Falling in Love with Autumn!

 Hey Stampin' Friends!

I held a class yesterday with the title of "Falling in Love with Autumn". It was a lot of fun and I've discovered that almost everyone loves the fall. I think it's the leaves, the pumpkins, the colors, the smells and so much more. There are always some fun new products to help us celebrate this change of season and it was the perfect theme for a class. I wanted to share what we made with you today!

This first card shows some of the dramatic colors that can be used for fall projects, all the deep reds, purples and golds. I used Blackberry Bliss, Cherry Cobbler and Mango Melody with the "Love of Leaves" bundle and the "Plaid Tidings" paper. These dies are super fun to play with and the stitching on the leaves gives you even more reason to love this bundle!

No Autumn card class would be complete without some cards featuring the "Gilded Autumn" Designer Series Paper. It is a gorgeous paper with metallic accents that blends into anyone's idea of fall colors. We used the "Beautiful Autumn" bundle for this card which includes the stamp set and three coordinating punches. As part of the "Gilded Autumn" suite, we also have 3 new brushed metallic foil papers and you can see two of them here on this card. 

We continued with the "Gilded Autumn" DSP and brushed metallic foil paper for this card, using the "Autumn Goodness" bundle. The wheelbarrow die is perfect, even including the wood grain pattern on it!

We colored our flowers with Stampin' Blends alcohol markers and finished the card off with some ribbons from the "Gilded Autumn" bundle. I used the 3D Hammered Metal embossing folder to create a stone path.

Sometimes non-holiday sets get overlooked in a "holiday" catalog but I would hate for you to miss this great stamp set called "Life is Beautiful". It features a striking, large tree and several options for leaves, sentiments and more. This card was CASE'd from the designer of the set with a little tweaking here and there by me. If you're wondering how we got our oval background, I simply cut an oval out of a piece of white tag board that comes inside all of our DSP packs and then used that as a mask with sponge daubers using Bermuda Bay ink and Pumpkin Pie ink. 

Lastly, I had some small 3"x 3" cards and envelopes from last spring's product line that I wanted to use up. Each person made two cards by stamping a quick sentiment and then punching the Plaid Tidings paper with the "Beautiful Autumn" punches. The yellow and peach color splashes were already on these cards.  I love when I can figure out a way to use up something that's retired in a fresh way.

I hope you were inspired as you looked at these cards. I'm trying to offer at least one class a week, often with a particular theme in mind.  My next one will be next Tuesday, the 29th, featuring all the Specialty Papers in the new Aug-Dec Mini Catalog. Let me know if you're interested in attending!

Thanks for stopping by! I should remind you that if you're reading this on Wednesday, Sept 23rd, it is the day of our 24 hour Stamp Sale! Don't miss it! Click on the "shop now" link and then follow the trail to "Specials and Promotions" and "Stamp Sale". There are some great stamps included in the sale and you'll save money to boot, all day today!

Until next time, Happy Stampin'!

Sarah