It's October!

 My favorite time of year!  I was inspired by a card made by Autumn Clark for today's card.

supplies: Taylored Expressions Birch Tree cutting plate, Tim Holtz Funky Foliage mushrooms, ferns, and branches, Spellbinders Autumn Wonder acorns, sentiment from Hello Bluebird Pumpkin Time

In my childhood, and years later after I'd left home, it was a tradition to pack a picnic lunch and take a ride to the Laurel Highlands in Pennsylvania for a long walk in the woods........many happy memories from those times came back as I was working on this card. 

Do you have any traditions for the fall season?  Thanks for visiting today!

My Favorites from September

 A major change of season!

Thanks for coming by!

Pastel Punkins!

 These 3 little pumpkin dies with the stitched details really appealed to me when Concord & 9th recently brought them out.  I also noticed that one of the designers there made a card with pink pumpkins, so I thought I'd run with that idea and make mine pink, cream, and pale blue!

supplies: ivory, cotton candy, surf blue, green apple, green leaf, and 2 kraft cardstock, The Greetery Tartan Builder Diagonal layering stencils, spun sugar, tumbled glass, and vintage photo distress inks, Concord & 9th Playful Pumpkins dies and stamped sentiment from their (retired) Give Thanks set

After deciding on my main colors, I found distress ink colors that matched to stencil my plaid for a background, then cut out the pumpkins and die and arranged them, popping them above the background after I'd stamped my sentiment.

I remember when I first saw my first white pumpkin years and years ago, in Maine when we were on vacation.  It seemed like it took forever for us to find them here in Ohio, but they are common here now.  If we had the space, I'd love to grow them!

Happy Fall!

I'd like to enter this card into this week's Simon Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Woodblock Wednesday!

 Time for my Woodblock Wednesday monthly post!  This time I chose a wood stamp from Stampendous called Autumn Words.

supplies: white, gold, pale and darker orange, and aqua cardstock, Stampendous Autumn Words, inks in Altenew Fresh Lemon, Chamomile, Orange Cream, Ocean Waves, and Dusk inks, blending brush, Spellbinders Autumn Leaves die, sentiment from Concord & 9th Harvest Wreath stamps

This stamp is dated 2012, and it's one I try to use every year.  

Do you have a favorite fall woodblock?  

I'll be entering this card into this week's Simon Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thinking of You

 Here's another card that started with the same Turnabout stamp set that I used HERE and HERE..

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Concord & 9th Blooms Turnabout stamps, oxide inks in kitsch flamingo, mustard seed, salvaged patina, and carved pumpkin, Altenew inks in Lime and Fresh Leaf, Simon Thinking of You Line dies, Lawn Fawn Fancy Scallop Rectangle die

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great week!

Happy Fall!

Today is the "official" start of my favorite season, and I thought that this new Hero Arts My Monthly Hero card kit was a great way to mark the occasion!  

supplies: white and a yellow dp from Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes, My Monthly Hero Card Kit from September, (die, stencils,inks, and lacquer pen), Taylored Expressions Handlettered Thanksgiving sentiment, adhesive foam

I was really impressed with how nicely this all comes together, and it will be fun to vary the colors of the leaves  - I think this will become a fall classic for me.

Hero Arts has several other "window wreaths" and matching stencils similar to this: a Poinsettia one and another called Bee Florals.

Happy Fall!!

Harvest Blessings

Here's a fall card that uses a sketch I have made in many variations.

supplies: cream, gold, orange, red, and green cardstock, gingham papers from Echo Park's Autumn Dots & Stripes Gingham paper pad, Spellbinders Autumn Leaves and Autumn Wonder (acorns) dies, Simon Stitched Circle die, sentiment from (retired) Newton's Nook Autumn Newton

In the past, there have been flowers where the leaves and sentiment are now, I'm glad to change things up a bit today!  

Sunflowers and Bittersweet

 I love my wreaths, especially in the fall!

supplies: cream, kraft, brown, gold, orange, and green cardstock, a tiny houndstooth print, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, cut twice, sunflower centers from Funky Foliage, and bittersweet sprigs from Holiday Greens, Spellbinders September clear stamp of the month: Fall Thoughtfulness sentiment, and (retired) April 2019 Small Dies of the Month flowers and leaves

Hope you're having a good day - thanks so much for coming by!

Autumn Birdhouse

Today's card is a mix of lots of companies dies.  I love this Lawn Fawn Birdhouse, but I don't think I've ever made a fall card with it.  

supplies: white, aquas, reds, autumn colors, and 2 kraft woodgrain cardstock, Lawn Fawn Magic Iris Birdhouse Add-On dies, Spellbinders Tweet Cardinal, Sweet Birds on a Branch (branch),  PTI cloud die, Concord & 9th Playful Pumpkins maple leaf die, and sentiment from Spellbinders Fall Thoughtfulness stamp, Simon Cream embossing powder, adhesive foam squares to lift birdhouse

This was fun to put together, and I love it when I can mix and match supplies from lots of different companies.  That cloud die was the smallest in a set that is so old there are no release holes to get it out of the die!  Glad I've kept it all these years, though, as it comes in handy more than you'd think!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by for a visit! 

Double D Fall Plaid Challenge

 I came across a challenge that rang all my bells: to use a fall plaid in your creation!  It's the Double D Challenge.  Here's my entry.

supplies: white and fall colors of cardstock, The Greetery Tartan Builder Diagonal stencil set, Altenew Golden Sunset and Firebrick inks, Memory Box (retired) Pinpoint Rectangle dies, sentiment from Newton's Nook Fall-ing for You, Spellbinders Autumn Leaves die, adhesive foam squares to pop up leaves

I love it when I can bring various older supplies back again each season, like this fun fall sentiment from Newton's Nook.  And it played nicely with this pretty fall plaid!  

Thanks for stopping by today - have a wonderful one!

Autumn Blessings

 Looking back through my older supplies, I was horrified to see that I've only used this pretty bottle only once before!  So now's the time to give it some love.

supplies: white cardstock, The Greetery Tartan Builder Diagonal, (distress inks in squeezed lemonade, saltwater taffy, and picked raspberry distress inks), All Bottled Up, Budding Beauties Autumn, and (leaves from) Autumn Sketches, Altenew mini ink cubes in pinks, yellows, oranges, olive, and brown

After stamping and cutting out the bottle, berry sprigs, and leaves, I arranged them onto a trimmed white panel, sponged in the center with some yellow ink.  I was originally going to just put this over a white card base, but found this plaid that I had made last year some time, and thought it was perfect!

LOVE it when that happens!  The little label is a mix of sentiments from the bottle set and the Autumn Sketches - it reads "Autumn Blessings from me to you".  I decided that would stand for my sentiment.

I really enjoyed working with these colors - a nice change from the traditional fall colors!  

A Harvest of Blessings

 We're almost midway through September, so I take that as my okay to bring on the fall cards!  This design is a CASE of one I made back in 2018.   I simply changed up the papers this time around.  The prints are all old Doodlebug patterned papers and almost everything has long been retired.

supplies: aqua and dark brown cardstock, various Doodlebug prints, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Alphabet clear stamps, circle die, unknown leaf dies, stamped sentiment from MFT Harvest Mouse, twine, wood adhesive dots

Thanks for stopping by today!  

September Spellbinders Club Kits, part 3: Clear Stamp and Die and Embossing Folder

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for September are now available!

Today's post features the September Stamp/Die of the Month: Fall Thoughtfulness and the Embossing Folder: Cascading Leaves and Stripes.  I made 2 cards.

supplies: white and orange cardstock, Fall Thoughtfulness stamp, sentiment, and matching dies, Essential Hexi-Gems dies, Cascading Leaves and Stripes embossing folder

I think these 2 monthly sets pair nicely!  Here's another card, using the 2nd large motif and another of the sentiments from the stamp set.

supplies: white, orange, and dark brown cardstock, Fall Thoughtfulness stamp and sentiment, and matching dies, Postage Edge Rectangle (retired), Cascading Leaf and Stripes embossing folder, white pigment ink

I lightly brushed white ink across the embossed panel to bring out the details.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Spellbinders Club Kits, part 2: 3D Embossing Folder, Stitching, and Glimmer Kits

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for September are now available!

Isn't the 3D Embossing Folder amazing?  It's called Mushroom Harvest.

supplies: peach and gold metallic cardstock, unknown watercolor dp, Mushroom Harvest 3D embossing folder, white pigment ink, framing rectangles

Earlier this year I organized my 6" pads and found this watercolor panel in my solids file - love the variations of color for fall!  I simply embossed it with this new folder, then gently swiped a white pigment ink pad across the surface.  That really helps to bring out these wonderful details!  Didn't want to cover up any more than I had to, so I just added an inner frame and a metallic gold sentiment.

The Stitching Club of the Month also features mushrooms!  It's called Enchanted Stitched Mushrooms.

supplies: cream, beige, red and green cardstock, Enchanted Stitched Mushroom dies, cream floss, 3 strands, Mushroom Harvest 3D embossing folder, stitched oval die

This set consists of 16 dies, 2 of which are sentiments.  

And lastly, here is the Glimmer of the Month kit: Sunflower Border, and Polished Brass foil.

supplies: white cardstock, Sunflower Border glimmer kit and Polished Brass glimmer foil, adhesive foam to lift panel and sentiment

This month the glimmer kit includes a die to trim the top of this large image, plus a sentiment and a die to cut it out. We sewed a packet of sunflower seeds this year, and I colored these ones while looking at ours in our garden. 

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Spellbinders Club Kits, part 1: Small and Large Dies of the Month (and an Add-On)

 The September Club Kits from Spellbinders are now available!

The Large Die of the Month is called Boo-licious Fall Cupcake.  

supplies: cardstock in Halloween colors, Large Die of the Month Boo-licious Fall Cupcake, sequins to match, a retired swirly embossing folder

What a fun set this is!  It contains what you see above, plus autumn leaves, an acorn, a ghost, skull and bones, a broomstick, a taller pumpkin, and (YIKES!!) an eyeball!

Also there's an add-on die set called Seasonal Cupcake Toppers, that covers other occasions,  which has an Easter chick, a snowman, pine sprig, a Santa hat, hearts and an arrow for Valentine's Day, and flowers, to name a few.  I made a chocolate cupcake with flowers for Valentine's Day.

supplies: white, chocolate, 2 pinks, and 2 green cardstock, Boo-Licious cupcake and icing, Seasonal Cupcake Toppers dies, (retired) Tammy Tutterow sentiment die, unknown heart embossing folder

The Small die of the Month is called Hiking Through the Meadows.  It has lots of dies to cover autumn - I chose to leave the hiking boots out of the equation for my card.

supplies: various fall colors of cardstock, cream and kraft, Hiking Through the Meadow dies, sentiment from this month's clear stamp of the month: Fall Thoughtfulness, adhesive foam to pop everything up

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to the kits separately, but there are also lots of ways to combine several of them (scroll down and look under Value Clubs).  And you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty.

Washi Postage Stamps

Happy Labor Day to my US friends - enjoy! 

Today's card is a mix of some new washi tape, a set of dies that Jenn McGuire MADE me buy awhile back :)), and a Spellbinders glimmer sentiment coming in October!

supplies: Simon Says Stamp Pastel Color Blend cardstock, white cardstock, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 11 dies, Pink Fresh Studio Garden Bouquet washi tape, and glimmered sentiment  coming soon

This set of washi tape has 1 large bouquet, plus 8 small floral sprigs like you see here.  This tiny circle sentiment that is foiled works perfectly with the sprigs, which have gold-foiled details.  And the sprigs are the perfect size to fit inside these postage-stamp shaped openings.  

I love it when you can put together items  and make them your own!  Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Time of Year!

It's September, the beginning of my favorite season - cooler temps, beautiful colors, comfort food!  And, unless you're living under a rock, STAMPtember!   

Today's card is a stamp/stencil combo from Taylored Expressions.  I mixed regulation fall colors with peacock - love the combination!

supplies: white and peacock cardstock, Taylored Expressions Modern Tree cling stamp set and matching layering stencils, oxide inks in mustard seed, ripe persimmon, and peacock feathers, markers to add details, sentiment from (retired) The Craft's Meow Speaking of Fall, Simon Stitched Rectangle die, twine bow

I've used this sentiment with the tree once before - I like how it mimics the dots in the design!  And after completing my stencilling, I added some highlights with markers, trimmed out the panel, and glued on a twine bow.

As I said above it's also STAMPtember - be sure to tune in to the Simon Says Stamp blog every single day this month for lots of fun and surprises!

My Favorites from August

 This month had something that represents every season!

Woodblock Wednesday!

 I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest designer at Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge this month!  

I had fun trying to decide which of my wood stamps to play with, and in the end, I chose this one by Hero Arts from 2010, and updated it by making it into a mini slim-line.  Since it's almost officially the end of summer, I thought I'd showcase this lovely stamp that features a summer hollyhock.

supplies: white card base, peach and black cardstock, Doodlebug peach gingham, and a script pattern paper, Hero Arts Garden Silhouette woodblock, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, peach and green inks, blending brushes, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

Starting with a skinny panel of a script pattern paper, I stamped using VersaMark ink, and white embossed the image.  This particular stamp inks the negative of the image, leaving the details alone so that the background paper shows through.  Then I used small blending brushes to add peach ink to the flowers and green to the leaves and bugs.  The panel was then matted in peach cardstock, and affixed to a mini slimline card base 3" X 6" on which I'd added panels of peach gingham and the same script I used to stamp on.  To finish I added a simple script sentiment embossed in white on black.

Since woodblock stamps are how most of us began stamping, I think it's genius that Amy gives us a forum for bringing back these beauties!    I hope you'll play along, too - you can find more information HERE.

You Make Me Smile

It's the unofficial end of summer and I have a card today that reminds me of the season.  I've wanted these Gerbera Daisy dies for awhile, and scooped them up in a sale at Spellbinders earlier this month.

supplies: lime, clementine, coral, yellow, and cream cardstock, Gerbera Daisy dies, Taylored Expressions (retired) Leafy Vine embossing folder, Hero Arts (retired) sentiment

I love how the centers of these flowers were designed - they are a great representation of the real flower, and they are fun to put together!

Have a great rest of your summer!

Bibi's Snowflakes: Delicate Snowflakes

 Here is the last instalment of my cards featuring some of the Bibi's Snowflakes Collection.  This last set of dies is called Delicate Snowflakes, and they are just that, 4 different 'flakes with dies to accent them with, and shadow dies, too; 17 dies total.  Here are my 2 cards. 

supplies: white and silver metallic cardstock, oxide inks, white paint splatters, Delicate Snowflakes, Snowflake Wishes sentiment die and stamp, blue ink, a retired snowflake embossing folder

I inked a panel using oxide inks and splattered it with white paint, then embossed some small snowflakes on it.  Then I simply cut out 3 of the snowflake designs from silver metallic cardstock and a sentiment to match.

The next card uses the largest snowflake, along with some coordinating dies to add some color to it.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, various Doodlebug christmas patterned papers, Delicate Snowflakes, stamped sentiment and banner die from Snowflake Wishes, red enamel dot 

I started with a square panel and cut out the snowflake, then matted the negative with Audrey Blue.  I pulled colors from the heart paper to add details to the snowflake, then turned it and popped it above the square panel.  The little sentiment worked well with the hearts, I thought!

I hope I've given you some ideas for using these fun dies - they can be as simple or as detailed as you like, and they're a good size also! 

Thanks for visiting me today!

Bibi's Snowfakes: Snowfake Ornament Stencils

 I have another couple of cards that I made with the stencil set from the newly released Bibi's Snowflakes Collection.

supplies: white and metallic gold cardstock, Bibi's Snowflake Ornament stencils, festive berries distress ink, Grit Paste and Festive Berries distress glitter, transfer gel and gold foil, laminator, Snowflake Wishes sentiment die and stamp, embossed in gold

The stencil set contains 2 sizes of these snowflake ornaments, plus lots of details.  Here I used the largest snowflake motif and the largest bow.  This card took a bit more planning; I first foiled the gold element in my laminator, then stencilled the bow and string, and used a circle mask to raise emboss a circle shape for the snowflakes to fit into.  Then I used grit paste and red glitter to stencil on the snowflake pattern.

Here's a picture to show you the gold foiling I did on the top of the ornament.

The stencils also include some details and a 2nd bow to make some sleigh bells.  

supplies: white, green, and red cardstock, silver metallic cardstock, red plaid dp. Bibi's Snowflake Ornament stencils, greys and festive berry ink,  Make It Merry Floral dies (holly and berries), Make It Merry Sentiment dies

I used the smaller circle opening and details to make sleigh bells, incorporating the mask stencils so that I could put one slightly on top of the other.  Again, I embossed the top one with a mask and an embossing mat to give it a bit more dimension.  Then I added holly details, my sentiment banner, and matted the panel with silver metallic cardstock, and then a red plaid.

And another close-up shot so that you can read the sentiment better - it says Jingle All the Way.   

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll have 1 more post in a day or so with more snowflake dies from Bibi's collection.

Bibi's Snowflakes: Card Creator and Snowflake Wishes

 Spellbinders has a new collection designed by Bibi Cameron - it's called Bibi's Snowflakes!  It contains lots of sets, all revolving around a snowflake theme.  Today I have 2 cards that start with her Snowflake Card Creator and also feature her Snowflake Wishes die/stamp set.  This lovely snowflake would make a wonderful large ornament for your Christmas tree, too.  

The Snowflake Card Creator is a set of 12 dies: a big 6" snowflake die and its shadow, and some floral dies that you can use to embellish the snowflake.  The Snowflake Wishes die/stamps set contains 3 word dies with a separate banner die, and a sheet of lots of sentiment stamps for all occasions to fit on the banner.

Here are my cards.

supplies: white, red, green, blue and yellow cardstock, Snowflake Creator dies, Snowflake Wishes dies and stamp, red ink

supplies: white and royal blue glitter cardstock, Snowflake Card Creator and shadow die, Snowflake Wishes die and stamp, blue ink, (retired) Tiled Motif embossing folder

I used a lovely royal blue glitter paper from which to cut my snowflake, and also the sentiment die.  After using an embossing folder that looks like snowflakes for my card front, I added as much of the blue snowflake as I could fit onto my A2 card.

Hope you'll join me again in a few days to see more of my samples using other elements from this new collection!  

Envelope of Wonder Collection

 A new collection of dies was recently released at Spellbinders, called Envelope of Wonder.  I have a few samples to show you what that collection is all about.  

The "base" die set contains dies to construct an envelope and some flowers to decorate it with; 31 dies in all.  The finished envelope measures 4 1/2" wide by 6" tall with the envelope fully open, as I've first used it.  It is a true, working envelope, with a slit to hold it closed.

supplies: white, 2 greens, pastel cardstock, Envelope of Wonder dies, foiled sentiment from Sentiments of Wonder Press Plate and die set, black glimmer hot foil

I had requested the sentiment stamps to go with this collection, but received the Better Press system sentiments and dies instead.  Not having a Better Press machine yet, I decided to try foiling the plate using black glimmer foil, and was pleasantly surprised to see how well it worked, and then was able to use the matching die to cut it out!

As you can see, there's a lovely variety of flowers and leaves to put together as you'd like to make your own arrangement.

Next, I played with an accompanying die set called Autumn Wonder, and made 2 cards.  This set, along with a Halloween set and a Christmas set, are meant to be used with the envelope die above, but they can stand alone and can be used on their own, too.  For this first one, I pulled out 4 mushrooms and some leaves.

supplies: cream, various beiges, burnt orange, and red cardstock, mushrooms and leaves from Autumn Wonder, an old Spellbinders label die, retired fall sentiment

And for my 2nd card using this set, I chose leaves, acorns, and some berry sprigs.

supplies: aqua, krafts, and fall colors of cardstock, leaves, berry sprigs, and a small acorn die from Autumn Wonder set, a woodgrain embossing folder, circle die, and a retired fall sentiment

I love using this bright aqua, embossed in a woodgrain folder with fall colors, and made a kind of wreath

There are 24 dies in this Autumn set, and I still haven't used them all! 

Thanks for stopping by - hope I've inspired you in some way.