Very Simply Susan

Here we go! Summer is winding down in a month and fall will be here! While I love the early sunshine of summer mornings and the late sunsets, I will be happy to see cooler days ahead.

The thought of fall on the way got me motivated to work on a Halloween card using one of my favorite sets, Harvest Hellos. If you want one stamp set that will do it all for fall cards, this is it. From back-to-school teacher gifts to Halloween to Thanksgiving, this stamp set covers it all. With the matching punch you can create pumpkins or apples, your choice!

As you can see, I stamped pumpkins with a Jack o’ Lantern face and punched those out along with a plaid pumpkin for the sentiment. This card could easily be redesigned for a Thanksgiving – Harvest card and even the sentiment would still work!

I layered them all on a strip of Plaid from the Plaid Tidings DSP on a Pumpkin Pie embossed with the Tasteful Textiles Embossing Folder to give the card some interest. Then, I added in a few die cut leaves in Shaded Spruce to make the card pop.

With a punch and a paper cutter, this card was a snap to make. And with a few changes, it can be Halloween, Harvest, Teacher or Thanksgiving. Your choice!

What I Used  To Make This Card

I spy some pretty cute die cuts in September’s Paper Pumpkin kit!

My poor craft room has been in a disarray for a few weeks while my basement has been dug up to make way for an unexpected plumbing repair. So, I haven’t been stamping nearly as much as I would like this summer! Thank goodness for online events, or I wouldn’t have done much stamping at all.

This card was my take on a design from an all day craft “online” retreat I was on a few weeks ago. I have done a few of these events and they have been fun! For me, the good thing is,  once I sign up for the retreat, I get a nice kit in the mail that was all ready to go. All I needed to do was find some ink and some stamps that would work and I was good to go!

This card was based on a masculine card design in the event’s kit. I just rearranged a few things and added my own embellishments to “customize” it for what I wanted to do. I simply can’t get enough of the In Good Taste suite of products with the textured, natural embellishments. They add so much interest and dimension to a card. This card uses some of the Faux Suede trim and pulls in a few of the copper color Star Design Elements. And all this this interest and dimension in the embellishments is perfect with a Tasteful Textile embossed background. It all comes together for a rich look and feel.

And I am happy to be putting my craft area back together again! Whew! What a mess. Stamping is so much more fun.

What I Used To Make This Card

Want A Fun Kit For Halloween and Thanksgiving Crafting?

Take a look at the picture to see all the wonderful die cuts in t he September Paper Pumpkin! Next month’s kit is a box full of fun! The kit includes treat boxes you can make, embellish and fill with your own treats for the harvest season. Make a few for Halloween and then save a few for your Thanksgiving table. It’s all going to be fun and you can make it yourself!  Learn more by clicking on the image above.

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