Turning My Thoughts Toward Fall…

Yesterday was the 1st of September and seeing all of the “Fall” photos in my FB and Instagram feeds inspired me to give some of my fall themed stamps some love. We don’t really get “Fall” here in Southern California. We get hot, we get windy, and we get fires, but actual “Autumn” things, not so much. So we create our fall with fake decorations! I will be pulling mine out this next week but in the meantime, here’s a taste of fall:

What do you think? I think it’s yummy and is inspiring me to go with a sunflower fall motif this year!

Measurements:

• PTI Rustic White Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
• PTI Rustic White Layer 4″ x 5 1/4″
• Soft Suede Layer 2 3/4″ x 5″
• Old Olive Layer 2 1/2″ x 4 3/4″
• PTI Rustic White Stamped Layer 2 1/4″ x 4 1/2″

Details:

• I came across this Stampin’ Up! stamp set a few months ago on one of the FB resale groups I belong to and I was SO HAPPY to be able to claim it! The set is called “Sunflower Serenade” and it’s SU circa 2001. It’s 17 years old but the design is timeless!
• I first stamped the image with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and then used the Stampin’ Blends to color everything in. I like to layer color so I won’t lie to you, I colored this image probably five times, making mistakes along the way. But I didn’t worry about it too much as I’m learning the in’s and out’s of the Stampin’ Blends.
• After all of my redos, I settled on using the Light Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blends Marker and then followed it up with a layer of Dark Daffodil Delight. I learned to apply the light color and then wait for it to dry before applying the darker color, AND to not get too close to the edge! I kept having the ink bleed out because there was too much and the Color Lifter couldn’t push it back in because everything was still wet. It is important to note that I am NOT using Whisper White card stock. I’m sure I would not have had so many issues if I had used the proper paper, but Whisper White is too yellow of a white for me. So Papertrey Stampers’ Select or Papertrey Rustic White are my go to’s.

• Something else that I tried and was very pleased with was that I colored all of the flowers, stems, and leaves with the Light Daffodil Delight color and then went over it with a coat of Light Old Olive. I love how the color turned out, the yellow and green work so well together!
• I also used my Old Olive Stampin’ Write marker to define the leaf details and used Light Crumb Cake, Dark Crumb Cake and the the Bronze Stampin’ Blends for the flower centers. Probably overkill, but I think they look pretty 🙂
• Did you see all of the shine on the flowers? I used Journey Glaze on them, just like I used on my last card, and I adore how it turned out! They REALLY pop!

• I have a tendency to keep adding “things” until I get the balance right. For this card I added Soft Suede ribbon (probably long retired) and Old Olive ribbon which was current as of last year. Then I went through my paper stash to find this adorable pattern in the “Moroccan” DSP pack from a few years back and die cut a stitched circle out of it to layer behind my stamped panel.
• It still wasn’t enough so I pulled out my trusty Linen Thread, made a pretty bow and then topped it off with a long retired Soft Suede button. Yum!!

• As you can see, I had trouble stopping so I continued on and stamped and colored the envelope too. I should mention that I did add two of my “oops” pieces of cardstock in the envelope to protect the back side of the envelope from bleed thru from the markers. And of course, a pretty envelope flap!
• But what about the inside? Yep, I decorated it as well but kept it simple:

• The little bumblebee is from the same stamp set but the sentiment is from a different set. It’s a very old set as well, I just don’t know the name of it at the moment. I think the bumblebee steals the show 🙂

So there you have it. I truly enjoyed creating this little card, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing it.

Here is a look at the entire stamp set:

And if you are wondering, I’ve realized that I value the freedom of not worrying about which company something came from and just create what my heart thinks is pretty. I just want to enjoy the process and I love hearing your comments, they really encourage me so thank you for taking the time to comment when you do, I appreciate you!

Thank you,