If you've been reading my blog this week, you may have caught on that I have been in New Orleans for a leadership conference with Stampin' UP! I mentioned the other day that I was making some "swaps" to trade with other demonstrators in order to get new ideas and see how others use products.
Here is one of the swaps I created to bring along:
I must be getting ready for autumn, as the colors in this card are growing on me. Does that happen to you? It seems that with each season, I gravitate towards different colors. And I'm liking Cajun Craze and Mossy Meadow right now.
I also LOVE this pumpkin. Long ago, I purchased a stamp set from Stampin' UP! that I thought had the most beautiful pumpkin. It was very similar to this one, although much smaller. I used that stamp set for years, even well beyond the time that it retired, all because of the lovely pumpkin.
So now I find myself loving this one. And the best part is that there are coordinating dies. And if you don't feel like stamping the pumpkin, there are dies in the set with which you can make a non-stamped pumpkin! How about that?
So let's take a look at this card. It uses Hello Harvest and Charming Sentiments. I stamped the pumpkin directly onto Cajun Craze cardstock, using Tuxedo Black ink, then cut it with the coordinating die. And I stamped the greeting in black on Mossy Meadow. Charming Sentiments has a fabulous set of dies, Sentiment Silhouettes, which cut out the "word bubbles" around all the greetings.
And look behind the words - I stamped the leaf from Hello Harvest on a label, stamping off once, and then stamping the image twice without re-inking.
Want to know the best way to use your patterned paper? I usually cut a piece to 4" x 5-1/4" to create a layer on my card base. I can get 6 cards from a 12" x 12" sheet this way. But when I have to make multiples I cut it a bit smaller. For this card I cut the paper to 3" x 5-1/2"; this allowed me to make 8 cards from one sheet, and the length covers the card base from top to bottom. I also used a different pattern, cutting it to 3/4" x 5-1/2" for a little strip under the main pattern.
But wait...that left 1-1/4" of the black card base showing along one side. What to do? I simply stamped the leaf pattern using Versamark ink, and heat-embossed it with Clear embossing powder. See the shine? Subtle, but distinct.
I'm looking forward to swapping with my fellow demonstrators from all over the world. I know I'll get some great cards back, and I hope they like my "autumn" card.
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