I have been wanting to try some new techniques and www.splitcoaststampers.com has some great tutorials and this was one of them. The tutorial can be found here. It is hard to see in the picture but I stamped one of the leaves from the Autumn Splendor set on the espresso paper using espresso ink. The I embossed it using my square lattace EF. The paper on the right of the card is actually gold paper that I stamped with the woodgrain background. I stamped the large leaf from the Autumn Spendor set using chocolate chip craft ink then embossed with clear embossing powder. I did this on the polished stone paper I made. Finally, I stamped the sentiment from the Day of Gratitude stamp set using versamark and gold embossing powder. Despite the above description it actually went together fairly quickly (which is good for me as it usually takes me a LONG time to come up with a layout.)

Day of Gratitude Cards

I have been really busy making a lot of cards. I usually have a hard time using my DSP. Most of the cards I make are without any DSP. I love Stampin Up's Designer paper. Once I purchase it I always have a ton left over - so my goal is to try and use it more on my cards. Another reason it is hard to use is because when I only get two pages of each design I have to be careful when planning my craft night so that there is enough paper to go around. But here is what I came up with for some of my fall cards.
I knew when I saw the Day of Gratitude stamp set I wanted it. And the thick textured DSP is so beautiful and fun.

For this card I used a Sizzix tags die I got at Michaels. Don't you just love the buttons that Stampin Up has? I love that the colors match perfectly. I embossed with the Polka Dots embossing folder and the Autumn Spice DSP. Also, I love the deep rich color of the cajun craze paper & ink.


Again, on this card I wanted to use my new tag dies for the Big Shot. Besides using the Day of Gratitude stamp set I also used my new woodgrain background stamp (it is hard to see in the picture because I wanted a real light background). I used crumb cake ink on the woodgrain stamp and stamped off once. The leaves are from the Autumn Splendor stamp set. I colored them using my blender pens and ink pads (I got the coloring technique from here.

This last card is one of my favorites. For the main image I used the Wandering Words stamp set that was in last years holiday mini (I just didn't use it enough last year and couldn't wait to bring it back out). I colored the stamp with my markers. Again, I used the Polka Dot embossing folder. On the green DSP I used my Baroque Motifs stamp using old olive ink. I stamped the leaf using the Day of Gratitude stamp set and then cut the leaves out and used dimensionals. This card took me awhile to come up with but I had a great time creating it!!

TFL

More Coasters - I just can't stop

It seems that every new stamp set I get I have to try and make coasters. I just can't stop and I have some ideas for using Bells and Boughs from the holiday mini for coasters. I just need more time!!!!! For this set I used the Days of Gratitude stamp set and the sanded background. I stamped the images using craft ink in mustard (sanded stamp), olive and rust and chocolate chip for the edgets. Super fun and easy.

Masculine Cards

I needed to make a couple of masculine cards. This card is for my brother's birthday. I used 3 stamp sets on this card. For the trees I used my markers by adding colors of mustard, cajun, old olive and espresso and I stamped it on vanilla - and sponged the edges. For the strip on the left I stamped one of the leaves and nuts on crumb cake then embossed it with the lattice EF. The I sponged the edges and top with espresso ink. I really like how it turns out. I wanted a nice card for my brother.

This card is for my uncle who has not been feeling well. I used the stamp set Day of Gratitude from the holiday mini set. I stamped the background and emobssed it with the lattice EF then sponged the card stock.