Maple Leaves Give Thanks

Fall is my favorite season. I love the colors, the smells, the cool, crisp air. Today I'm sharing a decidedly fall card featuring one of my older Neat & Tangled sets, Maple Leaves Journaling Card.

Paper piecing has always been one of my favorite techniques.  Yes, it's labor intensive and kind of fiddly, but I really love the results.  

All the patterned papers are from an older Doodlebug collection called Flea Market.  I stamped the journaling card stamp on four different pieces of patterned paper as well as on a piece of white cardstock.  That teal green piece was used as the base, and then the leaves and sentiment strip were adhered over top.

To soften the sentiment piece, I added a bit of very subtle Copic coloring using my W1 Copic marker.

The mat on the card base is also from the Flea Market collection, and the journaling card piece was popped up for some extra dimension.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Maple Leaves in the Spring

When I designed the Maple Leaves Journaling Card set and die, I was definitely thinking about Fall, but with Spring in the air, I thought I would revisit them to show how versatile they are.

For my first card, I'm highlighting the stamp set.  I first stamped the image on some white cardstock, and then colored in the background with some Copic markers.

Then I pulled out an older BasicGrey 6x6 pad, Vivienne, and selected four green/yellow-green papers to use to piece the leaves.  I added a bit of shading/coloring to each of the pieced leaves using Copics.



The sentiment is from the Neat & Tangled's Life is Beautiful stamp set.



This next card highlights the die.  It was cut from watercolor paper, and then colored with Distress Markers, actually just two of them, one for the green and one for the blue, and a water brush.  After the initial layer of color on the leaves, I went in and added some highlights with the marker which weren't blended out for some extra texture and to keep some of the color very rich and vibrant.



The Maple Leaves die is a really unique one, which has a combination of cuts and debossing.  When I adhered the die, I left the portions that are cut unadhered, but didn't pop them out like I've done in the past.  It gives the piece a little bit of subtle dimension, but it's still nice and flat for mailing.

That's all for me today.  Hope you've gotten some new ideas on how to take your fall themed products for spring!

*Affiliate links below

COPIC Sketch Marker YG09, Lettuce Green

COPIC Sketch Marker YG13, Chartreuse

COPIC Sketch Marker Y13, Lemon Yellow

COPIC Sketch Marker Y18, Lightning Yellow

COPIC Sketch Marker B00, Frost Blue

COPIC Sketch Marker B12, Ice Blue

COPIC Various Ink Refill B05, Process Blue

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Canson XL Watercolor Paper Pad 9x12

Ranger Distress Marker, Mowed Lawn

Ranger Distress Marker, Evergreen Bough

Ranger Tim Holtz Water Brush, Detailer/Fine Brush Nib

World Card Making Day and Giveaway Reminder

Every year on World Card Making Day (and National Scrapbooking Day) I'm a little frustrated by my inability to get anything created.  This is partly because I get a little overwhelmed by the number of challenges out there and because with two small girls and a husband who is usually coaching on Saturday I'm doing a lot of running around as opposed to sitting down and creating.

This year I decided to just focus my efforts on one thing as opposed to trying to sift through all the many challenges occurring and trying to do all of them or combine them, etc.

I opted to complete the Studio Calico challenges.  There were six of them, and what I loved about them this year was how doable they were.  No find 10 random things to put on your card or use a digi element or some other more difficult/complicated thing.

So here they are for your perusal.  The first challenge was to use a journaling card.  This took no time at all, and I might try and recreate it with patterned paper.  The journaling card is SC as is the small stamped sentiment and the congrats die is Ellen Hutson.

The next challenge was to create a fall card.  I pulled out the Maple Leaves Journaling Card Die which I die cut from regular cardstock and watercolored with Kuretake Gansai watercolors.  Because I used regular cardstock the warping gives the die cut extra dimension.  I love this die more every time I use it!  The patterned paper is BG Persimmon.

Next we needed to create a card using alpha stamps or stickers.  I needed a birthday card for this weekend, so I used this cute critter from Mama Elephant with some thickers.  So quick and easy!

The next challenge was to use a stamp/die in your stash that you haven't had a chance to use yet.  I pulled out this Terrarium set from SC.  I stamped the terrarium on a piece of scrap cardstock and then cut out the middle so I could use it to ink the inside of the bottle.  I also added some embossing powder to some of the stones at the bottom and used a gold Wink of Stella pen to add highlights to the plants.

The penultimate challenge was to use two or more die cuts.  I've had these Maggie Holmes flower dies forever and this was a great chance to put them to use.  They're paired with an SC sentiment die. I used Copics to add some color/shading to the flower/leaf die cuts.

The last challenge was to create a Christmas card that was relatively easy to mass produce and mail.  I pulled out the Winter Trees set I designed for Neat & Tangled last year.  It's stamped on Kraft cardstock.  Then I colored the entire image in (dry) with Inktense pencils.  Once that was done I used a wet (not very wet) brush to activate and blend the coloring.  Super easy.  I finished it with some white splatters and then stamped the sentiment.





And there you have it.  None of these was particularly time consuming to make and I really love that I was able to get out some things that had been languishing in my pile of stamps/dies to use.  I also love that I was able to knock out another Christmas card.

OK, just a reminder that the giveaway of the exclusive Neat & Tangled stamp set from this month's Scrapbook Circle kit ends tonight.  If you haven't yet entered to win, you can do that here.  Good luck, I'll pop in this weekend to announce the winner.

Neat & Tangled September Release Week Day 3

Hey folks!  Ready for Day 3?  I'm really excited about today's release.

This is a follow-up to the Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card set that was released in May.  When I created that set, I had the idea that this could be a series, so today we're revealing the Maple Leaves Journaling Card and Die.

I have two cards to share with you today.  The first one focuses on the stamp set.  The journaling card was stamped and clear embossed on watercolor paper.  The image was colored using Distress Markers and a waterbrush.

The embossing was ironed off, and then I stamped the sentiment and cut out the card.



I added a bit of burlap string and popped the card up over a mat.

This next card uses the die.  I really love how the die turned out.  It includes both cuts (although everything stays intact and nothing comes out), embossing and debossing.  The combination adds a great dimension to the die cut piece.



I used sponge daubers and some masking to add color to the leaves.

I also added some foam adhesive underneath the cut portions of the card to add some additional dimension.

I finished it off with a layer of Wink of Stella pen over the Distress Markers.  It's a little hard to see all the sparkle and detail straight on, so here's a close up shot for you.



OK, that's all for me today.  Make sure you stop by the Neat & Tangled blog to see the full set and leave a comment there to enter to win Danielle's giveaway (the whole release!!!).  I'm also giving away some new goodies here.  Leave a comment to be entered.  At the end of the week I'll pick some winners from all the comments on my release week posts.  For an extra entry share about the release and the giveaway and leave me a second comment telling me how you shared.

I've got one more new product to share with you tomorrow, so be sure to come back!