Were you able to gather together on Thanksgiving with family & friends? Is today a shopping day for you, or a recovery day because you ate too much turkey and need a nap? Maybe the day after Thanksgiving is your Christmas decorating day, or maybe you are still celebrating with family and friends.
Whatever you are doing today, thank you for stopping by to gather together with me, even if it is virtually. I'm glad you are here!
Today I practiced my speckling! I finally figured out how to make all those little speckles that you see on cards. I've tried many "tools" over the year -- some with more success than others. There was one tool I purchased several years ago that... well, I'm not going to go there. It is not a pleasant memory!
The latest method I was told about was to use the cap of your Stampin' Write Marker and flick it against the brush end of the marker. With a bit of practice, it actually works pretty well. But, I don't seem to have much control over the aiming of where the splatters go, so my advice -- don't wear white and cover a large area on your workspace! But I do like the organic appearance of my specs. What do you think?
The card today uses some nice bright fall colors, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Mango Melody and Pumpkin Pie.
I used the Watercolor Shapes Stamps to make my background for the small bundle of leaves. I love this stamp set! It is so much more versatile than it looks at first glance. I posted some cards that used these Watercolor Shapes on my Facebook Business Page the week of July 4, 2021 -- shortly before I started this blog. They are still there, so if you'd like to check them out, you can use this link to visit my Fairless Stampin' Flair Facebook Business Page. You'll need to scroll a bit to get to July, but they are still there. There is even a Christmas Card that I made using the Watercolor Shapes Stamp Set.
Back to today's card...
The Love of Leaves Stamp Set is a DisINKtive™ style of stamp. These DisINKtive™ stamps provide a lot of color gradation and shading that makes it very easy to stamp realistic looking images. Since colored leaves in nature are rarely solid in color, after inking the stamp, I used a sponge dauber to add a little Granny Apple Green ink on the edges. Can you see it in the photograph?
This would be a quick card to duplicate. Once the 3 leaves are stamped and assembled, I added a double bow of Linen Thread to tie the stems together and then popped three Genial Gems to the card front. This package of gems includes two colors, Pale Papaya and Mint Macaron, and either would have worked with the card colors. I chose the Mint Macaron as I thought it brought out the Granny Apple Green in the narrow mat. These gems really add the right touch of sparkle.
In keeping with the simplicity of the card front, I also kept the inside simple -- but never naked!
I stamped a Pumpkin Pie leaf with just a touch of Granny Apple Green, added a sentiment from Pretty Pumpkins and did a little more practicing on making speckles.
As with all my posts, a free tutorial is available for you to download. Enjoy!
Next week we'll be back to Christmas Cards. However, time is running out, to get those cards made! So hopefully I will be able to give you some inspiration for those last-minute cards. See you next week!
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