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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Feeling Autumn-y

The air has a slight nip to it this morning. It has the past few mornings as well. I'm awaiting the annual color change, and doing so rather impatiently. I decided since they weren't changing nearly fast enough to suit me, I could just create some fall foliage myself!

I pulled out my "With Gratitude" set and stared at it. I pulled out different colored card stocks and stared some more. I came up with nothing. Nada. Zilch. The set mocked me. It did! Here I had this gorgeous set and I could come up with nary a thing to do with it. Ack! Dejected, I walked out of the studio and vowed I would think of something, that no mere stamp set would beat me. So there!

I took a different approach last night. I found a sketch challenge at Stamping 411 that looked promising and decided to give it a go.

I tried a vertical card first. No dice. Once I got it oriented correctly, the card came together. :o) I showed it to Brien who said, "ACK! What did you do?? You had this wonderful masculine card and you added a bow. A BOW! Now it just looks all sorts of confused."

Really? Oh no!
But you see, the thing is, I was proud of that bow. It was the most perfect bow I had ever made (thank you, Jaydee for the tutorial!) and I was going to leave that bow, even if it didn't work.

But that didn't mean I couldn't create another card. I typically make two cards anyhow, so this was easy to do. :o)

I rock-and-rolled the leaves on the background to achieve that multi-color effect. I ran the Cajun Craze piece through the Cuttlebug with a Swiss Dots embossing folder to give it some texture. The maple leaf is first stamped in VersaMark and then in Cajun Craze, covered with clear embossing powder and hit with the heat gun. I gave the card some depth by mounting the maple leaf using dimensionals.

These cards use:
Stamp Sets: "With Gratitude", "Watercolor Trio"
Inks: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso--it should be noted I considered using Old Olive, but I thought it was too bright next to the more muted Regals colors
Papers: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Early Espresso 5/8" satin ribbon, dimensionals, Regals button, Swiss Dots embossing folder, scallop border punch

Ha! I won!! I made a card with the stamp set, and even have another cooking for Friday's post! Hee hee hee. ;o)

--Rach

11 comments:

Lissie said...

Girl, you put so much pressure on me with your award-worthy cards. I had so much trouble with this set I think I sent it to my cousin, Lois. I could never do a thing with it.

Mom AKA Lissie

jimlynn said...

BOTH are fabulous - and I LOVE that bow. So pretty. But I like both cards - with or without the bow.
Lynn

Kelli said...

That is one great bow!!! I need to watch Jaydee's tutorial. Love the Fall colors. I'm hoping to get some stamping money saved up and order some Cajun Craze!

Kerin said...

That is the perfect bow! Both cards are gorgeous...hey at least you ONLY added a bow, I have a hard time resisting glitter, even on masculine cards lol!

gbarron56 said...

Love the beautiful fall colors and uncluttered look. This is a gorgeous card! Great job with the sketch challenge. Thanks for playing along this week with the 411 Operators! Blessings, Gretchen

Hi, I'm Lee Conrey! said...

Fabulous Fall colors for both cards and the bow is to die for!!!!

Ann Schach said...

Perfect cards! Love the bow! Thanks for joining The Paper Players this week!

Unknown said...

Really, really lovely!

Selene Kempton said...

This is one of my favorite fall sets of all times.. you really rocked this challenge! Thanks so much for playing along with stamping411.

Connie Babbert said...

Love the ribbon treatment on both cards! Great job with the sketch!

LeAnne said...

LOL! BOTH cards are gorgeous...I keep WANTING that set! Thanks for playing with the Paper Players this week!