Autumn Blessings

The leaves are red and orange and yellow on the maples that line my street.  The wind is blowing and the air is crisp.  Autumn has most certainly arrived in Western Washington.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I send almost as many Thanksgiving cards as Christmas cards.   Here's a Thanksgiving card we will make tomorrow at my home workshop.  I stamped in Creme Brulee, then used ink daubers of Autumn Terracotta and Cranberry. The sentiment was inked with CTMH's new  Saddle. I added a few sparkles.  The card stocks are Colonial White and Saddle.

Pumpkin

Well, I may be back...at least this week. It has been a harrowing school start due to a variety of issues- new eSchool program for attendance and grades, last minutes schedule changes involving me teaching a new-to-me course in addition to my two expected courses, new students entering every day (even this week in the 8th week of instruction!), an advisor position for a second club that is fundraising for a big trip to national conference in January, and many new union issues.  It means I haven't been able to craft or read for months :-(
But next weekend I am having a card/project workshop and am so happy for the excuse to create.  This little project isn't all that new - I've seen things like this around the blogs. But it is so easy and cute. 

•  cut 10 strips of Autumn Terracotta at 1", stamp them in the same color ink, brush the edges with that ink also
• stack the strips, and a 6" x 1/4" strip of green,  punch a small hole at each end, and secure with a brad
• stamp leaves and cut out
• dry emboss a small strip of Chocolate CS, sand and roll it, cut about a 1/2" slit in three spots and spread out the cut 'tabs'
• glue dot the stem tabs to the pumpkin, glue dot the leaves to cover those stem tabs
• tie a 16" length of raffia in a bow and split the bows and ends
• cut the 1/4" green strip down the middle until you get close to the top (don't cut all the way) and roll up to create the vine
• insert small battery candle

Just seeing falls colors and the beautiful trees has been a sweet part of this week.  Time for pumpkin pie, baked apples...Make some time to enjoy it.

Monogram Card Set

This set was made for my sister-in-law's birthday next month.  I wanted to keep things simple and flat for mailing.  The Monogram stamp is a fabulous bargain in the new Close To My Heart Idea Book at only $2.95!  I have several others to create personal card sets.  The new Slate paper will not photograph the color accurately...this looks tan/brown and the blue paper not color-correct either  :-(   In real-life all 12 cards are Slate on the fold and patterned paper on the right from both Stella and Avonlea collections.   The frame was stamped with Grey Flannel (retired CTMH color), and I added small pearl embellishments. I used the CTMH White Daisy card bases and envelopes. The band was cut at 12" X 2 1/2" and scored to have 3/4" depth.  All 12 cards with envelopes fit nicely inside.

Heart 2 Heart Color and Tuesday Sketch #80

A Thank you card.  {sigh}   I am not very thankful that summer is nearly over.   The sun has stopped coming around until noon now in my shady yard.  And I've had to begin the setting of the alarm... About half of my back-to-school treats are made, so I will still have an excuse to spend time in my craft room!  But the classroom calls.  The start of the year anticipation has always been dreadful, but actual school I do love. 
Heart 2 Heart has a color challenge this week - Lagoon, Pear, and Sunset - which you see above.  I used the long-ago Key to My Heart set for flourishes, and a brand new set for the sentiment, Paradise flower assortment and the Sunset mini-accessory pack for brad and ribbon. 

The sketch is from Try Stampin on Tuesday blog.  Now I realize I need more stamps with flourishes!

Avonlea Cards

         
 Two cards made with Close To My Heart Avonlea paper collection.  For the top card, I used pattern #27 from the new 'Make It From Your Heart' publication.  This book has 18 patterns (including cutting measurements) for scrapbook layouts and 12 for cards.  It is available in the new Idea Book. The sets used for this card are Beautiful Friendship and Universal Backgrounds, stamped with Chocolate and Slate inks, and an opaque pearl. 
            The second card features Avonlea paper mounted on a White Daisy die-cut card base. The sentiment stamp is from the Artiste collection placed on a rosette made from Twilight card stock and CTMH Color Ready ribbon sponged with Twilight ink. Simple, but that lovely paper does all the work!

Dakota Versatility

Almost did not buy this new Close To My Heart paper thinking the colors were too dark...then I saw the jeans pocket stamp next to it in the new Idea Book.  Years ago CTMH had a pocket set and I regretted not buying it for years!   I have made several versions of my hankie-in-the-pocket card now and just love the stamp and the paper.  These cards show how versatile the paper pack is, and that you can get some very different looks with shape, color, and embellishments.  We made all three at my workshop yesterday.


Card, flowers, and sentiment cut with CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

The round card was cut from
Sky card stock, the mat for the Dakota paper was cut from Pacifica card stock. The ribbon is from CTMH Blue collection. Barn Red ink used for the sentiment.

For this card I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, matted the Dakota paper with some Whisper card stock. The sentiment was stamped with Indian Corn Blue. The paper color is a very pretty blue...my camera has not done it justice.











And the most recent version of my pocket card.
I wanted to have them use the sanding/distressing and rock n' roll techniques.

Celebrate National Stamping Month!

This is one of the cards I made with the double set offered by Close To My Heart. I used Honey, White Daisy and Outdoor Denim inks and card stock, and a strip from the Pemberley  paper collection. Inside sentiment is 'Happy Birthday.'

To celebrate National Stamping Month in September, Close To My Heart is offering a double stamp set promotion! You can get the exclusive, new My Acrylix^® It’s Your Day double stamp set for just $5 when you place a minimum order of $35 in full retail products from August 15 through September 30, 2012. You’ll love this double set—two D-size sets in one envelope—which includes nearly 50 trendy images that makes it easy to capture the everyday moments in your life. The double set has a retail value of $35.90, which drastically increases the value of your qualifying purchase! Have twice the fun stamping during National Stamping Month with our new, exclusive It’s Your Day double stamp set!  You can click on the CTMH 'Shop with Me' image on the right sidebar.