Hello and Happy Autumn to everyone! The temps are getting cooler here in Minnesota and the leaves on the trees are filled with beautiful colors. I can't believe Halloween is in just a few days and the weatherman is calling for temps to get up in to the 60s! That is pretty rare for us in Minnesota. I remember taking the boys out trick-or-treating when they were little and a few times it was snowing. So I thought this week would be perfect for an Autumn card.
Here is the card I designed. I have used the Penny Black - Snow Dust 4102K wood mounted stamp to make winter and Christmas cards in the past but when I was looking at it I thought why couldn't it be used for a Fall/Autumn card. Instead of snow dust blowing we can pretend it's leaves blowing in the wind. I love it when you can get multiple uses out of stamps. You could even used this stamp in the Spring and change the colors for an apple or cherry tree and the dust part can be blossoms blowing in the wind. I have a tutorial with a few pictures on how I colored and stamped the background for the card. Oh, and it's a shaker card with something a little different than sequins.
For the background I stamped the image of the trees on to ivory cardstock using Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Antique Linen. I used the antique linen ink because I wanted a very light impression of the image just so I could have an idea of where to add all of the colors of ink on the trees.
I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Twisted Citron, Ripe Persimmon to add the color to the image. I just used a small portion of a cotton ball working in a circular motion to apply the ink. You could also use a sponge or a distress ink applicator to apply the ink--use whatever you are the most comfortable working with. If you are worried about using too big of a sponge or applicator you could also use Q-tips to apply the ink. Once all of the ink was applied then I used a paint brush and flicked water on to the paper. I'm not using watercolor paper but the paper will be ok since it will just be a few flicks of water. Then use a paper towel to blot up the water. You can repeat this until you achieve the desired look but make sure you use a heat tool to dry the paper in between for the best results. I added the water two times on this background.
Once I made sure that paper was good and dry then I used Versamark ink to stamp the image of the trees. I inked up the dust part of the image and stamped that a few times at the bottom of the trees and on the left side at the top. To stamp just the dust part you can either ink up just that area on the stamp or you can lay a piece of paper down as a mask so the images of the trees don't stamp. I added Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder and used my heat tool to melt and heat set the embossing powder. One thing I wanted to add--I'm sure someone might be thinking why not just heat emboss and then add the inks for color. The reason I chose to do the technique the way I did is because sometimes if you heat emboss with a metallic color and then add ink on top of it, it can dull the metallic color. So that is why I did the inking on the background and then heat embossed.
Here you can see the shaker bits in the card. You can also click on all of the images to enlarge them and see more of the details. Instead of using sequins I thought it would be fun to use some of the Stampendous - Frantage Gold Lux Mix Micas & Glitter. The colors of the mica and glitter are perfect for a Fall/Autumn card. To create the frame for the card I used brown cardstock and then die cut the frame using Spellbinders - Branching Out and Card Creator 5 x 7 Matting Basics B dies. I inked the edges of the frame with Versamark and then heat embossed using Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.
Here is a close up of the trees. Sorry for the little bit of glare in the photo. Sometimes shaker cards can be a little hard to get a photo of with out a glare from the acetate. I used a piece of the Hot Off The Press Heat Resistant Acetate for the window in the card. I used Scor-Tape to adhere the acetate to the frame and then I added Therm-O-Web Foam on the backside of the frame to add dimension and it will also allow the pieces of mica and glitter to move when someone shakes the card. I added some of the Stampendous - Frantage Gold Lux Mix Micas & Glitter inside the frame and then carefully lined up and added the background piece.
I stamped the word Autumn from the Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Harvest SS-010 set on to a smaller piece of the rust colored cardstock with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder. Then I fussy cut the little notch to make it like a banner. Next I added some May Arts Gold Metallic String Ribbon. I made a bow and frayed the ends. To finish off the card I added a few flowers from the Petaloo - Botanica Collection Sugared Minis Mocha.
I hope you enjoyed today's card and the tutorial.
Please be sure to visit The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for all of your paper crafting goodies and also the Stamp Simply Blog for more inspiration and card making ideas from the design team.
Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a happy Friday!
Hugs & Smiles,
Heidi
Stamps: Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Harvest SS-010, Penny Black - Snow Dust 4102K
Paper: Hot Off The Press Heat Resistant Acetate, Cardstock - Ivory, Brown, Rust
Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Twisted Citron, Ripe Persimmon
Dies: Spellbinders - Branching Out, Card Creator 5 x 7 Matting Basics B
Ribbon: May Arts Gold Metallic String Ribbon
Accessories: Stampendous - Frantage Gold Lux Mix Micas & Glitter, Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder, Petaloo - Botanica Collection Sugared Minis Mocha, Therm-O-Web Foam, Scor-Tape, Heat Tool, Paint Brush, Water, Paper Towel
