Fall's Flaming Color Palette

 

Hello friends!  We recently returned from a vacation to upper Michigan to visit my husband's family.  Even though the days were mostly in the mid eighties, there were a few cool nights and I noticed that a few of the leaves are just beginning to turn.   Living in Florida we don't get those flaming bright Fall colors that those of you who live further north do, but that does not stop me from enjoying them when I have the opportunity!  Sometimes it only comes via paper!  

Sadly, the other thing that I noticed the first few days we were there was the haze from smoke generated by the Canadian forest fires, so this card carries with it a prayer for all who've been affected by them.  It has been super dry near my Louisiana home town too, and there is a fire just north of there as well.

As I type this blog post we are making preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Idalia so there are lots of prayers for lots of reasons right now!  By the time this post has published hopefully the worst of Idalia will already be over.

I kept this card fairly simple so that those vivid colors could speak for themselves.  The border was stamped on white card stock and colored with Copic markers and clear glitter marker, while the sentiment was directly stamped onto the designer paper.

I had ivory pearls but wanted little pops of color instead, so I colored those with Copic markers too!

Here's a look at the inside, accented with a bit of that lovely designer paper left over from the sheet used on the front of the card.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Falling Leaves Border Strip
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Designer Paper - Sunset 6 x 6
• Memento Ink
• Sheer Orange Ribbon
• pearls
• Copic markers
• clear glitter marker

CAS Bookmarks

 

Hello friends!  Today's Stamp Simply project is a trio of ultra simple, assembly-line-stamped bookmarks using two of our beautiful scripture sets, Tim Holtz's Tag Collection dies, and a couple of sheets of Craft Consortium designer paper.  These were super easy and quick to make using a stamping platform to align the stamps (I under-stamped with grey ink and then over-stamped with shimmery silver).  

The paper is two-sided so I didn't really want to cover up the pretty colors on the flip side.  I opted to stamp another sentiment on the back, but because the paper is relatively thin, needed to reinforce the hole at the top for a little extra strength and durability.  In a way it is nice that they're thin...they won't mar your book at all so long as the ribbon and beads extend above the closed pages (who else still loves the look, smell and feel of a "real" book?!).  For this reason I had to really resist the urge to bling them up with rhinestones, choosing instead to splash them with diluted Delicata silver ink.  They are really shimmery IRL and I'm sad the photos don't capture that.  

Here's a close-up of one so you can see more of the details.  Isn't that paper just gorgeous?!  

And here's the back, showing the circle reinforcement, which is part of the Tag Collection die set.

There's lots of subtle symbolism here: there's a Trinity of beads, one for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the sheer ribbon is a symbol of the breath of Life that God breathed into Adam and Eve and all of His Creation; the colors are a gentle reminder of the rainbow and God's promise.  And of course, there are the scriptures themselves...that God's Word will stand forever, and that His love for us was why He sent His Son to redeem us.

These are the tools I used to add beads to that rustic jute string.  My friends on Ravelry (essentially like "Splitcoaststampers" for fiber artists) taught me the trick of using a dental floss threader for inserting yarn through tiny beads, and that did the trick here just perfectly.  A thin crochet hook will work too and I use that a lot (in fact, the one I frequently use belonged to Patrick's grandmother so it is quite sentimental), but for the jute and these small beads, I found the floss threader worked better.  (The hook had a tendency to fray the jute).  

Supplies:

Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Salvation
Craft Consortium Designer Paper - Retro Summer
Tim Holtz Tag Collection Thinlets Dies
Memento Grey Flannel ink (for understamping)
Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink
sheer silver ribbon
jute string
beads from stash

Poppies Faux Step Card!

Hello friends!  I'm here today with a faux step card.  The advantage is that it is easier to make than a real step card but the disadvantage is that it does not fully open.  Basically it's a "slice" of a regular card attached to an accordion-folded card made from an 8 x 5.5 piece of card stock scored at 3, 6 and 7; its overall measurements are still 4.25 x 5.5 inches so it will still fit into a standard sized envelope.  

Here's what the card looks like from the side.  The vertical portion adheres on the bottoms to the accordion portion and the rest remains free.  If you've got part of a card started already, you're halfway there!

Those gorgeous Craft Consortium Sunset red-oranges are what inspired this project.  LOVE those bold, beautiful poppies!

This portion of the card seemed made for this sentiment stamped onto fishtail banners!  A perfect fit!  

Here's a peek at the inside, and it *is* just a peek.  It will not stay open; it is meant to stand for display.  If you wanted to, you could make the back be the spot for a sentiment and signature and ignore this inside part altogether.  Either the inside or the outside would be a good spot to adhere a gift card pocket!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Pretty Poppies Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Sunset 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Red
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Copic markers
• gold gel pen

He is the Light!

I'm having so much fun with Craft Consortium designer papers! For today's project I combined our Lighthouse sets with Tim Holtz pockets and tags for this card of encouragement.

I snipped a slot into the top of the envelope to make a pocket for a tag so that I could fit more scripture onto this project.  

The lighthouse on the front of the envelope pocket was stamped with Memento ink and colored with a combination of distress markers and Copics.  The picket fence distress marker made it look white-washed, and there's just a touch of red on the rails and the roof just like the one IRL. 

Here you can see the inside and the full tag from the front pocket.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Lighthouse Full Bundle
• Craft Consortium Retro Summer 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Gray Flannel
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Collector
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Lilac
• Seam Binding Sampler - Blues Purples - 30 yards
• distress oxide inks
• Copic markers
• Tim Holtz distress markers

Autumn Silhouettes

This beautiful Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic designer paper made me think of a peaceful Louisiana (or maybe Florida 😊) pond, its waters swirling with duckweed, tadpoles and frogs, a stand of graceful cattails softly swaying in the breeze, just the kind of scene that might appeal to the fisherman or hunter.  

It seems that the older we get, the more often we need to send sympathy cards.  Sometimes it is easier to create a card with the lost loved one in mind.  On the other hand, sometimes it can be completely  overwhelming, so it is a good idea to try to have a few masculine and feminine designs on hand for when the creative muse is saddened and stifled.  

I used a combination of Memento ink and distress oxide ink to stamp some nice dark cattails, then added some glitter ink to the flower portions only.  (Do any of you still have any brown Sparkly Fluff from way back when?!  It would be a perfect alternative here!)

The same inks were used in layers to stamp the sentiment on pearlescent card stock.  Be sure to let the ink completely dry before you handle it or it will smear!  

I wanted the pearls to be gold so I gave some champagne pearls a little swirl with a gold Copic marker.  Now they match perfectly!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 15 ct
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Champagne
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• distress oxide ink