired today's card. I used Melanie's "A Year of Leaves" available from Gina K Designs. At first I thought maybe the leaves were a little too big to make a wreath with, but I used a 5 1/2" square card and think it turned out great.

I stamped the leaves on glossy card stock and used sponge daubers to blend a lot of the Autumn leave colors. I also did this with the acorns. I used two circle Nestabilities to create a frame for the wreath. I layered the leaves down both sides tucking each leaf under the one above it. They were attached with a small amount of glue. The acorns were attached with dimensional tape. I decided to try a double bow on this. I wanted it to look full but didn't want it to take over the card. I stamped the greeting, also from this set, on a piece of Vanilla card stock and sponged So Saffron and Really Rust around the edges. It was glued on the back of the wreath.

The top piece of designer paper was a small piece from my scrap paper and the bottom piece is Pumpkin Spice card stock (from Gina K Designs) which was embossed with the Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder. A small piece of ribbon was attached across the middle. I ran it through the Xyron sticker machine so it would lay flat. The wreath was attached with some dimensional dots and a few rust colored rhinestones added to finish off the card.

Spotlighting Technique

Hi Again. I'm posting a second card today. I had some time to work on another card and wanted to try a new technique I have never done. Gina K has a great tutorial on StampTV on how to do the Spotlighting Technique. I had a hard time trying to decide which image to use. I decided to use this image from "Flowers For Daisy" available from Gina K Designs. I did this technique a little different from Gina but basically the same idea.

The image was stamped twice. One image was cut out, but not colored, and mounted on black card stock. The top of the second stamped image was colored with markers. The background was sponged with yellow chalk. Gina used a circle to punch out her design but because my image is long, I decided to use an oval punch to cut out the part of the colored design I wanted. I popped it up on dimensional tape, matching the image below. When taking a picture, the angle of the camera can make this look a little misaligned.

I had the embossed card stock on my desk and decided it would work on this card. The SU Elegant Bouquet embossing folder was used for this embossing. The idea of this technique is to make a portion of your image "pop". I decided I liked the way this card looked using only black and white. I added a black/white dotted Swiss bow on the corner to finish the card.

Gina has a Spotlighting Technique Challenge on StampTV. I believe I will add this card to the challenge. Anyone entering a card has a chance to win a $24.95 stamp set of their choice.

Be sure to check out Gina's beautiful spotlighted pumpkin card on StampTV.

Another Autumn Card

Hope you are having a great weekend. Today is a special day. It is my daughter's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARI. We have always had a tradition in our family that the birthday person gets to choose what kind of cake they want. My daughter asked for an Orange Supreme cake that I used to make when she was a child. She is a real chocolate lover so was surprised this is what she wanted. I know we will all love it because we haven't had this cake for many years. As soon as I finish posting this card, I am going to make her cake and get her gifts wrapped.

Since I have a busy day, I decided to make a quick and easy card. This is another card made with my JustRite "Autumn Blessings" stamp set. The base card is a Vanilla 5"x7" card. It is layered with a piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock. The next piece is from a discontinued card kit I purchased from a craft store. The JustRite design was stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. Instead of using one of the rings with a verse on it, I decided to use the oak leaf ring. It was cut out with the scalloped petite oval Nestabilities. The bottom layer is Chocolate Chip card stock. I used the SU Top Note die cut under the design. It is also cut out on Pumpkin Pie card stock. A Sizzix die was used for the flourishes. Different shades of brown flowers were stacked and attached with a gold brad and a Martha Stewart punch used for the extra leaves.

Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy your weekend.

You've Been Boo'd

Aren't these the cutest little ghosts! They remind me of Casper the Ghost. These stamps are from "Our Craft Lounge" and the set is called "Ghostly Greetings".
The card base is 5" x 7". There is a layer of Pumpkin Pie card stock then a piece of black and white polka dot designer paper (I don't know the name of the company). The images were stamped with Memento black ink then colored with Copic markers. The moon stamp has some little stars around it but since I wanted to cut it out, I cut off the stamped stars and used a Martha Stewart border punch to get more stars. A Cuttlebug corner was cut out for the upper left corner. The sentiment was stamped then cut out with an oval Nestability and sponged prior to taking it out of the die. A paper piercing tool was used to punch holes around in each scallop.

All images are attached with dimensional tape. The corner was run through a small Xyron sticker machine so the entire thing would stick down. The buttons were added using Glue Dots. Some green grosgrain ribbon was added to the bottom of the card then a piece of green rick rack added on top. I wanted to ground the little ghost holding the jack-o-lantern so tried to make it look like grass under him. The rick rack was also run through the Xyron sticker machine so it would stick. A piece of tied black grosgrain ribbon was added with a glue dot to the upper corner button and black twine added to the lower buttons. A few black pearls were added to complete the card. Oh, I forgot to say that yellow Stickles was added to the jack-o-lantern's face, the mouths of the ghosts and to the moon and stars.

Hanging Basket

This card is made with a beautiful stamp set designed by Nina Bracket. It is called "Elegant Post" and is available from Gina K Designs.

Nina is hosting a Color Challenge on StampTV . The colors to be used are: any shade of red, Soft Sand, Chocolate Kiss, and Cream. The base of my card is cream and the image was stamped on cream card stock. The pole was gold embossed and the basket of flowers was stamped with Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. I wanted to gold emboss the basket, but from experience, know that sometimes the gold embossing will smear when using Copic markers.

The image was cut out with the long rectangle Nestabilities. It was embossed while in the frame and then sponged around the edges. It is layered on a piece of Chocolate Kiss card stock. The bottom layers are Chocolate Kiss and Soft Sand card stock which are both from Gina K Designs. The red designer paper is from the BasicGrey "Wassail" paper pack. The sentiment is also from the Elegant Post stamp set and was gold embossed then cut out with a petite oval Nestability. I colored white pearls with the same Copic marker as I used on the basket.

Autumn Greetings

TODAY I AM POSTING TWO CARDS.

I am going out of town for a couple of days and so thought I would do a double posting today.

When I was looking at some blogs, I saw a challenge on the CPS (Card Positioning Systems) blog which was sponsored by JustRite stampers. I had my JustRite "Autumn Blessings" Set on my desk so decided to work on this challenge.

I started off with an Ivory card base 5" x 7". The background is Pumpkin Spice card stock from Gina K Designs. It is such a perfect color for working with autumn designs. I used the Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder to give it some texture. A friend gave me the laser cut autumn design and I thought it would work perfect for this card. This was run through the Xyron (adhesive) machine so the entire design would stick to the designer paper. It is layered onto a piece of Gina K Designer paper that is in the StampTV Autumn kit. It doesn't show up very well in the photo but is beautiful on this card.

The center image is from the "Autumn Blessings" JustRite set purchased from Joan's Gardens. It was cut out with a petite oval Nestability and sponged before removing from the die. The image was colored using Copic markers. Each scallop was pierced using a Paper Piercing Tool. The image was centered in the opening of the laser cut design with Dimensional Tape.

Three leaves from Melanie Muenchinger's "A Year of Leaves" set (available from Gina K Designs) were Gold embossed and colored using Peerless Watercolors. The So Saffron leaves were punched using a Martha Stewart punch. An autumn colored ribbon was added as well as some rust colored rhinestones to finish the card.

Spoil Yourself Silly!

Today's card was made for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I was lucky enough to win the challenge last week. How fun -- I am ordering more Penny Black Stamps with my certificate.

The challenge this week is to use Lace and Pearls with any Penny Black image or sentiment. I immediately knew what image I would use. Doesn't this cute little pampered kitty go perfect with lace and pearls? This image and sentiment are from the Penny Black "Bubbly" stamp set. I love to use this stamp on birthday cards for my friends.

To start out with, my card is 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". The white panel on the left side was embossed with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder. The blue designer paper is retired from SU. The image was stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. Stickles glitter was added to all the bubbles.

Petite Oval Nestabilies was used for the frames. The bottom scallops were pierced with a paper piercing tool. I put dimensional tape under the blue scallops and also the white scallops. The sentiment was stamped and also cut out with petite oval Nestabilities. It was sponged with light blue ink prior to taking it out of the die then each scallop also pierced.

A piece of lace ribbon was added long the left side and the sentiment added across the top with dimensional tape. Three small flowers were added to the upper right corner and blue Kaiser flat backed pearls added in the center of each flower. White pearls were added to the sentiment and also along the lace ribbon. I purchased these pearls from Joan's Gardens.

I wonder which one of my friends will receive this cute card!

Penny Black, Jolly Good Times

I really love Christmas Time so making Christmas cards is always fun. Aren't these the cutest images. I received my Penny Black "Jolly Follies" Christmas stamp set from Joan Fricker, at Joan's Gardens and couldn't resist making a card. Joan has received a bunch of new Christmas stamps so be sure and check it out. These are so cute. Sometimes she sells out and they won't be on her site, but if you email her, she will get right back to you so she can help you with anything you want to order. She generally can order items and have them within a couple of days.

To create this card, I started off with a piece of designer paper from the Basic Grey "Wassail" paper pad. I loved all the swirls on this since I wanted to make a snowy scene. I stamped the lightpole image with black Memento ink. The lightpole is colored with a silver metallic pencil and the rest I used Copic markers. After it was colored, I cut it out with the long rectangle Nestabilities and sponged River Rock ink around the edges before taking it out of the die. The small hedgehog was part of a larger image. I only wanted this hedgehog so stamped this portion of the stamp then colored him with Copic markers and cut it out. I thought he looked like he is cheering on the little mouse and they are having a great time in the snow. I mounted him on a small Nestabilities oval.

The circle is also part of the same paper pad. I used a circle Nestability to cut out the scalloped circle. This cute verse is in this set and so perfect for this scene. I stamped it with Vivid brown ink. A piece of River Rock ribbon was added to the top and some additional paper strips added across the circle. I used a SU scallop punch for the lower piece. Some Polar White Flower Soft (purchased from Joan's Garden's) was added on the lamp and on the ground around the lamp and under the hedgehog. I used some Cuttlebug cut snowflakes to finish off the card. I used some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to glitz it up.

I can't help but love all the Penny Black critters.

I received some exciting news! Last week I entered the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I very seldom win anything, but I really liked the layout so thought I would enter a card. The first person to notify me that I had won this challenge was one of my StampTV friends, Sue Walsh. So fun to get that message from you Sue. What a wonderful surprise. What I won is a $20 gift certificate from 1-2-3 Stitches. Wow! More stamping stuff!

Autumn Scene

Last night I finished decorating my front porch with all my autumn decorations. This got me in the mood to make another autumn card. The perfect set for doing this is Theresa Momber's "Autumn Beauty" stamp set, available from Gina K Designs. All stamped images on this card are from this set.

To start with, I cut a Chocolate Kiss background (this cardstock is available from Gina K Designs) and Gold embossed some of the leaves from this set on the left hand side. A piece of designer paper from the last StampTV Kit was added to the right side. I stamped all the images I wanted to use and colored them with Copic markers and they were all cut out. I also used my Copic Glitter pens to highlight the flowers and leaves.

I decided to paper piece the scarecrow's clothes. When I tried to make a plaid shirt with markers it didn't look this good. This process was real easy. I just stamped the scarecrow three times: once on white card stock, on the plaid paper and again on the textured paper, cut them out, then glued them to the image on the white card stock.

In order to get the pumpkins in the wheelbarrow, I cut a slit along the top edge of the wheelbarrow so I could slip the pumpkins down in it. A second set of pumpkins was colored then cut apart to place in the grass. The grass was created by cutting the edge of a piece of green cardstock in tiny "v's" then cut off at the length I needed so I could add the wheelbarrow. I then decided to run it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder to give it some texture. Behind the grass is a piece of mesh. This was an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of mesh and I cut off a small piece to resemble a fence. Some of the items are mounted with dimensional tape. The "Autumn Blessings" was stamped using brown ink and punch out with a SU window punch. Two sticky backed brass brads, from Gina K Designs, was added to finish the card.

Good Friends

This is Day Two of the JustRite Blog Hop. There are 54 designers participating and you will be amazed at all the beautiful projects using JustRite Fonts and stamps. There will be six people who will win Blog Candy. Also, JustRite is having a fantastic 30% off Font Sale. I just placed my order with Joan Fricker at Joan's Gardens. Be sure to check out her blog for additional information and pictures of the sale items.

I told you in an earlier post that I had ordered some of the new JustRite Christmas stamps from Joan. Today I decided to make my first snowman card made with these cute stamps. This one is from the "Old Fashioned Christmas Set". There are four great Christmas designs and four different borders.

My background paper is from the Wassail Basic Grey Paper Pad. The snowmen were stamped using black Memento ink then colored with Copic Markers. The design was cut out using Circle Nestabilities then a larger burgundy circle cut out to mat it. I then stamped one of the borders from the set on another piece of white card stock and mounted it on a scalloped green circle. You can stamp both the border and the inner design at one time, if you prefer. I wanted to build up layers so stamped them separately. Each layer is mounted on dimensional tape. I added some of the new Polar White Flower Soft for snow around the snowmen and a little glitter on the snowmen. This White Flower Soft looks just like snow and is "pure" white. I also purchased this from Joan's Gardens. I have not pulled out all my Christmas stamps and supplies so the only border I had to work with was this one made with a Martha Stewart punch. I'm not sure if it is suppose to be snowflakes or stars. Maybe you are suppose to use it either way. A burgundy ribbon was added at the top.

Truly Thankful For You

Tonight I decided to make a card with masking and sponging. This card is not picking up all the beautiful yellow sponged all over the card. I usually take my pictures during the day when I get a lot of natural sunlight. I have taken about 6 pictures trying to get true color to show up and this is the best one.

First I stamped the pumpkins from, Gina K's "Signs of Autumn" stamp set, with Vivid brown ink and colored with Copic markers. I then masked them and stamped the dried grass, also from this set, and a retired SU vine. I heavily sponged on So Saffron ink, some Really Rust and a little Chocolate Chip ink over the edge of the design. The verse is from Gina's "Thanks A Million" stamp set. It was cut out with a petite oval Nestabilities. It was sponged with Really Rust before taking it out of the die then sponged all over with So Saffron. Two die cut corners were added and also sponged with So Saffron Ink. The design was attached to a piece of Gina's Pumpkin Spice card stock. The card base is a blank black card I have had for a long time. Can you see the embossing around the edge? I added brass sticker brads I purchased from Gina K to each corner.

Sarah Kay

Today I had a friend ask me to make a cute card for a three year old girl. I decided to use this cute Sarah Kay "Precious Moments" Stamp. I purchased it from Stamper's Dream. She also wanted the little girl's initial on the card so I used my JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper Kit. I purchase my JustRite products from Joan's Gardens.

The image was stamped with Momento black ink and colored with Copic markers. I added a few sprigs of grass around her feet. The basket is a retired SU stamp. I added some popped up daisies to the basket. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the purple border and a ribbon tied on top of it. The background is a piece of designer paper from my scrap paper box and the top was run through the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss embossing folder. The monogram was cut out with Petite circle Nestabilities. All images were attached with dimensional tape.

When I delivered the card, my friend was very excited about it. She told me she just wanted a card to give to a little girl to tell her she loves her. How sweet of her.

JustRite Autumn Corn

Something I love to do every Fall is decorate up my front porch. It is pretty big so I love to go out to the farmers and pick up some bales of hay, pumpkins, cornstalks, and of course some of the beautiful decorative corn. The weather is turning cooler and I think it is almost time to get started gathering everything up. Thinking about all this made me decide to make a card along these lines. I love this new JustRite stamp set "Autumn Blessings". I purchased it from Joan's Gardens. The design was stamped using brown ink and colored using colored pencils and Oderless Mineral Spirits (OMS). It was cut out using Classic Oval Nestabilities. The scalloped circle was cut out on Bravo Burgundy card stock.



The striped background paper is from Basic Grey and the top card stock is So Saffron. I decided to make my own designer paper for the top portion so I used Theresa Momber's "Autumn Beauty" stamp set, available from Gina K Designs, to stamp the cornstalks in So Saffron. The flying crows are from a retired SU set. The black crow on the greeting is from the "Autumn Garden" stamp set by Our Craft Lounge. The greeting is from Theresa's Autumn Beauty stamp set and cut out with a Petite Oval Nestability. The ribbon is from my scrap bin and I believe from SU. I wanted to add some pearls to the upper right hand corner and didn't have the color I needed so I colored white pearls with my Copic markers. I didn't have exactly the right burgundy marker so had to add a little brown to darken up the red. It is pretty close.



Do you like to decorate your porch for Fall? Think I'll go out now and see if I can find some of those really large mum plants to decorate the porch steps. Thanks for stopping by.

Penny Black Challenge

Today I was reading the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and really liked the sketch so decided to make a card for this challenge. The requirement is to use at least one Penny Black stamp or sentiment. I had just stamped this Penny Black flower from the "Flower Gallery" set so decided this is the image I would use. I purchased this set from Joan Fricker at Joan's Gardens.

The flowers were stamped with Memento black ink then colored with Copic markers. The circles were cut out with Nestabilities. A flourish from SU was stamped in brown ink on the Barely Banana circle and one of the rectangles. The scalloped circle is Vanilla card stock. The background paper is from Basic Grey. One of the rectangles behind the flowers is River Rock and the other is pumpkin card stock. The sentiment is from another Penny Black stamp set called "Enjoy Life". A piece of River Rock ribbon was tied under the design. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and a few Kaiser pearls added to finish the card.

JustRite Christmas Cardinal

Isn't it hard to believe that Christmas is not far away. I have had so much fun making cards for autumn but recently received my new JustRite Christmas stamps from Joan's Gardens. She has lots of new Christmas stamps you should check out. I also purchased the JustRite "Old Fashion Christmas" set which has some snowmen stamps. I collect snowmen so couldn't resist getting more snowmen stamps. I am sure my next Christmas card with have a snowman on it!

This morning I decided to make my first Christmas card from the JustRite "Christmas Treasures" set. I stamped it with Memento Black Ink. Since these stamps are in a circle on the wooden handle, I found it easy to ink up the design with the Memento Dew Drop black pad. I purchase these small pads from Gina K Designs. These ink pads have a sharp point and you can get the ink right where you want it. I decided to only stamp the inside design then go back to stamp the border. You can stamp both at the same time if you want. I made sure I was getting the right size circle Nestability to fit inside the border. I then stamped the border on another piece of card stock. I didn't want the design to be black, so I used SU markers to color it so I could have green leaves and red berries. I used a very fine mister to "wet" the design before stamping. I cut it out with a scalloped Nestie. The center design was colored using Copic markers. I sponged the background with So Saffron ink before taking it out of the die. A larger background circle was cut using Creamy Carmel card stock. Each layer is put on dimensional tape.

The background paper is from the Basic Grey Bittersweet Paper Pad. The top piece of card stock was embossed with the Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder. The corners were made using a cuttlebug corner die. The bow is made with Martha Stewart ribbon. Two pearls were added which I also purchased from Joan's Gardens.
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Dress It Up Tutorial

Today I want to show you how adding a few extra items to a card can really change the appearance. This is called a "Tent Topper Card". There is a tutorial over on SCS. You start off with a piece of card stock cut 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", then fold it in half. My base card is on white card stock. You decorate the front any way you wish. I used several small pieces of designer paper on mine that will coordinate with the design I wanted to use. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the border. The topper was cut out with several Petite Circle Nestabilities. The top layer is So Saffron card stock which has been sponged with pumpkin pie ink, the next layer is Gina's Pumpkin Spice, and the bottom is Chocolate Kiss. Each layer is on dimensional tape except the bottom layer. You need to attach the circle to your card so the entire height is no taller than 5 1/2 inches so the card will fit into an A-2 envelope (finished card is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

To make this card I used three stamp sets from Gina K Designs. I stamped the pumpkins from Gina K's "Signs of Autumn" set with Memento Black ink on Glossy card stock. The leaves and acorns are from Melanie's "A Year of Leaves" and were stamped the same way. Since I used Glossy card stock I decided to use a sponge dauber to add the color to the pumpkins, the leaves and acorns. These items were all cut out. The greeting is from Theresa's "Autumn Beauty". It was stamped with Vivid Coffee Bean and cut out with the Petite Oval Nestabilities and sponged prior to taking it out of the die.

These two cards are the same card. The lower card was made using only the pumpkins for the design. I took the picture (photo) and decided it looked kind of plain so wanted to add some more items. To make the changes, I removed the brown bow and started adding some of the leaves and acorns. The pumpkins were attached with dimensional tape so it was easy to slip in a leaf behind them. The other leaves were attached under the circle and the acorns were attached with some dimensional tape. The card on the top is the way my final card turned out.

Doesn't it make a big difference adding just a few leaves and the acorns. Have you ever been dissatisfied with a card and found you could add something else to "dress" it up?

Sunflower

Tonight I am posting a card I made for another StampTV challenge. Theresa's color challenge is to use Brown, Ivory, and Yellow. I used the sunflower from Theresa's Autumn Beauty Stamp set, available from Gina K Designs.

The designer paper is from the Basic Grey Bittersweet Paper Pad. It is layered onto a piece of So Saffron card stock and the base card is Ivory. The sunflower was stamped on Ivory card stock with Vivid Coffee Bean ink and colored with Copic Markers. I tried to keep the colors soft to match the color in the designer paper. The mats were cut with Classic Oval Nestabilities. The colors are Chocolate Kiss, from Gina K Designs, and So Saffron. Each level is on dimensional tape. The salutation is also from the Autumn Beauty stamp set. It was stamped with Coffee Bean ink and punched out with the SU Window Punch. A brown bow and some Saffron colored pearls were added to complete the card.

Hope you all joined in on the "A Year of Leaves" Blog Hop last night. There are so many beautiful cards showcased. I want to thank all of you who took the time to leave me such wonderful comments on my card. You are all so sweet. You made my day!

A YEAR OF LEAVES BLOG HOP

Melanie Muenchinger invited me to be a guest designer in the StampTV Blog Hop featuring her new stamp set "A Year of Flowers". This is another beautiful set Melanie designed and I was so happy to accept her invitation.

For this card I wanted to showcase the oak leaves and acorns. The base card is the new Pumpkin Spice card stock from Gina K Designs. Isn't it a perfect color to work with for fall leaves. The designer paper was included in the last StampTV kit.

The leaves on this card were embossed using Detail Gold embossing powder then watercolored using Peerless Transparent Water Colors. I love how well they blend giving you just the color you want. The acorns were colored the same way. The band across the middle is another piece of Pumpkin Spice card stock with a piece of ribbon from the StampTV kit. To get the ribbon to lay flat, I ran it through the Xyron machine so the entire back would be sticky and lay flat on the border. The verse is also from the "A Year of Leaves" set and was stamped using Vivid Coffee Bean Brown ink. It was cut out using a Classic Oval Nestability. Several colors were sponged around the verse prior to taking it out of the Nestie. The scalloped oval is cut on another new card stock from Gina K Designs called Green Apple. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the brown leaves and a Cuttlebug border was added in the corners.

For even more inspiration, please visit the Illustrator of the stamp set,aYou'll want to leave a comment on her blog because she is hosting a drawing for her gorgeous stamp set there tonight!

Melanie has asked her other guest designer to join in on her blog hop too:
Karen Knegten
Also showcasing stamp set samples tonight are these GinaK Designers:
Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber

Be sure to also check out the CenterStage Spotlight Designers:
Geri Utterback
Shelly Wilson
Tina Gilliland

Don't forget to leave a comment on Melanie's Blog so you have a chance to win this beautiful new stamp set.

Cherished

Today's card was created with Asela Hopkins' new stamp set "Fruitful Harvest" available from Gina K Designs. I created this card to participate in the current Sketch Challenge on StampTV. These pears fit perfectly in the circle required in the sketch. The pears are stamped with black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. The background paper is part of the StampTV kit. I love all the designer papers in this kit. The top right corner was to be cut off and I decided to emboss it with the Cuttlebug leafy embossing folder.

The circles were cut with Nestabilities. I picked out colors in the designer paper for these frames then mounted them on a black circle. A small strip of black was added along the corner. A piece of ribbon from the StampTV kit was added along the bottom then an embellishment I have had in my "stash". The salutation is part of the Fruitful Harvest set and was cut out with a petite oval Nestability.

Tomorrow night I will be participating in Melanie Muenchinger's Blog Hop which will be featuring cards made with her new stamp set "A Year of Leaves". Be sure and check back.

Autumn is a Second Spring

So you ever start making a card with a certain design in mind and end up with something completely different. Well that is what happened with this card. Gina K has a challenge on StampTV called "Technique Challenge A Blast from the Past - Sewing" . She selected one of her favorite past techniques and I decided I needed to try this challenge. I do not sew on any of my cards but I had fun doing it today. I have not done any sewing for many years.

First, I knew I wanted to use my new stamp set that Melanie Muenchinger designed. This set is called "A Year of Leaves". Melanie has done it again -- this is my very favorite leaf stamp set. All the leaves are so beautiful plus there are lots of verses and a few other extras. You need to check it out here. Since I wanted to have an autumn theme, I needed to blend colors to bring out all the shades of Fall leaves. I decided to embossed the leaves using VersaFine Brown ink and clear embossing. I did this on smooth watercolor paper. Then I used my favorite water colors, Peerless transparent water colors. I spritzed the paper first then started blending all the different shades of colors. I love how vibrant you can make these colors. After coloring, I cut out each of the leaves. The frame was cut with a Nestabilities Label Four die and sponged with several fall colors before taking it out of the frame. I stamped the acorn from this set and colored it with Copic markers then patted it on the VersaMark pad and clear embossed it.

I used a piece of Designer paper from the last StampTV kit and lightly attached it to a piece of Red Riding Hood card stock. I then used a burgundy thread and sewed it together. It was easier than I thought. Most of the leaves are attached on dimensional tape as well as the acorn. A piece of twine, also from the StampTV kit was threaded through the buttons and then attached with glue dots.

Since my sewing didn't turn out to bad, I think I will enter this card into Gina's Technique challenge. Anyone entering a card in this challenge will be entered into the Random Drawing to win a Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine. You should be sure and check this out.

Thomas Kinkade Make a Wish Cottage

I did not plan to post this card but I don't have anything else made tonight. My poor daughter is feeling so bad and I have been trying to help her out. She has severe vertigo and can not get up to do anything. I had to take her to the hospital and they have ruled out a lot of stuff but she has to go back to a specialist now and hopefully they will find out what is wrong. She has been having severe headaches for 2 months now. I feel so sorry for her. The medicine doesn't get rid of the dizziness but it makes her so sleepy she doesn't notice it so much.

This is a Thomas Kinkade stamp called "Make A Wish Cottage". I purchased it from Cornish Heritage Farms.

I posted the other Thomas Kinkade card I made in a class, but this one I did on my own at home. I am pretty sure I can do a better job and that is why I had not planned to post it. But since I want to get something posted will show it to you. These stamps are very fun to work with. This one did not take me nearly as long to complete because I didn't have to wait for the colors others were using.

Maybe tomorrow I will have time to work with another one of the new stamps sets I purchased from Gina K Designs. There are so many beautiful cards posted on StampTV which are made with stamps from the newest release. You can go check them all out here.

Autumn Blessings

I am so glad I made two cards yesterday so I would have one to post today. I have been gone all day. This morning my daughter woke up very ill and I had to take her to the emergency room. It was scary but she is ok.

Yesterday when I was working with Theresa's "Autumn Beauty" stamp set to make my shadow box card, I couldn't stop. I made this card too. I love the sunflowers. The background is a piece of Gina's digital background paper. It looks like a pretty sage green cloth. I stamped the sunflowers and colored them with Copic markers, then cut them out. I created the long rectangle frame using Nestabilities then made the score lines on the ScorPal. The bottom piece is Basic Black and the top is Confetti White card stock. The fence was created with a Martha Stewart Punch. Each layer is on dimensional tape. All the stamps used on this card are from the Autumn Beauty stamp set. The bow was made with ribbon also from Gina K Designs. Two black pearls were added to complete the card.

Autumn Beauty Shadow Box

I'm am so excited because I just received my new stamps from Gina K Designs. I am really excited about this set designed by Theresa Momber. The name of this set is "Autumn Beauty" and that is what it really is. OMG, there is so much to work with in this set. You must check it out here. Theresa even designed Digi paper to go with this set. This one is called "Golden" and works so well for my design.

There are so many things in this set I wanted to use and couldn't make up my mind, so I decided if I made a Shadow Box card, I could use lots of different stamps. Shadow Boxes are so easy to make and so fun to work with. My finished card will fit into an A-2 envelope. I started out with two 5-inch squares and scored at 1/2 inch and 1-inch on each end of all four squares. This gave me my shadow box. I forgot to tell you that I first printed off the "Golden" digital paper on a piece of card stock and that is what is used for the top. The bottom is a piece of white card stock.

I stamped a cornstalk using direct to rubber with two colors of ink pads then lightly colored in with Copic markers. I wanted my cornstalks to look dry, not green. I also stamped another one the same way and cut it out. All the other designs were stamped and colored with Copic markers and also cut out. It doesn't show up very well, but I used a sponge dauber and light blue ink to create clouds in the background.

I used a Classic Oval Nestability to cut out the oval in my top piece plus I cut out a piece of Close to Cocoa to fit inside the shadow box. They were cut at the same time. The brown piece was attached to the bottom over the stamped cornstalk with dimensional tap. I then layered the other cornstalk, scarecrow and pumpkins inside the shadow box. A piece of So Saffron card stock was punched out, sponged around the edges for the sun. All the pieces were added using dimensional tape. The mailbox, two sets of pumpkins, and sunflowers were added on the outside of the box. There is a lot of dimension to this card.

Have you ever made a Shadow Box card? I have to admit this card took me longer than most to make, but it was worth it. I love this stamp set, and I'm sure you will too!

I have some beautiful apples sitting on my kitchen counter. All this fall stuff has made me decide to go make an apple pie. I'm sure my family will love me for this! Thanks for stopping by.

Sunflower Happy Birthday

I have a very busy day today and do not have time to stamp so I am posting a birthday card I sent to a friend. This card was made with sunflowers from Gina K's "Signs of Autumn" Showtime Stamp Kit. The flowers were stamped with Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers, then cut out. I actually stamped the flowers twice so I could layer them with dimensionals. The frames were cut with Nestablities Label Four dies. The top layer was scored using my Scor-Pal. The background paper is from SU as well as the card stock. Some self-adhesive pearls were added to complete the card.