Last Leaves of Autumn

 I don't know if it's the same with you, but seeing it on my planner really did cause a stir. Thanksgiving is a week away! How did that happen? 

I've been enjoying fall more this year as I am no longer in the North Carolina Sandhills which mainly has pine trees. Our move to the Charlotte area was good in many ways. We especially enjoy the beautiful colors in fall! The last of the leaves are hanging on. 

Today's card features a bit of watercoloring, a newly tried technique, and the Scripture verse that has been a special comfort. 

I began with stamping PB's Autumn Gala image in black onto watercolor paper. I used Distress reinkers and a damp paintbrush to color. The technique I tried was using Distress Glaze from Tim Holtz over the watercolored image, then heat embossing.  He suggests adding more detail with Distress Crayons on top. I went with adding a pale watercolor wash to the background and a few more details on the leaves with the reinkers over the slick glaze. Here's a photo so you can see the effect is like crystals. 

Putting the card together, the embossed panel is from the Variegated folder, and the verse is from Blessing: both by Penny Black. 

Blessings! That's what I'm wishing you today. I am so glad that you could come by. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 
              Make something beautiful!  

Colorful Combo for Autumn

 Hello, how are things with you? Another rainy day had me wanting to stay cozy inside and so the stamps came out to play! Brand new leaf stamps arrived in my mailbox just in time to be inked up for the great color combo at The Paper Players.

Have a look!

I've long admired this set from Waffle Flower called Two Step Leaves Combo. Imagine my delight at winning a gift card to their store! Of course I added a few more supplies, ha! The Piercing Lines Texture Die also makes it's debut on today's card.

What I love about these leaf images is the detail created by the layering stamps, and the clean lines. Using mostly Distress inks to stamp resulted in a sketchy look for the leaves.  I had a hard time finding matches for the challenge colors, but I do like the result. The sentiment is from SSS and Gina K, as the Bold Summer Blooms set was still out from my recent session. Now I'm ready for one fall birthday in the family! 

I appreciate your visit today. I'll be sharing over at the The Paper Players and  the NBUS challenge. Seems there is a steady stream of never-been-used-stuff available in my craft closet! 

And one more. Tic Tac Toe challenge grid middle row asks for Any Color, FREE, and sentiment. I'm always inspired to play there, and I was happily a Designer's Pick!  

Hope it's a great day for you! 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

Supplies:
Inks: Altenew - Ultraviolet, Crimson, DOX - Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade
Card Stock: Concord & 9th

Color Hues #94 With Thanks

 We are ushering in FALL with these new colors at the Color Hues Challenge! For #94 ( WOW, how has that happened!)  the colors dear Carol has for us are Rust and Green. She encourages a range of shades to choose from, so I went with a variety, using stencils and Distress Oxide Inks. 

The Lovely Silhouettes Stamps (The Greetery) were inked in green and complemented with a dark green card stock mat. Although it appears almost black, it is a lovely deep green. I had a hard time with the photo of these hues, I promise there is no yellow, just a pale orange. 

Do you ever finish a card and it just doesn't seem right? For me, the stacked shapes  were off balance intentionally. I added the gold metallic pearls, to compensate for that. What do you think?

You will not want to miss seeing the amazing cards in the gallery, and we hope that you will play along! 

Your visit means so much. Thanks for coming by! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: 
The Greetery: Lovely Silhouettes stamp set, Color Spots Stencil
DOX inks: Dried Marigold, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Lucky Clover
Concord & 9th: card stocks
WPlus9: Basic Label stamps and dies

Sunflower Harvest at Penny Black

 I'm always surprised to see the back-to-school and fall decor items flooding the stores before summer is even over! And I'm usually not at all ready for the new season, even though FALL is my favorite! 

But the Sunflower Harvest is a brand new-to-me stamp set that I couldn't resist pulling out for this card. It's my reminder that The Penny Black Saturday Challenge is still in full swing! The  challenge is Anything Goes, with an Optional theme - flowers. I LOVE sunflowers!

Pairing them with a rustic fence and pumpkins makes it even better. I stamped the scene using light gray ink, and watercolored with Distress Ink re-inkers. After fussy cutting the image panel I layered it with patterned paper and twine. The sentiment is from the Delightful Day set, stamped onto brown card stock. 

I sure hope that you've already checked out the challenge blog and enjoyed the inspiration! Thanks so much for coming by to visit me. I end this post by sending autumn greetings your way - just a wee bit early!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Pure Sunshine

Hello again, it's the middle of the day and the middle of the week! It seems I just loved the challenge at The Paper Players for a CAS design so I'm here with take 2 for the challenge. 

I used Penny Black products and kept my coloring very simple with Copic markers. I was so inspired by the clean colors and black and white of the challenge prompt that I took my cues from that. 

I could almost say that I whipped this card up in between steps of cooking dinner, lol! It was a nice change to have it come together quickly with basic supplies.

Hoping you're having some sunshine today, if not outside, then in your thoughts. Thanks for coming by!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm also entering this at NBUS as the stamps are new and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Supplies from Penny Black: Cling Stamps Pure Sunshine, Transparent Stamps Only You, Immense YOU die

Autumn Thanks

 How about one more fall card? The Paper Players are asking for a clean and simple card with an autumn theme. I just happen to have one on hand, so I'm happy to share it today. 

My supplies are listed below.This is my second card using Yellow and Kraft, the great combo that we have going at Color Hues! I made this one quickly  -  forgetting that I had already made my card with these colors in August. I posted that one yesterday. Boy do I feel sheepish for my forgetfulness! I am usually very organized. Of course if you saw my stamp space, you would think otherwise! 

I will focus on the positive. I am colorful, creative and happy. Thankful to God for the day He has made. So glad you've come to visit!  Signing off....

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: The Greetery dies - Patchwork die and Jumbo Curiosity Bickeye Leaf die, and Curio Autumn Findings die

The sentiment is from Concord & 9th Leafy Layers Die

With Sympathy for Color Hues

 Greetings to you on this day! We have a new challenge at Color Hues where Hannelie has chosen Yellow and Kraft for our creations for the next two weeks. I needed a sympathy card,  deciding that these colors are soothing and just right for this season too. 

I began with a white card base, and added a kraft panel. Stampin' Up! provided the lovely stamped images, die cuts, and sentiment. I've had this set for a long time but this is my first time using it. Now I won't wait so long until next time! 

We hope you will join us and add your projects to our gallery. We can't wait to see what you will make! Thanks so much for your visit! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Autumn Blessings for Freshly Made Sketches

 Hello. thanks for joining me at my blog. Today I'm excited to be guest designing at one of my favorite card challenges. Thank you to the team at Freshly Made Sketches for inviting me!

I have a fall card for you today. Have you been jumping in to all the best fall things now that it is official? I couldn't resist pulling out some of my fav stamps from the Autumn Blessings set by WPlus9 designs. 

I went for a soft look today by using Cold Press watercolor paper and stamping in a soft brown ink. Using Distress Inks and re-inkers, I watercolored the sunflower wreath, adding Glossy Accents to the berries. Sponged the banner with pale ink to match the flowers. 

The stamps and dies form a gorgeous wreath. I did take the liberty of cutting that up and arranging the florals to fit the sketch. FIrst thinking of using a basket under the banner, I decided it just needed a twine bow. 

I hope that you will enjoy seeing the samples from the terrific DT and take a crafty break so that you can play along! See you next time. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Leafy Layers for you

 Hello again, and welcome to my blog. I made a card for the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and I'm writing a quick post tonight to enter it before the deadline tomorrow!

I thought the Leafy Layered Dies would make a great fall card. Inking backgrounds is one of my favorite things to do lately. I began by running white card stock through the embossing folder, and then lightly adding layers of ink to color for an ombre effect. 

Cutting a strip of this panel for the card front, I also die cut the leafy layers, adding some sponging for shading and a few gold leaves. 

Assembling the elements according to the sketch, I took a literal approach. 

I hope you are enjoying these fall days. It will be "official" in a couple of days. I appreciate your spending some time with me here on the blog today. Let's do it again soon!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: Concord & 9th - card stock and inks in Buttercup, Spiced Cider, and Cayenne. 

Spellbinders: Embossing folder (ret) and foiled sentiments

Color Hues #71 Thanks

It's good to be with you on this first day of September! I love this month, the back-to-school time brings happy memories. And its the beginning of my favorite season. At Color Hues new challenge, Tracey has chosen Tangerine and Violet. Could be for a fall vibe? Or maybe you'd choose a Halloween theme? 

 I'm happy to be playing with a few supplies from my new goodies pile. I wanted to use the Postal Collage Bundle and the colors lead me in the direction of fall elements. How about leaf dies?

My thank you card was so much fun to put together. I can't wait to use the Postal Collage stencils to make a colorful bunch of paper stamps.

Please join us to play along, this is sure to be a great challenge! I hope to see you in the gallery. Thanks so much for your visit today. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: Concord & 9th card stock and Leafy Layers Dies

Sending Smiles for Freshly Made Sketches!

 There's a party going on and I'm not too late to join the fun! Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating their 600th sketch! This fabulous team of talented card-makers has inspired and delighted us for 12 years! 

I had to pop in and share a card for this big occasion. 

I pulled out autumn - themed dies and watercolors and created my card using the sketch as the starting point.  I've often played along at Freshly Made, and hope they continue their challenge for many more sketches to come!

Card supplies: 
I used Distress Ink reinkers to watercolor on watercolor card stock for the die cuts
Curio Autumn Finding Die and Rustic Wreath Twigs Die from The Greetery
Card stock: Peacock from Concord & 9th
Stamps: Paper Hugs Transparent Stamps from Penny Black

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you are having a wonderful day and I'm sending some hugs and smiles your way. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Where have I been, you wonder? SCOTLAND!

 Hi stamping friends, I have a card to share today, but first a bit of news and a few pictures! 

I usually enjoy posting two or three or four times a week, but got slowed down because we had a fabulous trip to Scotland! There was the  excitement of planning - we decided to go and three weeks later we were on the plane. And preparing. Then the two wonderful weeks we had there. We call it our trip of a lifetime! And the miserable and ongoing stint with Covid my dear man came down with after we got home. Sigh. 

Let's have a look at a few glorious memories. 

We saw beautiful scenery of nature, pastures sheep, the hairy coo, lakes, waterfalls and the ocean. Oh, 5 rainbows. And beautiful Edinburgh. 

So a card, you said?  Creativity is hard to get back into after so much time away.  I made my card using new-to-me supplies, featuring the Jumbo Buckeye Leaf from The Greetery. 

I  sponged it using Oxide inks and added a few marker details. Using smaller images from Curio:Autumn Findings dies I assembled my focal point, adding the sentiment from the Autumn Bliss Stamps & Cut Combo. My background panel was stamped with a Penny Black stamp using WPlus9 inks.

I'm entering this at NBUS and glad to be jumping back to stamping just for fall. Hope your day is wonderful! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

A Good Fright for The Paper Players!

 Hello dear stamping friends! It's Sunday and it's time for a color challenge for The Paper Players #612. With the shades of orange, green and purple I pulled out my one and only ever stamp set for Halloween. Called "Good Fright" it's from Hello Bluebird and makes the cutest scenes. 

I began by inking a background using Distress Oxide inks in shades of purple. Then I added some ink splatters and a few larger water droplets for texture. This kind of inking is absolutely one of my favorite techniques! 

I stamped the trick or treaters, colored them with Copics and fussy cut them. Popping them up on foam tape, I added Crystal Gloss to the pumpkin containers. 

My husband suggested that they looked as if they were searching for something, inspiring me to add the die cut tree and sentiments. 

I hope you'll take the time to visit the Paper Players blog and admire the fabulous samples. They never fail to amaze! Thanks so much for your visit today. I hope you have a great week. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The Paper Players: Theme Challenge

 Hello! Hope you are doing well on this Sunday! 

Time for our new challenge at The Paper Players #611 where Joanne has chosen a changing seasons theme, particularly Autumn.

It seems the leaves in our yard have begun to change early this year! My card is created using a randomly stamped background of leaves in Distress Oxide inks: Charted Mariner, Carved Pumpkin,  Wild Honey and Fired Brick. 

Using the Fall Foliage stamps (The Greetery) for the images I stamped the word Autumn in Versamark ink and embossed it with Distress Oxide Embossing Glaze. It's unique in that it's translucent so colors and images underneath are visible.

When stamping images for a background, it's good to have a smaller image or two for fillers. The smaller leaves are from another set. I like to use dots  as fillers too, and these are from the Floral Frames set (Altenew). I am noting it here for myself to remember so next time I don't have to go combing through supplies to find them!

If you love fall as much as I do, then I know the change of seasons is a happy one for you! Thanks so much for spending time here today! Hope you have a great week. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Grateful for Color Hues!

 I can't believe we are greeting another month and you know what that means. A new challenge at The Color Hues! 

We are combining Carol's choice of orange and purple for Challenge #50 and I know you will have fun with that combo. 

I went with a leaf stencil from Gina K that has been around for awhile but it is new to me and I couldn't wait to try it out. Using two shades of each color I brushed them over the stencil. Beware! I was reminded that blue and purple make brown but I decided to go with it anyway! I trimmed the panel to allow lots of white space. 

The sentiment circle is also Gina K and the leaves are from The Greetery. 

These colors are wonderful for fall! I hope that you enjoy using them and will be inspired to play along. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!