I think my favorite time of year for card making is fall. I love the colors and the motifs. And this year,  I am very excited about creating some new fall cards using the Plaid Tidings DSP. This DSP is wonderful because the pack includes plaids to fit every holiday coming up and beyond. You have colors perfect for Halloween, Fall, Harvest, Christmas and some that could even take you through to Valentine’s Day!

So,  I took the Gather Together stamp set and a pack of the Plaid Tidings DSP and decided to do a fall themed card. And rather than go the traditional route, I spied this beautiful plaid with lots of Pretty Peacock in it and had to try a fall card with it. There is a tiny bit of Seaside Spray and some accents with Shaded Spruce as well. I wondered if these colors could all come together in a card for fall, but I think they worked!

I love not having to always use a white or vanilla background for sentiments. And having such a pale color as Seaside Spray to work with was great. I used it for the sentiment, a focal point in the collage grouping and as a thin layer for the plaid DSP which provided the separation I deeded for the Pretty Peacock and Shaded Spruce layers.

I wanted something natural and the 3/8″ Embroidered Ribbon was just enough “natural” color to make the card read fall. I took a bit of ribbon and frayed it to get the fibers you see in the collage. That helped to tie the collage and the ribbon together.

At the end, I felt I needed something to frame the collage. The Gold Hoops were perfect for this. I took my wire cutter and cut the hoop in half and added it on opposite sides of the collage. It was the perfect finishing touch!

Products Used To Make This Card

It was time to bring back my Christmas Gleaming, which is a returning favorite from last year’s catalog. Don’t you love it when a stamp set favorite returns? I sure do!  And this one could not be more of a favorite with beautiful ornament stamps and matching punches. Its easy holiday crafting and because its a returning favorite, I can get a head start on holiday projects!

The coordinating Designer Series Paper was carried over too. So if the beautiful Brightly Gleaming DSP was one you loved and used up like I did, it is coming back August 4th! Here’s a peek at the paper from last year’s catalog. Sadly, the ribbon is not available this year, but the richly colored paper with copper metallic accents will soon be back. Look at the ornament tags you can make just using your punches.

Because I was all out of the Brightly Gleaming DSP, I decided to look at a new paper and a new look for this set. And, I found it in the Artistry Blooms DSP in the Annual catalog! It reminds me of the colors in a snowflake themed DSP you will see in the new Holiday Mini catalog in August.

With the frosty night sky colors in the paper, I decided I wanted a lot of bling to set off the paper in a holiday way. The Artistry Blooms Sequins were a perfect color match along with some Pool Party color rhinestones.

I “hung the ornaments using ribbon. On the Tricolor purple Ribbon, I cut off just the purple to hang one ornament and then frayed the rest of the ribbon to hang another. I frayed the ends of all the ribbons just to give it a handmade look.

So, here is my first holiday card of the season. The holidays will be here before you know it. I plan to start crafting big time now so I don’t have to rush later. The key word there is “plan”! We will see how that goes…..

What I Used To Make This Card: 

Tasteful Touches is such a great set for tailored, classic looking cards.  And the set is so versatile, you can create a wide variety of looks with it. I designed this card for a masculine card challenge. It was another take on a fancy fold card I had done in a Demonstrator meeting. That was the same card design, but had a completely different look to it.  You can see that card HERE.

I love this fancy fold design because its easy to do and don’t require a lot of complicated measuring or cutting. Just MY kind of a fancy fold. Simple, quick and can work with a variety of looks. And a vertical or horizontal design. I also love this design as it is a great way to showcase Designer Series Paper. I used an embossed card stock background paper here. But you can see how much space there is to show off DSP. It really is a versatile design!

For this design, I felt like Soft Suede worked with this pattern of the In Good Taste DSP. And I like the Gray Granite with both the DSP and the Soft Suede. I can’t tell you why, but it works. Because the papers are all about natural elements, I brought in some of the In Good Taste Elements as well as one of the Antiqued Brass Corners. Its a simple add, but it makes the card look very elegant. I liked the shape of the Nested Label die, but wanted a different look and cut off one of the ends so it would be flush against the edge of the card. A little Faux Suede Trim behind the sentiment was just enough. I also stamped a couple of images from Tasteful Touches to frame in the design. It was a fun card to do.  Here’s a look at the inside: