With an upcoming fall wedding (well, I haven’t technically been invited yet, but I know the invitation’s coming since I helped make them) I have autumn colors on the brain. This started out as a possible wedding invitation, but by leaving off any type of “you’re invited” sentiment, it’s general enough to use for any occasion really.

This card is 5″ x 7″ finished size, with the base color being Crumb Cake. I stamped the front with the Woodgrain stamp in the same crumb cake ink. Across the front, I added a strip of chocolate chip card stock, paper pierced along the bottom.

The main image is from Season of Friendship, stamped on Very Vanilla card stock in chocolate chip ink for the trunk, so saffron, pumpkin pie, and cajun craze for the leaves. As for the birds, I stamped them in taken with teal ink, then cut them out. In order for them to face each other, I turned over one of the birds and stamped all over the back with the stamp and taken with teal ink. Then, I used the White Gel Pen to make a little eye and that’s it–now they’re love birds! I attached them to the tree with 2 mini glue dots each.

In the lower corner, I stamped “love” from Tiny Tags in chocolate chip ink. I LOVE those little brackets–they are too cute.

I distressed the edges of the very vanilla card stock with the Cutter Kit distressing tool and rubbed some Creamy Caramel ink around the edges with a Sponge Dauber. Then, the very vanilla was layered with Cajun Craze and attached to the base.

Finally, I sprayed the whole front of the card with Shimmer Mist that I made using 70% Rubbing Alcohol and Frost Shimmer Paint.

Until the invitations are mailed, I don’t want to post a picture and spoil the surprise–so be on the lookout for the invitation that made the cut!

This idea was cased from Connie Collins. I love the look of the Bigz Lattice Die, I just wish it made a bigger piece! In order to make the lattice image span across the entire front of the card, I simply folded my Pear Pizzaz (In Color) card stock in half, placed it on the die, keeping the fold just slightly below the edge of the blades, and ran it through the Big Shot.

I used SNAIL to adhere the lattice design to the Early Espresso base, but you could also use Mini Glue Dots. I cut off the overhang of the lattice design with my paper cutter to give it a really clean look. That was layered onto a wider strip of Whisper White that I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch along the bottom.

The card base is Pear Pizzaz. The sentiment is from Perfect Punches, stamped in Poppy Parade ink and punched out with the Wide Oval Punch. I layered it onto a scalloped Early Espresso circle, made with the Scallop Circle Punch. I added white dots with the Signo Gel Pen and adhered it to the base with Stampin Dimensionals.

This next card reminds me of being in Aruba or Hawaii–it’s very tropical without trying to be. The card base is Whisper White, with a top fold. I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to emboss the Tempting Turquoise card stock and adhered it to the base with Stampin Dimensionals.

Next, I stamped a piece of Crumb Cake (Kraft) card stock with the Woodgrain Background stamp in Crumb Cake ink. That was then put through the Big Shot using the Lattice Bigz Die and attached to the card with Mini Glue Dots.

Underneath, on Chocolate Chip card stock, I stamped “happy” from Happy Everything in Versamark and heat embossed it with White Embossing Powder. I layered that onto a wider strip of Whisper White and with the Paper Piercer, pierced holes along the top and bottom edge before attaching it to the base with Stampin Dimensionals.

This picture is terrible but it was late and I was in a rush to get this posted so here it is anyway. The card base is Whisper White and I stamped the sentiment from Heard from the Heart directly onto the base with Early Espresso ink.

Above that, the lattice image was made by running Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot with the Lattice Bigz Die and then sponging it with a mixture of Baja Breeze Reinker and Frost Shimmer Paint. I layered it onto a square of Early Espresso and then a slightly larger square of Baja Breeze card stock. The ribbon is from Valet Originals (retired) but it’s Baja Breeze satin ribbon. All of that was attached to the base with Stampin Dimensionals.

This is a simple card but I love all the circles and colors! The thing that took the longest was coloring in the sentiment with different color markers for each letter. Other than that, this card came together in minutes.

The base is Early Espresso. It’s funny to compare it to Chocolate Chip, because CC always seemed so dark–until we got this new darker brown. Now CC looks more reddish brown to me!

I punched the circles out of Island Oasis DSP, Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Old Olive, and Tangerine Tango with various sizes of Circle Punches.

The sentiment is from Sweet Scoops, a really cute ice cream set from the Summer Mini. I colored in most of the sentiment with Chocolate Chip Marker, then each letter in “sweet” with a different color. I stamped it on Whisper White, layered on a strip of Daffodil Delight. Then, I adhered it to the base with Stampin Dimensionals.

Around the edges of the card front, I used my White Gel Pen to make dots and lines. Against the dark brown background, the white really pops and frames the card nicely.

This card just makes me smile

I had the idea in my head to somehow punch a hole in the Scalloped Heart of Hearts die cut and have ribbon pulled through into a bow or knot. I couldn’t quite get it to work how I envisioned, but this turned out cute anyway.

The base is Melon Mambo card stock, layered with a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Whisper White that I ran through the Big Shot with the Swiss Dots Embossing folder. You could easily use the new Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder, but I don’t have that one (yet). After embossing the White, I adhered a piece of Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon around the front and wrapped the ends around the back. Then, I attached the White to the card base with SNAIL Adhesive.

The heart was made using the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit with Melon Mambo card stock. The Kraft heart behind it is the heart “leftover” from the Movers & Shapers Die with the Magnetic Heart insert. I layered the two hearts together, then punched a hole in the center with the Cropadile (larger hole setting). I cut a piece of Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon (about 8″ long) and slipped both ends through the hole, pulling them both until there was about 1/2″ of folded ribbon left in the back. Next, I tied a bow and trimmed the ends. To keep the ribbon flat behind the heart, I used a Mini Glue Dot to stick the ribbon to the back of the Melon Mambo heart. Then, I used Stampin Dimensionals to adhere the heart to the card front.

As for the sentiment, I stamped “love you much” from Well Scripted in Melon Mambo ink on Whisper White. I punched it out with the Large Oval Punch and then layered it onto a Soft Suede Scallop Oval Punch out. I added white dots with my White Gel Pen and then attached it to the card base with Stampin Dimensionals.

I finally got around to placing a preorder from the 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog and it’s just what I needed to get back in the swing of things. Although there’s snow outside today, I’m in the mood for Spring and these butterflies made with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and the Big Shot called to me instantly.

The card base is Close to Cocoa card stock, layered with a piece of Shades of Spring Designer Series Paper. Around the edge of the card front, I used my Gel Pen to add a little stitched outline.

As I mentioned earlier, the butterflies were made using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit with Kiwi Kiss, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose, and Baja Breeze Card stock. I adhered them to a strip of Whisper White card stock using Mini Glue Dots. I layered the strip of white card stock on Kiwi Kiss and attached it to the card front with SNAIL adhesive.

The sentiment is actually from the new stamp set Something Sweet. I opted to order the clear mounted version and it really is easy to use. Not as quick as the wood mounted (just peel and stick to the wood block–ready to use). I have to get used to the new system of mounting each time, stamping, cleaning, and putting away. But the ease of storage is really winning me over! It’s really just one additional step (finding the block and mounting the stamp) so I think I’ll get used to it pretty quick.

I stamped the “you are my sunshine” stamp in close to cocoa ink. Since I was using a clear block and could see the stamp, placement was easy and no stampamajig was needed! In between each stamp, I added a white dot with my Gel Pen.