Thursday, October 1, 2015

Fall is in the air somewhere

Most of the country is feeling the crisp air of Fall, the colors, smells and fruit harvest that make my favorite pies.  Not so much here in Arizona.  We are still experiencing temps well over 100 degrees on this first day of October.
Growing up and living my early adult years in the northeast I had a love/hate relationship with Fall.   I loved the vivid colors and jumping in the leaves, pumpkin and apple pies.  I hated that the falling leaves signaled the coming of winter and months of cold, snowy weather.  I was not fond of snow and cold even as a kid.  I was happier staying inside reading or crafting up a mess.
I am still inspired by those vivid Fall colors though.  Here are a couple of cards I made this week using Color Burst that nod to the season.
For this card, I started with one of the Color Burst backgrounds I made last week using the hexagon stencil. There is a layer of velum over the background which mutes the vivid pattern and allows the focal point to stand out. The stamps and dies are all from PaperTrey Ink.  I stamped the sunflower and leaves with Distress Ink with a rock and roll method.  Then I used a damp paintbrush to soften and blend the colors and add some extra dimension.

I've had this pear stamp for many years and it's no longer on the wood block, so I do not remember the brand.  I love using it for watercoloring.  There are so many wonderful shades of pears to choose from if you are sticking with nature and the unnatural possibilities are endless.  I used Color Burst as my paint from an artist palette.  The background paper is also Color Burst.  I die cut the center out with a stitched die and then die cut my pears out with the same die.  This allows me to nest or inlay the two layers together.  I wanted a little bling,  but didn't feel like sequins.  I love how the copper die cut Hello and banner add that pop without the bulk.



Here's a closeup of the banner with the layer of vellum under it.  The vellum adds a little more visual interest that's there, but almost not.  I originally thought I would staple the banners on, but decided to keep it clean by just taping them down.  The card base is also a PaperTrey product.  It's a lovely heavy weight and makes for sturdy cards.

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