CCM Saturday Blog Hop - Falling for Fall

Today's Create With Connie & Mary Saturday Blog Hop theme is Fall! Autumn arrived day before yesterday and it's like someone flipped a switch; this morning it was 46 degrees and it only got to the mid 70s today! I loooove the cooler weather, and the leaves turning, and all the beautiful fall decorations. I guess you could say I'm rather fond of autumn, so that's the stamp set I'm using today. 😁

I started by embossing the background (3-3/4" x 5" Very Vanilla Thick) with the Leaf Fall 3D folder, then added Mango Melody with a Blending Brush.

The image was stamped twice so I could use extra berry clusters. (I'll use the unused bits another time.) I think the Blackberry Bliss berries are a nice complement to the autumn colors of the oak leaves. A big metallic ribbon bow and brushed metallic dots added a little more texture.

That's all for today - see you next Saturday! Up next is Libby Fens at Libby Stamps. Or click the "back" button to go back to Lori at Loritamarie Crafts.

Stampin' Up! products used:

• Stamps: Fond of Autumn bundle
  
• Paper: Very Vanilla regular and thick cardstock
  
• Ink: Soft Suede and Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pads, plus Stampin' Blends Combos - Blackberry Bliss, Pale Papaya, Crumb Cake, Natural Tones Medium, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive
  
• Accessories: Leaf Fall 3D embossing folder, Blending Brushes, Parakeet Party Metallic Woven Ribbon, Brushed Metallic Adhesive-backed Dots

Control Freaks are Stepping it UP!

The Freaky theme this month is Stepping it Up, and I love this challenge! It’s so fun to take a card from ordinary to extraordinary. If you landed here from Bree's blog, welcome! There are five of us this time, so the hop won't take too long.

Since Autumn is only three days away (WOOHOO!) I chose the Fond of Autumn stamp set to make a nice card, and then a stepped up version. First the nice one:

This is a decent card that I would be happy to send to a friend. It has a Gingham embossed background and bling, so I'm happy with it.

But the next card is ... more. 😁

Not only is there embossing (Leaf Fall 3D) but more layers, a tag and twine.

The Copper Foil takes it over the top along with the swirls (from Rustic Pumpkins Dies) and the amber gems from the Leaf Label & Amber Gem Combo Pack.

So, which one do you like better?

Up next is the wildly wonderful Wendy, at Wickedly Wonderful Creations.

 

Stamp Review Crew - Nuts About Squirrels

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew's Nuts About Squirrels edition! The "Crew" is a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world who pick a stamp set or bundle to highlight on the first and third Mondays of each month, with a bonus hop if there is a fifth Monday. If you landed here from Charlet's blog, welcome! There are only four of us today, so it will be a quick (and CUTE!) hop.

Nuts About Squirrels (page 50 in the SU annual catalog) is a thirteen piece photopolymer stamp set, which makes it easy to line up the filler stamps with the outline stamps. I was on the fence about this set for a while, but finally caved when I saw the adorable cards being made with it.

For my first card I stamped the oak leaf on the Pear Pizzazz card base with VersaMark ink to give a patterned paper look. See what I mean by getting the filler stamp to line up with the outline? I used Cajun Craze stamped off once for an Eastern Red Squirrel - we have a bunch of those round here!

Speaking of patterned paper, that swirly Rustic Harvest DSP (Jul-Dec catalog) had white swirls so I added a hint of Mango Melody to coordinate better with the Very Vanilla image panel.

The next card has another red squirrel, this time with an acorn. One of the things I love about Tennessee is the nut trees we have growing wild on our property. We have black walnuts, hickory nuts, beech nuts and, of course, acorns. The squirrels don't lack for food around here. Now if I could just keep them out of the garden!

The background DSP is Gingham Cottage, which is also in the Jul-Dec catalog. I love the way the Smoky Slate gray makes the Copper Foil really pop.

That's all I have to share for today, so click "Next" to see what Deb created, or "Previous" to visit Charlet again!