Hello Friends,
I got back into my craft room today after really struggling with motivation the last few days. The fires and hardship suffered by so many in our local communities has really been burdening my heart; the need to help and yet unsure where I can be of use. Everywhere one turns these days it seems there’s gloom and doom, violence and fear, left versus right, etc., etc., etc. I’m generally a quiet personality type and it’s easy for me to slip into the background where I’m more comfortable, rather than getting out there and facing challenges head-on. However, I can only hide for so long before I feel the Holy Spirit nudging me to put on my full armor and GET OUT THERE! I’ve been a prayer warrior for sure over the last many months, but I’m feeling the push to get out and put my feet and hands to work! There are many needs out there currently, and while I don’t have the resources to fund large donations, I certainly know how to work and am willing to do so.
It was recently brought to my attention that our local animal shelter has taken in many pets from families who’ve been displaced due to the fires, and as well, they have taken in animals from another county shelter which had to evacuate. They’re calling for volunteers to help at the shelter with their extra load of animals, so this is where I will start. I have a very soft spot for animals, so this will be a good fit and I’ve promised myself (and Dean) I won’t fall in love with all of them and want to bring them all home… a real danger if you know me at all!!! LOL!!! Helping the animal shelter seems like a small donation of time and energy, but we’ll see where God leads me from there!
With that decision made and looking forward to starting at the shelter, I was able to settle into my craft room and create this card using largely scraps of cardstock. The larger leaf is cut from madrone tree bark, as I used in earlier posts. The instructions of how to rehydrate and preserve the bark are noted in my post from August 30; click here to see this post. I love the realistic leaf look it lends to the card; it looks like it fell right off the tree. Actually, I guess it did – just not in leaf form!
LET’S GET INKY!
Materials:
Stamp sets used:
- Beautiful Autumn (bundle w/punches)
Dies & Punches used:
- Beautiful Autumn Punch Pack
- Layering Ovals
- Gathered Leaves Dies
Embossing Folder:
- Tasteful Textile 3D
Paper:
- Very Vanilla CS: 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ score at 4 1/4″ and fold in half for card base.
- Very Vanilla CS: 5 1/4″ x 4″
- Gold Foil Sheet: Cropped with Layering Ovals Dies
Ink:
- Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
- Early Espresso
- Old Olive
- Crumb Cake
- Pumpkin Pie
- Cajun Craze
Accessories:
- Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker
- Gold Cord from Wonder Of The Season Ribbon Combo Pack
- Preserved Madrone tree bark
- Mini Glue Dots
PUTTING IT TOGETHER:
- Creating the mat. Using the Very Vanilla CS 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece, sponge ink across panel lengthwise. Start with Old Olive, using swiping motions back and forth across the bottom 1/4 of the panel. Then sponge Crumb Cake ink back and forth, letting it lightly blend into the Old Olive ink. Next is Pumpkin Pie, again, letting it blend slightly into the Crumb Cake ink. Finally, finish with Cajun Craze, allowing that to slightly blend into the Pumpkin Pie ink.
- With ink applied, run panel through Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine in the Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder.
- Cut panel in half at the 2 5/8″ mark.
- Apply inked mat to card base, flipping one panel so that the coloration is opposite the other.
- Adhere gold foil oval centered over the center seam.
- On scraps of Very Vanilla CS, stamp 2 acorns from Beautiful Autumn in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. Fill in the caps with Early Espresso ink, the bottom with Crumb Cake ink. Punch them out with the acorn punch from Beautiful Autumn Punch Pack.
- Stamp 4 oak leaves, and 4 maple leaves on scraps of Very Vanilla. Fill in the oak leaves with Old Olive ink, and the maple leaves with Cajun Craze ink. Punch these out with the punches from Beautiful Autumn Punch Pack.
- Using Early Espresso ink, stamp the wheat stalks (left and right sides) and small leaves (top and bottom).
- Using an Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker, draw the border lines and hash marks in corners.
- Stamp sentiment from Beautiful Autumn in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla strip of CS and then cut the words apart using scissors.
- Adhere words to gold foil oval.
- Adhere the acorns to the left and right sides, centered between the wheat stalks.
- Scatter the oak leaves about the four corners, and the maple leaves around the gold oval – adhere all.
- Using the embossed leaf die from Gathered Leaves Dies, crop leaf from madrone bark (or Cajun Craze CS) by running through Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine.
- Using Mini Glue Dot, adhere leaf to center top.
- Tie a small bow with the gold cord and adhere to top of leaf with Mini Glue Dot.
DONE!
I hope that you’re all doing well out there! For those of you who are local and dealing with the fires and smoke, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist you!
Until next time,
Janet
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