Stamping in the Woods

Autumn Days

I made a card today for my stepdaughter's boyfriend, Brian, whose father is very ill with pancreatic cancer.  Since I love fall so much, I decided to make a fall-themed card, and resurrected the Autumn Days stamp set (#120000)from last year - one of my favorites.  I am so glad it made it into this year's IB&C!  Brian and Barbara live in Southern California where fall isn't very evident, so I thought Brian would enjoy a card with vibrant fall colors.

Cardstock used is Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip, and Naturals Ivory.  I used a piece of the Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper (#120808 in the Holiday Mini Catalog)at the bottom, which I punched with the Scallop Edge Border punch (#119882).  I ran the card base through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder (#119976) to give the card some texture.

I decided to use some of my Nestabilities for the oval scallops.  I colored the pheasant with chocolate chip, old olive and cajun craze markers, then highlighted the bird with some of the new Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink - I chose the Gold Lame (#119968).  I then spritzed the oval piece with my chocolate chip marker and the Color Spritzer Tool (#107066).  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (#115370).

After coloring with my markers, I cut out the pine bough and cone and adhered it to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  To balance out the card I used three old olive brads from the Brights collection (#119740). 

I hope this card will convey to Brian how much we care for him and his dad.  Our prayers are certainly with him during this difficult time.

 

 

Fall Birthday

It is now officially fall, but here in Sandpoint, Idaho fall really started a couple of weeks ago - it has been rainy and quite cool.  The leaves are beginning to turn a beautiful shade of gold, and our cedars are already laced with rust.

I got the inspiration for this card from another stamper, LeeAnn Greff.  I apologize for the quality of the photo - my camera usually takes much better pictures than this.

The stamp set that was used is the new Day of Gratitude from the Holiday Mini catalog (#121148CM, $18.95)  By the way, this stamp set coordinates with the beautiful Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper (#120808, $11.95).  The sentiment was stamped with the Curly Cute stamp set from the IB&C (#120510 CM, $14.95).  Cardstock used is Cherry Cobbler, Sahara Sand, and Whisper White.  Inks used are Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard and Always Artichoke.  After stamping the leaves, I punched them out with the 1-1/4" square punch.  The ribbon is a piece of the new seam binding in the Holiday Mini catalog - it is wonderful.  I used Always Artichoke (#121000, $6.95).  The squares were adhered to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I love the look of this card.  The sentiment can be changed to whatever you want to say, which makes this card design very useful.  Let me know what you think.

Wicked Spooky

I LOVE Halloween!  I know some of my friends think I'm strange because I send Halloween cards, but I love to make them.  Today I'm sharing a Halloween card that was inspired by Melissa Stout.  I made some slight changes, but not many because I liked her design.

This card was made using the Wicked Cool stamp set from the 2010/2011 IB&C.  It has so many wonderful Halloween images.  The cardstock used is Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White and the Wicked Fun Designer Series Paper (also found in the 2010/2011 IB&C).  Inks used were Basic Black and Daffodil Yellow markers.  It is difficult to see, but the Basic Black layer was embossed with the new Spider Web Embossing Folder, found in the Holiday Mini catalog (pg 6).  To finish off the card, a piece of the new Raven 1/2" Lace Trim was used (Holiday Mini, pg. 8).

Isn't the card fun?  I love to read your comments - please leave me one.

Owl Bookmark Card

I just LOVE the cute new Owl Punch, found on page 201 of the 2010/2011 Idea Book & Catalog.  I got the inspiration for this card from my friend and very talented stamper,Sandy Hancock.  I changed her idea a bit by using different colors of cardstock and Designer Series Paper. 

For my card I used Garden Green, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, More Mustard, Real Red, Naturals Ivory and Regals Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (in More Mustard).  The background stamp is Woodgrain, #117100, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, #115370.  For the ink I used Early Espresso.  The bookmark is made using the Two Tags die, #115954.  I also used the Scallop Circle Punch (#119854) to make the scalloped circle, which I ran through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (#117335).  The leaves are made using the Little Leaves Sizzlit die (#114511).  I also used the 1-3/8" x 5/8" (#119863)and 1-3/4" x 7/8" (119855) oval punches for the sentiment.

To make the bookmark fold in half lengthwise an 11" x 2" piece of cardstock and place the fold just under the cutting mark on the die, then run it through the Big Shot.  I used button magnets that I found at Wal-Mart to place on the inside of each scallop end of the bookmark.  The magnets are strong enough to "wrap" around the top of the card and stay in place.

Tip for making the owl: those little eye pieces can be a challenge to adhere to the owl.  I made a small puddle of Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue on some scratch paper, then used  a tookpick to place a small drop of glue on the owl.  I then positioned the various eye pieces.

Wouldn't this make a nice combination card/gift for someone?   You could even make a cute card for Halloween by changing the color scheme.  You can purchase the supplies to make this card at my online store at http://www.donnabagwell.stampinup.net.