Hello Friends!
Dean and I went for a horseback ride yesterday morning and I noticed that our maple trees are already losing their leaves. Though the calendar doesn’t say so just yet, I think it’s beginning to look a lot like FALL!
In pondering how fast time goes by, The Steve Miller Band popped into my head as I was riding, and I started singing “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future; I want to fly like an eagle to the sea…” About that time, Jake, my horse, must’ve been listening carefully to the lyrics (or he doesn’t like my singing), as he picked up the pace and suddenly I was feeling that “wind of heaven which blows between a horses ears”! I reined him back, which he did readily, and then he blew as if to say… FINE, just no more singing! This reminded me of my son, Adam, when my kids were young. My daughters liked to sing in the car, and Adam would ask them to stop. They rarely did upon his request, and finally Adam would be begging me, “Mom, pleeeease make them STOP!” I guess Jake was either 1) giving me my wish to “fly like an eagle”, or 2) was saying in his own way “pleeease stop singing!” Either way, I stopped singing and we settled back into a nice easy walk!
Oh how I love my horses! The following just about sums it up for me and my boys (horses)!
But I digress…
I was speaking of seeing the maple leaves already falling, and that’s what prompted today’s card! I had just one more Madrone bark leaf leftover from my card a few days ago and wanted to incorporate that.
I had wanted to use bark for the larger leaf also, but I didn’t get glycerin applied to my flattened bark soon enough and the bark was quite brittle, so I started the process described in my last post all over again, this time applying glycerin to the bark as soon as it came out of the water. It should be ready for working with by tomorrow!
A couple quick notes before we get down to the inky business:
Stampin’ Up updated the Clearance Rack a couple days ago, so be sure to check out the deals there! I noticed there’s quite a bit of cardstock and embellishments, as well as designer series paper deeply discounted so check it out!
Also, if you’ve been kicking around the idea of joining my team, now is a GREAT time to do so! Through the month of September, if you sign up to be a demonstrator, you’ll receive not only the regular starter kit ($125 worth of products for $99 – plus all the business supplies and FREE shipping), but you will also receive the “Get & Go Starter Kit” which includes enough cardstock pieces to make 16 cards, a pack of Rhinestone Basic Jewels, the So Much Love stamp set, and the Queen Anne’s Lace stamp set. This is enough to easily get you set up for your first event if you choose to do so! Though, as I’ve mentioned before, many join simply to be “hobby” demonstrators (getting the discount and being able to pre-order ahead of the public). That’s what I did initially, and I can promise you I will never push you to do more than you want to do! So, if you’re interested or have questions, please just click on the “Contact” tab above and I’ll get back to you promptly!
Let’s get INKY!
Materials:
Stamp sets used:
- Winter Woods (trees)
- Gather Together (leaf)
- Life Is Beautiful (sentiment)
Paper:
- Very Vanilla cardstock
- In Good Taste DSP (frame)
- Gilded Autumn (inside)
- Bumblebee cardstock (large leaf)
- Early Espresso (bottom border)
Metal Dies:
- Layered Squares
- Gathered Leaves
- Many Mates
Ink:
- Soft Suede
- Early Espresso
Accessories:
- Preserved Madrone bark
- Embroidered Ribbon
- Gold thread from Forever Greenery Ribbon Combo
Putting It Together:
-
- Fold the Very Vanilla cardbase in half and stamp the trees from Winter Woods across the front using Soft Suede ink.
- Cut the window in the left side of the front using Layering Squares dies.
- Using the same size square die that you used to cut the window in the front, and the next larger scalloped square, cut the frame for the window from the In Good Taste DSP.
- Adhere that frame around the window in the front.
- Stamp the sentiment at the top of the panel, beside the front window, in Early Espresso ink.
- Cut a piece of Embroidered Ribbon long enough to just slightly overlap the ends when wrapped around the front panel through the window.
- Adhere ends of ribbon on the front side of the card using Mini Glue Dots. I adhered the ends on the front side of the card so the inside would have a neat & clean look, and I could hide the ends on the front with embellishments.
- Cut a piece of the Gold Thread from the Forever Greenery Ribbon Combo and tie in a bow.
- Adhere that and a die-cut leaf over the ends of the ribbon.
- Using the metal die from the Many Mates die set, cut the border embellishment from Early Espresso cardstock.
- On the inside, adhere a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of Gilded Autumn DSP.
- Stamp the large leaf image from Gather Together stamp set in Early Espresso ink, onto Bumblebee cardstock. Crop the image out with the associated die from Gathered Leaves Dies.
- Adhere the leaf to the inside of the card, aligning with the window in the front of the card.
I chose not to stamp a sentiment on the inside of the card so that I can write a personalized, handwritten note.
DONE!
Until next time, I hope you get a little INKY today!
Janet
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Light-bulb moment: My happiness didn’t have to hinge on what someone else did or didn’t do.
