Autumn Leaves Ornament / Wreath {Fall Home Decor}

Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving?  I already have guests here at the house, and am starting my side dishes...pineapple casserole, marinated carrots, and cakes and cookies.  We have a winter storm due to arrive tonight, so we all may  be snowed in!

After all the food prep today, I finished a project that I've been trying to do since LAST year!!!

Remember the gorgeous Christmas ornaments from last year?  I wanted an autumn one.  Finally, here it is...

I've updated it to use current product, including the 1-1/4" Burlap ribbon, crepe paper, and woodgrain embossing folder.  

Here's my process:

First of all, I consulted Margaret Murray's tutorial here, and tweaked it as I went along.

Cut 20 of the maple leaf (More Mustard), and 20 of the smaller leaf (Old Olive) from Autumn Accents Bigz Die.

Stamp the maple leaves with En Francais using Crumb Cake ink, then sponge edges with Cherry Cobbler.

Emboss the smaller leaves with Woodgrain TIEF and sponge with Always Artichoke.

Fold 15 of each leaf in half lengthwise, leave 5 of each for backing.

Glue 3 folded leaves back to back and glue them to a flat leaf as shown.  Repeat for 5 sets.

Same process with the smaller leaves.  

Okay, for my base I punch a 5-petal flower punch and a 2-1/2" circle punch, so you know where each leaf set will get hot glued.  

Hot glue one set of maple leaves to each "flower petal". Nestle the smaller leaves between the maple leaf sets and hot glue. 

Make a burlap rose with your 1-1/4" Burlap ribbon.  Just roll the ribbon in half lengthwise and hot glue a tight roll in the center.  Then roll and twist the burlap loosely to create a flower. I didn't glue as I went along, but waited until I was satisfied with the flower and hot glued it to a silicone sheet.  Add a Vintage Faceted Button in the center with a basic rhinestone (large) with Crystal Effects.

I thought the burlap rose needed a little softening look to it, so I traced the smaller leaf onto Crepe Paper, folding the paper into 5 layers to get all my leaves at once.

I don't know who chewed this pencil, it wasn't me :D

Sponge with Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler.  They are lookin' pretty!

Gently hot glue them down, tucking them in with a pencil tip.

The hot glued mess is coming together!

Add the finished burlap rose and a little ribbon to hang it with!

Time to celebrate!  Know what I'm thankful for?  My sweet boys.  My precious pup, Lizzy.  Crunchy leaves. Those smiles.  A happy home with my hardworking husband.  

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~ Erika

My November Paper Pumpkin...Love at first sight!

Like many avid Stampin' Up! papercrafters, I have been so curious about My Paper Pumpkin.  But as of a couple of months ago, I hadn't given in to the urge.  This is my third month getting the orange box in the mail, and OH, I am SO glad I got my little box on Wednesday!  Take a look at all the goodies I have made with this month's kit.  And I still have supplies leftover!

So, the kit is designed to make four cards just like this one...

But I started playing with the supplies, and decided I would see what I could get if I took it up a notch...

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS STAR GARLAND???
I TRIED TO FIGURE OUT HOW I CAN MAKE SOME MYSELF.
FORGEDDABOUTIT.  I WOULD SURELY SEW MY FINGERNAIL TO A STAR.

And then, how about a little gift box?  This will make an adorable presentation for a very special friend!  

I learned how to make this box from Connie Collins' post here.  I adjusted the measurements to use a standard card front of 4-1/4" x 5-1/2", scoring at 1"on each side.  Punching at the 1" mark at each corner. Then just embellish to your heart's content!  

Finally, I used the other half of the card I cut for the box lid to make this scrapbook layout of me and my sweet boys.  Gingerbread houses are a tradition in the Clark home!  I kept it pretty simple, just a few layers and that AMAZING STAR GARLAND!

The star cutout on the striped card base is from the Circle Thinlits Die, it's one of the extras included with the flip it card die.  The strip across the "Noel" banner is cut from the long end of the striped panel.  

One of those cute paper clip embellishments adorns the corner of the photo.  Not many extras, almost all of the embellishments are included in the Paper Pumpkin Kit!  

Do I have you enticed to try this kit?  As you can see, you can take the kit very literally and simply, getting four cards completed in 30 minutes.  Or you can let your creativity soar, and play for hours.  

Here's a peek at what it's like to get your kit in the mail!

Upon opening the box, you find a sweet Pumpkin tag and careful wrapping.

Next layer holds your monthy stamp spot, cling mount stamps, and a bit of that star garland!

The next layer reveals your paper supplies with the full color sample sheet.

Here are all of the supplies, opened up and waiting for me :)  I set it all out on the dining room table while I prepared dinner, as incentive to get it all done and escape to the craft room!

By the way, I have a lot of star garland leftover.  It was a very generous amount!  And the stamps sets, of course, will last forever.  

Are you ready for your escape in the mail?  Contact me if you'd like to sign up.  $20 a month gets you the kit, including shipping, to your door.  inkypinkies@hotmail.com

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~Erika

Deck the Halls With Boxes & Punches! HSS173

I've been keeping my new Envelope Punch Board very close at hand lately.  This week, I made a bunch of these "candy wrapper boxes" or they're also called cracker boxes.  I learned to make them from this video by Dee Slater.

I followed the basic idea of her tutorial, but I used a 4.5" x 6.5" piece of patterned paper from the Festival of Prints Stack.  Just tear one off the pad and here are my measurements on scoring and punching:

- Using a 4.5" x 6.5" piece of DSP from paper stack

- Score on 6.5" side at 1", 2", 3", and 4".

- Fold on each score line.

- Using the same technique in her video, punch on Envelope Punch Board at the 1-1/2" mark at each score line and the wider outside edge, not the skinny one.  Repeat on both ends.

- Apply Sticky Strip to the 3 flat sides of the inside of the smallest strip and fold into a box.

- For this size box, I find that scoring the punches is not necessary.  A bit of ribbon cinches the ends nicely.

So here's the fun part!  See those little punches made when creating the cracker box?  They look like ornaments, don't they?  Can you see how I used them on my cards below?

Cute! They fit just right on a 1" circle punch of Silver Glimmer Paper, and dangle from 1/8" Silver Ribbon.  I made one to match Hand Stamped Sentiments' Sketch Challenge #173, and another just playing around.  I plan to save all these little punches!  

Inside of the card:

Hop on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and check out the challenge.  Very interesting sketch!  I'd love to see your take on it!

SUPPLIES:  Card:

Stamps:  Christmas Messages, Pop N Place Photopolymer Stamp Set

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Festival of Prints Paper Stack

Embellishments:  Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon, 1/8" Silver Ribbon

Big Shot:  Chalk Talk Framelits, polka dot embossing folder

Punches:  1" circle punch 

Tools:  Simply Scored, Envelope Punch Board

Pop N Cuts Simple Gift Card Holder - CCMC276 Color Challenge

Here's a simple and fun gift card holder for the holidays - whipped up in 10 minutes with the Pop N Cuts Card Base!  This cute little snowman from Best of Snow is keeping a surprise...

A gift card! Yay!  Make mine Cheesecake Factory, or Sephora, please.

Just a few strategic score lines and a Word Window punch, and you're ready to gift.

I'm playing along with Create With Connie and Mary's color challenge:

Hope you're having a great crafty day!  It's supposed to snow here today.  That means homeschooling in our jammies!  Thanks for stopping by :)

SUPPLIES:

Stamps:  Best of Snow August, Christmas Messages

Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Soft Sky, Basic Black

Paper:  etcetera DSP, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Very Vanilla

Embellishments:  red glimmer paper, Delicate Details EF

Tools:  pop n Cuts Die, Word Window Punch

Warmth & Wonder Christmas Shadowbox Card

I'm going with a clean look for my latest Christmas card!  White on white woodgrain with a little evening scene featuring the reindeer stamp from the Warmth & Wonder hostess set. 

A little sponging and stamping off, then a bit of glitter to light up the scene. 

Playing along with Freshly Made Sketches...

And the Friday Mashup!  Woodgrain and wildlife...

Hope you'll find some time to create this week! Christmas is right around the corner, you know!  

Have a blessed and creative day ~ Erika

Golden Autumn Wedding Card

I recently attended a wedding of a really beautiful couple.  They had an autumn wedding, so what better stamp set than French Foliage for a card to congratulate them? Lots of leaves and gold details.

The seam binding ribbon was rubbed with gold ink to give it a little shine.  "Mr. & Mrs." from SU's Label Love is heat embossed in gold and sponged in Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, and Always Artichoke.

French Foliage is the queen of all leaf stamps!  It's recently retired from SU's catalog, but is still available as a digital download, making it forever current :)

The little hand cut pile of leaves is anchored with a Vintage Faceted button, and the entire card is sprayed with a glimmery hand made shimmer mist, and edged with an 18k gold marker.

Inside and envelope.

I'm joining in Cupcake Inspirations card challenge using "Fall Leaves". Autumn is blowing all 'round over there, be sure to check out their adorable creations!

Thanks for stopping by!  ~Erika

Diamond Flip Flop Get Well Card - Tag It

I needed a Get Well card for my cousin this week, and wanted it to be something she could display and enjoy in her hospital room, so I made a fancy "Diamond Flip" fold and decked it out in this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge color combo.  Major pretty colors!

The colors are perfect for a girl!

This flip flop technique was highlighted in the last round of Ustamp With Dawn and Friends, Cards with Cool Moves.  I love my UStamp catalog...I can always find a Wow technique to practice!

Here, you can see how it opens. I stamped some Delicate Doilies inside to carry the doily theme through. 

And from behind ;)

Feel like making something pretty in the midst of fall / Thanksgiving / Christmas cards?  Check out Hand Stamped Sentiments' color challenge this week!

 I'm also playing along with Friday Mashup this week...Chevrons!  Love 'em!

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~Erika

Supply List:

Stamps:  Tag It, Delicate Doilies

Ink:  Blushing Bride, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe

Paper:  In-Color 2013-2015 Paper Stack, Soft Sky, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Embellishments: doily, Chevron Ribbon in Blushing Bride, Stretch Ruffle Trim in Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Pearls, Chevron Embossing Folder, Chalk Talk Framelits