A Touch of Autumn in April

Autumn has come in April

in my studio.

I am still keeping the  promise that I made to myself

 to use something that I have..but have never used...

at least once a week.

I've kept my word....

and today....

I kept it twice!

I got out 2 stamp sets that have never seen ink

and inked them up.

Well, actually...one of the stamps is from a double Stampin Up set..

I've used stamps from Part 1 of the set...and today used the stamp from Part 2.

The stamps in the spotlight today are

You've Got This (Stampin Up)

and

Lighthearted Leaves (Stampin Up)

It was love at first sight for me immediately...

as soon as I stamped this leaf over the You've Got This background stamp..,

(more info about the background stamp below....included with the next photo)

anyway..

I stamped the leaf with Versamark ink...

covered it with gold fine detail embossing powder

applied heat to set the embossing powder.....

and then...

water colored all of the little nooks and crannies.

As I was working on the image...

I thought...

Love Love Love

and one more...

Love.

Look at this gorgeousness!

Look at the mosaic like detail on this leaf!

Look at all of that color in each little gold embossed section of this leaf!

and....there ya' have it!

Justification for....

Love at first sight!

and...

2 more beautifully detailed leaves from the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set...

They started out the same way as the first card, above....

The leaves were stamped over the same background stamp

which as stamped on misted water color card stock

I love how the colors blend...right off of the stamp...

and onto the misted card stock.

Once the background dried....

I heat embossed the leaf...and water colored...

and again...

Love Love Love.

and a little bit of extra love for the Emily Bronte quote

Oh my!

Look at that shimmery golden mat beneath the green mat layer...

and....

The gold embossing on the leaves steals my heart...

and..the colors make me feel like I should be apple picking...

on a clear crisp chilly and sun drenched Autumn day....

Upstate...New York

and this simple but sweet little tree...

at first glance...

just a tree...

but...

but...

look at those leaves!

Each tiny golden edged leaf encapsulates beautiful color

and finally....the fourth card created with Lighthearted Leaves... 

again...this leafy branch was stamped over the background stamp...

heat embossed...

and water colored...

and....

and....the result is more gorgeousness.

Oh!!..Those colors!

and the gold!

and the soft water color-like background in glorious Autumn colors.

Forget Spring...

forget Summer...Bring on the Fall

After creating these cards...

I am ready for Autumn! 

My final thought?

I am SO glad that I chose these 2 stamp sets to work with today.

This was their maiden voyage..

Their first time being inked up.

and..

I keep thinking...

Why did I wait so long use these stamps?

I love the details on the leaves.

I love how they look when heat embossed.

I love the water-color-like background stamp

I look forward to working with these stamps again...

soon.

Card loving friends...These gorgeous note cards are available for purchase at The Bellissima Card Shop

Card making friends... a brief list of key supplies is posted below

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle.

Supply List:

Stamps: You've Got This (background image)...Lighthearted Leaves 

Card Stock: LCI, PTI, Stampin Up

Embossing powder: Fine Detail Gold by Sparkle N Sprinkle

Color/Ink: ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Sweet and Simple...

I've got a few sweet and simple cards to share...

very CAS...

very me...

This is the first time I inked this stamp set up...

it's sweet

and it creates a nice little card.
I should add...it comes with a window die...
so that you can cut out the window...
and look through it to see a little stamped scene.
I didn't use the companion die  for these cards....
maybe next time .

I kept the coloring" simple...

very basic...

I really didn't "color"

I highlighted...

the kite and kite tails...he little boy's clothing...the cloud edges...

the tree....the grass and grass line...flowers...and the bench....

just a hint of color here and there...

I chose Autumn-like colors for the tree...

(and then coordinated the matting with the Autumn-like colors as well)

I sketched with green along the grass line

*I'll tell you about the clouds below...

I added a sky blue outline to each cloud

added some color to the flowers and little boys clothes...

and done!

The clouds were actually a group of 3 clouds 

that were part of the stamp with the image of the bench...

I cut tat stamp in half so that I could add more clouds to each little scene

I am SO glad that I chose to cut the stamp

It allowed me to create the scene that I wanted to 

by having the ability to stamp the clouds only..

wherever I'd like to.
(I'll post a photo below)

This scene was highlighted with color in the same way as the prior scene..

and matted with coordinating colors

and again...

done!

Here's the stamp set...
The 3 little clouds are part of the bench stamp...
I cut the clouds off to create a separate stamp
and...I am already thinking of other stamp see that I can use those 3 little clouds with...

See?

Just like the blog title says....

Sweet and simple..

which goes along with what I always say...

Not every card has to be a grandiose production to create!

Card loving friends...these sweet little kite flying scenes are available for purchase as new additions at  The Bellissima Card Shop. When you stop in at the shop, be sure to take a look at all of the other cards that are also available!

Card making friends...a short supply list is posted below

Thanks for stopping by...

Michelle.

Supply list:
Stamp set: Stampin Up Happy Home
Card stock: PTI and Stampin Up
Ink: Memento Espresso
Markers: Stamin Up