ACORNY THANK YOU

Evelyn graciously lent me her Acorny set for me to try out.  Having the coordinating punch really makes it easy to use.

Using a background that is dry embossed gives any card a nice texture.  I really got a lot of use out of the swirly leaf ef in my stash, which is the ideal backdrop for autumn cards.

After stamping the caps and punching them and the acorns out, I sponged the edges of the acorns with green and brown inks and attached the tops with dimensionals.  As I've been doing on all my cards with twine lately, I punched tiny holes on the side to keep the jute I used in place.  The greeting was stamped on a scrap of the same color as the card base.

Thank you, Evelyn!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

When I opened this card, I laughed out loud!  The pumpkin on the front has "It"s Halloween" stamped over it.  The inside reads, "...time to dress up the cat."

The cat in this picture does not look amused...

THREE OF A KIND--CHRISTMAS

These were easy to make, thanks to a pad of Christmas dsp I purchased at AC Moore few weeks ago.

First I chose a base color for each design.  Then I cut the dsp to 4 x 5 1/4" and glued them to the card front.

Next I ran the "Joy" die through the Big Shot for each of the foil colors needed.  After gluing them to the front, I stamped the inside and added them to the cards I've finished so far. 

This brings the count to 72 (of 100) done!

FOXY CARD

 ...PRETTY SLY, HUH?

I received this in the mail from one of my Silver Stamper friends and just HAD to find out how it was done.  Well, between Amazon and YouTube, I discovered it was a die cut set available on Amazon.  So, of course, I ordered it immediately.

 The inventor of this card (and several others like it) has a "how-to" on YouTube, so as soon as it gets here I'll be making some foxes!  When closed, the card fits into a regular A2 envelope.  The tail is attached to the back with a brad, so it is moveable.

The double gate fold opens to reveal the message inside.  According to the video, you need only one sheet of cardstock for the base.    The other pieces fit on the base easily.

Very clever!

FROM THE SCRAP DRAWER #64

This is a card I made awhile back, but never got around to posting it.

I started out with a large scrap as a background and a coordinating textured cs panel as the base.  Next, I created a frame from a double stitched square (MFT) and a flower die cut from scraps in the same dsp family.

The greeting was die cut from two other pieces of scrap and glued slightly offset onto each other.  Then it was mounted on a scrap of vellum, glued to the back of the square.  All the pieces were then assembled as shown.

HAPPY CAT

This is a Halloween cat turned into a birthday kitty, and a happy one at that!

The cat was die cut and sponged to resemble one of our cats.  The birthday hat and balloons are from an old set of stickers.  The cat collar is just a pearl below his chin.

...a cheery card for a dreary day.  We're getting sleet/rain as I post this.  The forecast is for the much needed rain to last on and off all day with temps in the 40s.  I hope we get some Indian Summer weather before heading into winter!

METALLIC SPARKLE

It may be hard to see here, but there is some sparkle on the dsp atop the frosted copper metallic banner.  The leaf was die cut and sponged with Distress inks, and the jute was tied around the leaf stem.

Do check out the $5 stamps at Papertrey Ink.  They have a good variety of them online.  (Just my opinion, not a sales pitch.)

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY

The cable knit on this card front is just perfect for an Autumn birthday.  It's been really nice sweater weather here in New Jersey lately!

I arranged the leaves over a narrow strip of leaf dsp and the jute twine.  The one red leaf is popped up with SU dimensionals.  The greeting is one of the Papertrey Ink $5 sets in my collection.

It's sad to see the end of October approaching.  I love the colors, the cool nights and the warm afternoons.  It's good stamping weather, though!

PERFECT COLOR MATCH

 This is a recycled card that was just too cute to throw away, especially since the colors in the bow and leaves match the Mint Macaron and Rich Razzleberry cardstocks I had on hand.

How convenient!

AUTUMN BIRTHDAY

The hardest part of this card was photographing it!

The leaves are finally turning color around here--much later than usual, but well worth the wait.  I think this card captures the colors well.

The two front leaves are attached with a glue dot for the yellow and a dimensional for the green.  The second two are attached to the tops of acetate strips with glue dots.  The last two are attached to the back panel.  My greeting and signature are on a panel that doesn't show when the card is standing.

BETTER IRL

Unfortunately, this card looks much better in real life.  The cardstock used is not as orange as it looks here.  I tried to deepen it on Photo Shop, but I couldn't get it right.  At least you can get the idea.

The side piece is a scrap of autumn leaves dsp from AC Moore.  The leaf was die cut from a piece of marbled metallic paper.  The dsp was embossed with my go-to autumn ef,  after the greeting was stamped.  The tiny leaves are from a container of them that has been in my stash for at least 4 or 5 years.  The final touch was the gold twine.

SPEAKING OF SCRAPS...

This card was made using scraps from two other cards I made with these dsp's.  Since I also had the SU! "Six-Sided Sampler" set, used on the envelope flap, it worked out great.

Aligning the hexagons are trickier than it would seem.  So what I do is assemble the design using temporary tape on each piece.  Once they're all aligned, I start gluing them one hexagon at a time onto a piece of coordinating cs, which I fussy cut after gluing the pieces down.  Then it gets mounted with dimensionals and embellished with twine and sequins.

The banner and greeting are from a set by Frantic Stamper.

FROM THE SCRAP DRAWER

Using a scrap from the previous card, I made what seemed at first to be too dull--until I ran the leaf through the autumn ef.  What a difference!  The swirls on the leaf coordinate beautifully with the swirls on the dsp.

The greeting is from the SU! set, "Well Scripted."

 

PEG STAMP BOUQUET

I was recently asked to make some cards for a friend who wanted to pay for a set of 10; so, why not?

This is one of the cards I made with the dsp as my inspiration.  I just love all the ways my peg stamps have been used:  baskets, borders, embellishments, etc.

I also lined the envelopes with the same dsp, which I purchased at Hobby Lobby awhile ago.  The greeting is from a stamp and die set by Frantic Stamper.

THREE OF A KIND--Christmas

I've been on a roll getting more Christmas cards done.  These three were done with the SU! set, "Wonder of Christmas."  All three were silver embossed and colored with markers.

The top left card has a typing paper folded insert with the angel on the top (like a card within a card.)  The inside reads "The Lord is come."  The silver cording is held in place by a notch at the top and bottom of the card front.

The upper right card is a flip card with an additional verse on the inside.

The bottom card has an added scallop on the bottom of the white panel made with a die from W Plus 9.

My total of Christmas cards done is now up to 67--YAY!

AUTUMN BLESSINGS

With all that's been going on around here, which included hospital visits for my husband (he's fine now) and a friend (she's ok, too) my posts had to be put on hold, even though I still did get some stamping done.  (This card is one of them.)

First I ran the white panel through the Big Shot with an autumn embossing folder to give it some texture.  (Click on card to get a better view.)  Then I used the leaf die to cut the leaf outline, even though it looks like the leaf is on top here.  To line up the veins with the leaf outline, I placed the white panel on the gold cs, placed the inset in the opening and  taped it down with post-it tape.  After carefully removing the white panel, I ran the card through the Big Shot.  Then I sponged the veins to make them stand out.

While the white panel was still unattached, I added the greeting and mounted it on the gold card front.  The final touch was the tiny pearl at the base of the leaf.



The leaf die with its inset for the veins was a set I purchased at Hobby Lobby a year or two ago.  The greeting was done with a die and stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  The $5 stamp set included 9 coordinated sayings.  The "Blessed" die was also $5 sold separately.

SIMPLE SATURDAY #46