autumn cards

now that we live in NC, i get to appreciate the change of seasons again. never thought i would miss that, but 6 years in FL made that happen.

i may be the only person to send fall cards out, but then, i send cards anytime i can. i love to create mini pieces of art (well, sort of art)....so here's a few i just made for this autumn.

shaped box challenge

challenge was to make a shaped box. i think this is pretty close....it IS a bag, but you can put things it in and that's what you do with a box. right?

used my nestability label die for the shape, and wonderful K&Co CS, double sided, so it looks good from any angle.....a white lunch bag serves as the "box"....handles are large ovals cut from the same CS

happy birthday embossed with a 2x2 CB embossing folder.....and inked with chalk ink for emphasis, topped with a cut out stamped blutterfly....adhered with a popdot.

buttons

just got this neat set from papertreyink.com. called "everyday button bits". you stamp the stems, strings, and other basics shapes and then add buttons or felt circles or even paper circles to finish.

i discovered there is a amazing amount of interesting buttons to be had. i spent quite a time in the button section of my local fabric store ! i also have a box of buttons collected over the years....shankless buttons work the best, but if you are careful you can snip the shanks off.

the set has many sentiments in addition to the basic shapes....they include a bicycle, regular balloons, flowers, chicks, trees and more ...... really nice set.

for my hot air balloons i found the perfect larger button for the main balloon and then used plain ones for the other two. the paper is from a debbie mumm stack....clouds seemd perfect for this project. sentiment: "soaring by to say HI".

new camera, so i need to practice more....not getting details as sharp as i want.

another paint chip project

paint chips are so much fun !

for this i stamped a dollar michaels shoe stamp on 3 shades of gold paint chips.....the sentiment is from a papertreyink stamp set. it says "you can do anything if you have the right shoes". some gold stickles add a bit of bling to the shoes.

background paper is from a sizzix mini stack purchased eons ago !

kit card

southernebreezes.com had a challenge this week....to use an old kit (or old papers) to make a card. i immediately remembered a kit i had purchased several years ago and amazingly, i was able to locate it (after two moves, that in itself was a challenge).

for this card i cut circles out of chip board and glued a thin layer of foam to each piece. i had really pretty handmade paper (a gift from a friend ) so it was perfect. wrapping the paper around the shapes was another challenge !!

i punched a hole in the centers and added large gold brads to each flower. i used a strip of the paper to make a vertical element....

for the flower stems i twisted strips of the handmade paper and tied a bow to anchor them to the background CS. whew. i think the next time i will use a lightweight fabric.

the kit has several shapes....a pear, a heart and a kimono. you were supposed to use washi paper to cover the shapes, but the kit didnt come with that and i was not able to locate the washi paper (which i had more than likely bought along with the kit).

the challenge was fun and it did make me use a kit that had been languishing in my craft closet for a long long time...lots of effort so i dont know how many more i will try. i think that fabric would lend itself better to the project though.

challenge: handmade embellishment

these flowers were made from coffee filters, dyed with reinker and sprayed with glimmer mist....cut out with a nestability die. the centers are jeweled brads. paper from a joanns stack....the leaves are ribbon from Hobby Lobby....

no sentiment yet, waiting to see what the next occasion calls for.