Truly Grateful Label Card

I think it should be obvious this week which products are my favorites!  But I love fall, and this is kind of my last chance to show off fall cards, because on Friday, well...let the Christmas season begin, right?

This is an upside down flip card, which I love.  It's nice to mix things up a bit and throw in some variety to one's card-making.

Tips & Tricks

• To make the card "upside-down", simply fold the opposite way you normally would.  It's really that easy!

• Pair up the Woodgrain Background stamp with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder.  It's a great combination!

• Sponging the edges of the Label shape for both sides of the card adds a really soft look.  Did you know that you can cut a sponge in four pieces (like a pie) and quadruple the value?  It's actually a lot easier to use that way, too!

Supplies

Stamps:  Truly Grateful, Yippee-Skippee, Gently Falling
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, More Mustard (retired), and Cajun Craze Classic Ink
Paper:  Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock, Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Label Card Thinlits, Sponge, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Sanding Block

Gently Falling Woodgrain Card

Yay!  It's Thanksgiving week!  I do love Thanksgiving, a holiday I've really only come to appreciate as an adult.  But I'll confess that I'm excited about this week for other reasons.  As I may have mentioned in the past, I homeschool my kids, and one of the very best things about that is the ability to set our own schedule.  And because we can do that, we take the entire month of December off from formal schooling (but we're always learning, because that's how life works!)  Since Thanksgiving falls so late this year, it actually marks the beginning of our break.  We've been working our tails off to get finished up before Wednesday, and it looks like once we finish up a few things today, we can start our fabulous, gigantic Christmas break!  That is what I am especially thankful for today!

So let's focus on this card for a moment, shall we?  I love the woodgrain stamp in the Truly Grateful set.  I also realized that with a little bit of help from my Stamp-a-ma-jig, it fits well with the large tag in the Chalk Talk Framelits.  That was a very exciting discovery!  And you all know how much I love woodgrain and leaves together.  I won't bore you with my gushing about that again.

Tips & Tricks

• In order to make an embossed image pop a bit more, simply sponge a bit of ink lightly over the raised parts.  It makes a world of difference!

• When using the leaves from Gently Falling, I always stamp off the background stamp (not the outline one).  I'm always a lot happier with the final product if I do that.  Try it out and see what you think!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Truly Grateful
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Cajun Craze, and Crushed Curry Classic Ink
Paper:  Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, Naturals Ivory card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Linen Thread, Sponge

Linking up to the Fab Friday Challenge.

Truly Grateful Woodgrain Card

It has definitely turned to fall here this week, but instead of crisp days and pretty leaves, we have rain.  But even the rain has put me in the mood to make woodsy, fall cards.  Today's card is full of texture, which I always love on a card!  It also combines the rustic with a bit of elegance.

Tips & Tricks

• To make the woodgrain pop out a bit on the background, I lightly sponged some crumb cake on all the raised areas that the Woodgrain Embossing Folder made.  It would have looked fine if I had just left the whole piece an uninked Very Vanilla, but this adds more interest.

• The fastest way I know of to add texture to a card is to tear some of the cardstock.  It's easy to do, requires no special tools, and is nearly impossible to do wrong.  The largest piece of torn card stock just happens to be textured card stock, adding even more, well, texture. :)

• Paper-piercing is easier than ever with the Paper-Piercing Packs that Stampin' Up! introduced in last year's catalog.  The templates match so many different Framelits sets, including the Labels Collection that I used here. 

• I'm not the world's best water-colorer, but I do like to include that look on a card from time to time.  I was going for a very subtle, soft look with these acorns, so I didn't worry about using watercolor paper.  Very Vanilla worked just fine, and blurred the perfect amount with a very light touch on my aquapainter.  In this case, less is more when it comes to water!

Supplies

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Paper-Piercing Tool, Mat, and Festive Pack, Sponge, Aquapainter, Linen Thread

Gently Falling

I'm not sure what it's like where you live, but this is the perfect card today.  I have the window open to let in the (very) crisp air, just heard the school bus drive by for the first time, and there's a cup of tea steeping in my kitchen.  It feels like fall today.  I LOVE fall...it's my favorite season.  And I love leaves, because leaves mean fall to me.  So on this first fallish day, a card with leaves is the perfect thing!

Tips & Tricks

• Ruffled ribbon is beautiful, but ruffled crochet trim makes it tricky to when trying to adhere those leaves.  Use a double layer of Stampin' Dimensionals on either side of the crochet trim to make the leaves stick
• Two-step stamps can be frustrating to line up.  Clear mount stamps are a great solution, as the clear block makes it easy to see the first step.  If you're not a clear mount fan, use the Stamp-a-ma-jig!  Or better yet, don't sweat it...there's not need for perfection with these leaves, especially if cutting them out!

Supplies

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Thoughts & Prayers
Ink:  Soft Suded and Tangerine Tango Classic Ink
Paper:  Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper, Naturals Ivory,  Soft Suede, and Crushed Curry card stock
Accessories:  Scallop Oval and Large Oval punches, Pearl Basic Jewels, Crochet Trim, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimentionals

Truly Grateful Joy Fold Card

I've been wanting to do a Joy Fold Card at club for a long time.  I've had the instructions printed out and sitting on my desk for probably a year.  And when I sat down and thought about what to make this month, I realized that Truly Grateful was the perfect set for such a card. 

I like making cards with unusual folds...it keeps the recipient on their toes.  And it's always good to try new things, simply for the challenge of doing something new and different.  I've said before how I love Sweater Weather and Truly Grateful together, because they both just scream fall to me.  But since it's only August, I didn't want to make this card be too fall-ish...it's still summer, after all!  So the lighter tones in this particular plaid were perfect for this card.  I would never have thought to pair Crushed Curry and Soft Sky together on my own, but I LOVE how they look together!  See, another new thing for me to try!

In case you aren't familiar with Joy Fold cards, here's how they look when opened:

The layers unfold to create a really interesting card.  The little wood slice on the front is adhered with a Stampin' Dimensional, so that the smaller flap can be tucked in behind it to keep it secure.

Tips & Tricks

• Use a Stamp-a-ma-jig!  That's how I was able to line up the woodgrain image...it's not big enough on it's own and needs to be stamped twice.  I'm pretty good at eye-balling, but this one requires the SAMJ! 
• Stamping Chocolate Chip ink on watercolor paper or Naturals White card stock allows you to watercolor without additional ink!  Just use an Aquapainter and pull ink from the image you've stamped.  It's OK for the image to bleed this time!

Measurements

• Chocolate Chip (card base) ~ 4 1/4" x 8 1/2"; score at 5 1/2"
• Soft Sky ~ 3" x 8"; score at 4"
• Crushed Curry DSP ~ 4" x 5 1/4"
• Plaid DSP ~ 4" x 2 3/4"
• Chocolate Chip (top layer) ~ 3 3/4" x 2 3/4"

Supplies

• Stamps:  Truly Grateful
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip
• Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, and Naturals White card stock, Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper 
• Accessories:  Aquapainter, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Simply Scored Tool, Decorative Label Punch, Linen Thread, Sponge
  

Truly Grateful

Ah, fall colors, plaid, and woodgrains (OK, plus linen thread)...three (four) of my favorite things.  This may be a simple card, but there are several textures and patterns going on.  The plaid comes from the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper, which is available in the Holiday Catalog.  (Let me know if you need a copy!)  And check out the wood slice image stamped across the Cajun Craze stripe.  It goes beautifully with the woodgrain texture embossed on the Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock.  This card just makes me think of fall, my favorite time of year.  Although I'm not quite ready for it yet!

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  Early Espresso Core'dinations, Cajun Craze,  and Sahara Sand card stock, Sweater Weather DSP
Accessories:  Big Shot, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Linen Thread, Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds, Sanding Block

Truly Grateful

I don't show nearly enough masculine cards here on my blog, so it's high time that I did.  This card uses the brand new set Truly Grateful, from the Holiday Catalog (which will be available starting August 1).  There are some beautiful images in this stamp set, but the wood slice that you see above is the reason that I got this set.  I love anything woodsy, so I just had to have this.  On a side note, I'm totally a woodsy/camping girl...I would much prefer to go camping in the mountains/woods than to go to the beach.  I know I'm completely in the minority on that one, but I grew up living in the woods and I guess no matter what, I'm always drawn back there.  Although if someone wanted to send me on a free beach vacation, I would not turn it down!

Anyway, back to this card.  I love using the Woodgrain embossing folder with this stamp...the more woodgrain, the better!  I lightly sanded a piece of Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock and clear embossed the sentiment on it.  Oh, and there's one little wood slice that I cut out and popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional.  I just love all the browns and the woodgrains together. 

So what about you?  Mountains/woods or beach?

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso (Core'dinations) card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Woodgrain embossing folder, sanding block, linen thread, paper snips, Stampin' Dimensionals