Happy Fall

I think we skipped fall here in Virginia and went straight to winter. Maybe it just seems that way because we were in Florida for a little over a week. It was very hard to leave to come home Sunday morning; the weather was beautiful. It’s been chilly and wet here. It rained Monday. Tuesday wasn’t too bad. Today was chilly. Tomorrow – nothing has happened yet, but area schools are already closed because of the thread from Winter Storm Avery. (Maybe we are in the South after all.)

Avery is supposed to drop a few inches of snow and some ice here tomorrow. The snow isn’t bad, but ice scares us! It’s too unpredictable.

So in my attempt to bring back fall for a few more weeks, here’s a card using the Pleasant Pheasants Stamp Set from the Holiday Catalog (without pheasants).

This is a simple card for more avid crafters, and it’s really not difficult for casual or beginner stampers if it’s made in a class with everything cut and ready to go.

The Background

To create the background, cut a square of Watercolor Paper the size you need. I have no idea what size this is. I found a scrap and used that. Then I die-cut it with Stitched Shapes Framelits and Layering Square Framelits.

Use an Aqua Painter to thoroughly wet the paper. Then, pick up ink from Classic Stampin’ Pads with the Aqua Painter and create a wash over the paper. I used (top down) Crumb Cake, Mango Melody, and Tranquil Tide. I know they don’t look like those colors, but I used a lot of water.

We learned a bokeh technique at OnStage from our CEO Sara Douglas. Flick some water from the Aqua Painter onto the colored square, then use a paper towel to pick it up. It leaves lovely dots on the background piece.

The Image

After the background is totally dry, stamp the wheelbarrow image using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. You can leave it just like that and it will look lovely. I chose to color the image with some Stampin’ Blends. I used Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and Old Olive for my card. The I added a little frost to the pumpkins (because it’s cold and icy here) with a Clear Wink of Stella Pen.

Finishing it up

I left the Crumb Cake card base plain, except for the row of leaves at the bottom. Adhere a layer of Wood Textures Designer Series Paper (DSP) to the middle of the card, then lay the Pumpkin Pie scalloped layer over it as a guide for stamping the leaves (don’t adhere yet). Stamp the leaves two times in Tranquil Tide, leaving a gap where the bottom of the square (or diamond, actually) will be.

Adhere the stamped layer to the scalloped Pumpkin Pie square/diamond, then adhere to the card over the DSP with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Add a little Grapefruit Grove 1/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon beneath the DSP and under the square layers. Of course, you can use any ribbon you’d like; Grapefruit Grove is what I had at hand.

Stamp the bucket of pumpkins from Pleasant Pheasants inside the card, and you’re finished!

This would be a fun card for a class (and my stampers may see it in the next class). If you have everything (including the squares) cut, it will be easy, especially if you use the Stamparatus.

Check Back Tomorrow

Check in tomorrow for a Friday Stamp Off with Susan, Jackie, and me. (Hint: It will be another fall/Thanksgiving card!) I’m excited about mine, because I used Big Shot Embossing Mats and a stamp that had never seen ink. Of the two (today’s and tomorrow’s), tomorrow’s was Mike’s favorite. So if you liked today’s card, you really want to see the challenge card!

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy! Have a lovely day.

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