Tartan Plaid and Turning Leaves!

 

I'm leaving for Scotland on Saturday so of course I had to use a plaid on today's card!  It ended up being a fun card to make using paper from several different pads and two of our beautiful stamp sets.  Black and Beige is one of my favorite color schemes, this time made even richer with a bit of "chocolate."  

This is another no coloring card!  This leaf is so beautiful in bold changing colors courtesy of a sheet of designer paper from Craft Consortium's Metal Textures pad.  

The adjacent sentiment is stamped on a sheet from Test of Time, which has a bit of a wood bark feel.  

The cross was stamped onto a sheet from the Scorched Wood pad, and sits atop another print from Metal Textures.  

Inside, there's another scrap of the tartan plaid against a background from Test of Time.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Easter is for Jesus Bundle
• Craft Consortium Tartan Plaid 6x6 (front)
• craft-consortium-test-of-time-6x6 (sentiment, inside right)
• Craft Consortium Metal Textures 6x6 (leaf, inside left)
• craft-consortium-scorched-wood-6x6 (cross)
• May Arts 1.25" Silk - 32 yard spool - Black
• gems

I'll be leaving Florida's temps in the upper 80's for Scotlands 50's with lows dipping into the low 40's, so I'm trying to decide what to pack.  I'm touring with a knitting group, so we're all looking forward to some Sweater weather!  Last time we were there I was either too hot (indoors) or too cold (outdoors) so this time I am determined to pack thinner, more adjustable layers that will be more comfortable outdoors and in.  I'm taking my hand-spun, hand-knit Highland Coo inspired cardigan!  I finished it just in time!  

Fingers crossed that I will find some beautiful fleece/fiber and yarn to bring back home as souvenirs from this trip!  🇺🇸 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇺🇸 

Count your blessings and give thanks!

Hello friends!

Today's project was inspired by one sheet of Ink Drops Vivid designer paper where the sage blue-greens faded to golden yellows.  I thumbed through the rest of my paper pads looking for prints that would harmonize and landed upon a few prints from Echo Park It's a Boy!  (Kinda nice to be able to use that paper pad for something besides baby boys, as much as I love 'em!  The colors work great together IRL but my camera kinda struggled to catch them accurately.)  

I'm also trying to use some of my "just shy of card-size" bits of card stock, so I went with something sort of like a buckle card using Tim Holtz tags.  I like that this layout gives an opportunity for those various prints to play together even from the inside.  

This photo shows how the tag (two pieces of designer paper glued together and scored so that they'll fold over the front edge) attaches to the inside.  I used the tag die cut to remove a portion of the white mat and designer paper layer to eliminate some thickness/heaviness, so the tag actually adheres to the gold card base.  

Since the "baby" paper print had leaves of various colors, I grabbed one of our other Fall sets to stamp and die cut a few leaves from scraps of the harmonizing prints and some card stock.  No coloring at all on this card!  Just stamped ink.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Blessings Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Harvest Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Signage (tiny heart)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Vivid 6x6
• Echo Park It's a Boy 6x6
• May Arts 5/8" Faux Linen Canvas Ribbon Sampler - 27 yards
• Spellbinders ovals
• distress oxide inks

We Will Never Forget

It feels like a "God-wink," a Divine appointment, that just as I am sitting at the keyboard to write today's blog post, the commercial on the TV in the background is talking about how our brave firefighters run toward danger rather than away from it.  I will never ever forget watching the news coverage of September 11th when the firefighters and first responders of FDNY ran bravely toward those two towers still determined even while understanding the horrific danger.  

Our policemen, firefighters, first responders, and our military make me so very proud to be American.  I'm so grateful for them!  They came running when the ginormous tree fell onto our home in September of 2004 from Hurricane Jeanne, and they even came to change a smoke detector battery that is so high up that we couldn't get to it ourselves!  Our Station #22 is awesome!  And hey, speaking of hurricanes, please include the linemen in this group...they come from far and wide to get our power going again after the storms knock everything out.  Another reason to be extremely grateful!

This is an easy card to make and looks like a traditional card when closed, but reveals an extra fold on the inside once opened.  The base is a standard 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch piece of card stock folded portrait style, with another 5 1/8 x scant 8 1/2 inch piece (scored at 4 and 6 1/4) adhered to the inside.  The window die-cut into the card front allows the circular focal point to peek through from the inside.  

Here's the card half-opened.  The right half of the circular element is adhered to the interior fold.  

When fully opened, the date, pledge, and "Patriotism" sentiment become visible.    

To get the cleanest ink impressions, plan your layout and stamp the sentiments before adhering the various elements together.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The American Eagle Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The Pledge of Allegiance
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Patriotic Sentiments
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Welcome Baby Basics (baby star)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• echo-park-let-freedom-ring-6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 6 ct
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown
• Memento ink, Copic markers
• Faded Jeans and Fired Brick distress oxide inks for sentiments