Good morning and happy weekend to everyone…Well, the calendar says that it’s fall but it sure still feels like summer on the East Coast! I don’t know about you but hands-down – fall is my favorite time of the year. When I simply hear the words “Fall” I automatically think of beautiful leaves, apples, cooler temperatures, and comfort food!
Do you remember back in the spring… Sarah had a paper pumpkin called it’s a Sarah thing! It was one hot paper pumpkin and I sure did stock up on the refills.It was so much fun because she used a technique with clear embossed images and then using watercolor crayons to blend colors together.
In today’s card I am doing something something similar but I’m using ink pads instead of the watered colored pencils today and I will show you how you can stamp the leaves from the Colorful Seasons Bundle to make the fun!
Below you can see the beautiful colors that truly remind you have a spectacular Fall scene. The colors that I used were Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, and Crushed Curry. Today, I did use the watercolor paper as using watercolor paper is essential to have super blending.
Very Vanilla is my card base color as I like the softness of the the very vanilla with the fall leaves. when I see this card I smile as it truly reminds me of doing projects with my children when they were younger with coloring. Let’s get going!
I bet you’re looking at this picture and going YIKES – this looks like a MESS!!!! Hang tight as we all know there sometimes that you need to make a mess to make a beauty 🙂
All I did was stamp the leaf image on watercolor paper and heat set it with clear embossing powder. I do recommend using the embossing buddy to make sure you do not have any stray powder going where you do not want it!
Now for the fun… Grab yourself a little cup of water and a paint brush.
1 – Wet the entire area that has been heat embossed with clear water.
2 – Now, dab your paint brush into a little of the ink and simply tap it over the embossed image as shown below. This is where the magic happens as you will see the colors blend together.You will have to just play around with color combinations to get the look that you were going for.
The one color I absolutely adore but you have to be careful with that is the color of yellow.You need to “protect the yellow” as it has a tendency to get muddy and change color if you add too many other colors right next to it.
This is such a fun technique to play around with and just have fun with color. After I have colored my images I then cut them out with Mr. Big – super easy and fast.
Hopefully you can tell in the pictures that I have allowed some movement to the top of the leaves. I achieved this look by just simply using glue dots towards the bottom of each leaf to anchor them to my card. This way you can kind of pulled the ends of the leaves to make them look more natural and free-flowing.
By now you know I adore sentiments and simplicity. I could not resist using this sentiment which is from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set. I invite you to make sure that you remember to blend stamp sets together to achieve a fun look when you are creating a card.
To me it is the sentiment that makes a card special and unique. I felt that the font typeset went well with the feeling of fall and “movement of leaves” cascading down!
If you or anything like me, we tend to use stamps that are super current like from our new catalog… (naturally that makes sense) but please do not forget we have so many good “old faithful’s” that have carried over and they need love as well!
Now I ask you,imagine if I did not use the embossing folder with this card. True… It would still look beautiful but the feel from the embossing folder gives it a rustic and natural look. This embossing folder is called the pinewood planks. They sure do add a lot of texture to a card with minimal effort and they’re so affordable.
Another tip I wanted to point out to you is look how your eye takes the whole card in from the top to the bottom. By creating different focal images throughout the card it allows your eye to naturally go up and down and take it all in.
Also, grouping images in clusters of odd numbers also help to make your eyes naturally take it all in! Are you wondering about the embellishments? These are called “dew drops” that I have in my embellishment stash that I think are fun to add a bit of bling.
Well….thoughts? I hope I’ve been able to explain to you that using a technique like this is not only fun… It is easy. I think sometimes it is great to be able to pull out an old technique and put it back into use.
I invite you to look at your stamp sets and images to see other Images that leaves and figure out a way to use it with this technique. Here’s an idea… What about taking a large heart and stamping either a geometrical image or possibly some for small flowers/hearts to it and then use this technique. Hmmmmm…..I think I have an idea for a future post!
Enjoy your day, and many thanks for popping in! I hope you have a fabulous day…
This is absolutely stunning, Susan! I cannot wait to try this technique. One very classy card!
Good morning to you… Did you try it yesterday?
I do hope you go into your craft area and pull out that Versa Mark ink and go to town! Have fun fixing your colors but remember “protect the yellow”!
Such a beautiful card. I love the technique you shared. Sounds like a video to me! I love this set and am using it a lot to make fall cards. Come on fall!
Oh Doris… Did you hear me snicker when I read your comment. I do not disagree with you as this would be one that a video would be a great one to have.
It just is so much fun to make and I always hope and pray that people give it a try.Maybe you’ve twisted my arm.
Gorgeous!!! After the last three weeks I am going to try to get some craft time in. I am going to CASE this card to get my Mojo going. XXO
Hello my Florida friend… Have you been feeling all the prayers coming your way. I am so glad things are so much better for you and I agree– I do hope you find some crafting time. Give this technique a try… You of all people will have fun with this one!
I love this beautiful card, Susan. Great technique and your instructions make it look quite easy. Have a great weekend.
Please do… Give it a try! Also look at your stamps that you have and see what other things ones you have to try this technique with.
I think it would be stunning if you had a very large sentiment word and then just did a color wash background with color and let the word pop.… Maybe that’ll be a post in the future!
I am with you, Susan. Fall is my favorite season of the year.
I love everything about this card. The sentiment is one I use frequently, the leaves came out gorgeous and I think the plank background helps “ground” the elements of the design. Using the TIEF on the envelope flap was a great final touch that I often forget to use. Definitely on my list to CASE.
I am smiling… I can say honestly I would take fall all year long if I could.Every year I just hope and pray that we have a long cool…. crisp and…. beautiful fall!
I do hope you give it a try and here’s another tip. Mist your paper with some water when you use the embossing folder. It will make the paper fibers soften and it will also give you a super clean impression.
Wow! What color and a fabulously easy and beautiful technique!
You’ve got it my friend… It is not only easy but it can create some spectacular color! I do hope you give it a try.
Susan,I agree Fall is my favorite season. The colors are so beautiful. Your card is so pretty. It is a WOW factor. I love everything about this card and the envelope. Thank you for sharing. I am going to try this . Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Ellen Hinds
Hi Ellen… I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
I’m sure up in New York you have some beautiful leaf showing as well.I do hope and encourage you to give this a try… It is super fun.
The best thing about it is you just drop some ink stand back and smile… drop a little bit more stand back and smile and presto – YOU DID IT!
Beautiful card. I am going to have to remember to use an embossing folder more. They do add that certain finished touch.
So true… so true! I am very guilty of not using them more often so I will tell you what I did… I put my container of them right beside my’s big shot so I have to look at them each time I use my big shot. hopefully this will help me to use them more often. have a fabulous day.
LOVE this card. I am so drawn to fall colors. They are so rich. I will definately try out this technique. Looks like fun.
Bingo! You use the right words… It is fun and it is amazing to see the brightness and color it it gives. Give it a try… You’ll smile!
This card is stunning! I’m glad to see that “pinky” is not affecting your stamping mojo. I will definitely be CASEing this!
Will Pinky and I have a littleTalk in the morning about what we’re going to do for the day. I have to admit the other day when I was crafting I just about got pinky saturated in cherry cobbler Ink.
I will say it’s hard to pick up ink pads and shut the lids as I become butterfingers and they drop.
We are doing fine but I must say I feel like having a countdown calendar until I get this thing off. Give this technique a try… I know you’ll adore it!
So rich and glorious! I need to have some fun play time.
Oh Chris… What am I going to do with you! This would be a cue card for your dog bakery gig and put some puppies playing in leaves! I am sure you’ve been super busy making cards for your new project.
I do hope you tried this technique because it is not only super fun but it totally makes you forget about anything else that’s on your mind because all you do is smile and feel so special because you are a true artist!– Try it!!!
So pretty ! I am a Fall lover also . Your leaves are really outstanding and who would not love to receive this beauty in the mail ?
I have that EF ,but have not used it yet ….thank you for inspiring me to pull it out and put it to work !!
Hi Sunny… I hope you’re having a great weekend! I know you sure do get some beautiful leaves in your area of the country as well.
I think you and I are always in the same camp… The camp of forgetting our embossing folders. This one is quite spectacular as it gives such an amazing and deep impression. It’s also so basic it will go for so many things. Give it a try!
Just one word, Susan, “STUNNING”!
Oh Roberta– you sure do know how to make a girl smile!
This truly is my favorite time of the year and I have so much fun being a chief quote “leaf watcher ” – just watching the beauty of leaves changing its color is an amazing process…and one that I totally tried to soak up!
I hope you give this technique a try and I am sure you will do some amazing leaves yourself… Have a wonderful day
Susan this is another fabulous card made by you. I think I have done the last of my canning today.
Hopefully, in the next two weeks (before Fall is over), I will be able to make some cards like this to send out to friends.
Thank you for sharing your talent with us.
Wow – I am so excited to hear what you were canning? You know all of that stuff is right up my alley as well.
Way to go and I do hope you can find some time to give this technique a try. It truly is not only fun, it is rewarding, and it is actually really quite spectacular to see your end result.
Wow, beautiful card! Thank you for the dew drops link. Which collection are the orange ones from? I love the names.
I knew you were going to love them… They were from the grapevine collection. They had three colors the orange and green and purple purple all mixed together within the Grapevine collection. Just a couple of those little gems make something sparkle! Have a great day….
Beautiful! The colors are so rich and vibrant and I love the EB background!
Makes you feel like fall and just seeing the beauties come falling down…..I hope that you give it a try!
Very smart looking card today Susan. Love the embossed background.
YIPPEE…I am thrilled that you enjoyed it – it was a fun one to make and you feel “satisfied” with the fun technique….It’s that PICASSO thing that makes you smile!
Susan, This is one of my favorite cards in a long time. You nailed everything, and it has your clean, tailored style that never looks uptight or unfinished. I love the watercolor technique you used, too. Beautiful.
Oh Kendel…. You sure do know how to make somebody smile! Many thanks for such a sweet comment. It was very fun to do and I look forward to making many more. Having techniques like that really make you stop back and say – I’d love paper crafting!
Fall is my favorite season. It is the best two weeks in Tucson! Funny thing about fall here though, it isn’t necessarily 14 days in a row. It is a few hours here and few hours there.
I find I use vanilla more for autumn crafts too. This card is a stunner! I just might have to try some resist technique with leaves. Such a wonderful look!
Wow — you captured the gorgeous Fall colors so cleverly! This is a beauty worth sending to ANYONE 🙂 I have not yet worked with the Cajun Craze color, but, after seeing this card, I think I need to add that to my wish list! Not to mention buy the stamp/bundle set, which I was questioning if I would get good use of !!…
– I was also going to ask what ink you used to stamp your leaves, but, you answered this in one of your replies. THANK YOU for such detailed directions along with the shopping list, so we can create such beautiful cards, too!
Fall is a wonderful time of year — cooler temps (usually!), apple pies, bonfires, craft shows, along with a reminder of how little our beings are in the wide world of wonder 🙂 Before you know it, pinkie will be gone and the snow will be flying …Enjoy every minute!!
This is a beautiful card Susan – thanks for sharing it!!