Leafy Birthday Wishes

This card was inspired by a Debbie Hughes card. I loved the feel of the card, very earthy and simple. I added a bit, changed the colors, and made it my own.

I oops on the color of the stamping. I thought I had grabbed the Crushed Curry, but I got the Summer Starfruit instead. Of course, the stamped tape strips were a late addition, so the leaves, sponging, and piercing were already done. No way was I starting over. I think it still looks good :)

And here is my color inspiration, my very own front yard :)

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Love, Love, Love

Have you tried the new word dies that SU has come out with? I'm telling you, they are fabulous. I know what you are thinking. I never say anything bad about SU stuff. But how can I when I am so happy with everything I get?! I did have a little frustration with the word dies and the gold foil paper at first, but I found a super tip somewhere on the interweb that fixed it right quick :) Just lay a sheet of wax paper between your die and the paper and it pops right out, just like magic!

Obviously, I can't stop using the Core'dinations paper. I just love the texture it brings to a card. I used the new Pretty Print and the old Delicate Designs embossing folders. I love the juxtaposition of the feminine cursive writing and lace trim with the masculine woodgrain layer! The first "love" is cut from a piece of cardstock I colored with a blender pen and Cherry Cobbler ink. Lovely! ;)

Here is a shot of my daughter that I love, love, love! Nothing like a pine cone rose in your teeth :) This was in Big Trees State Park in California during our trip with my mom. Charlene took this photo herself, and luckily I got copies of all the photos on my computer :)

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Warm Buck Wishes

Hunting season has started! Not rifle season, but bow season. Lots of deer hunters in our family, and some of them have birthdays coming up. This set is featured as a Christmas set in the Holiday Mini, but this buck is just begging to be used for some general masculine cards!!

I have rediscovered my love for the magic of wet embossing. I had stopped doing it for a long time because at the club I was leading, one lady hated using the heat gun, and there were usually several small children running around and I just did not feel safe having a heat gun plugged in and waiting for a child to a)trip on the cord or b) get burned with the gun. Well, that group no longer meets, and I miss them so much. But I will always think of them when I wet emboss!

The crumb Cake piece is embossed in gold with the Woodgrain background stamp, and the deer is in Early Espresso embossing powder. The sentiment is stamped in Gold Encore ink. This card is going to my brother-in-law for his birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Justin!

 I'll leave you with a shot of Dakota all camou'ed out last fall. He was on his way to go play some paint ball with friends. You know, I never really thought about how much clothing we own that is camouflage until a travel nurse I worked with last fall commented on it. She is from New Jersey, and camou was a new thing for her. At work we even have a camou crock pot and Dr. Dave drives a truck with camou trim!
As for the duct tape on his boot, well, what can I say. Duct tape does fix everything! And imagine how hard it is to find size 15 boots....

Big Thank You

Fall is really settled in here, and I hear some people in the country have already gotten snow! I guess I am just not quite ready to let go of summer's bright colors :)

Stampin' Up! came out with a set of photopolymer Thank You sentiments, and this is the biggest one. It just begged for some embossing. I am quite happy with this card. I think I might make a couple more, one to sell, and a spare to have on hand. I have some thank you cards to send out this week :)

Have you tried photopolymer SU style yet? There are several sets available and they are a lot of fun to use. Check them out!

In the meantime, here is a photo of fall in my yard. Actually form last fall, this fall has been too wet and cloudy for much photo taking, but this is what fall feels like to me :) This is wood we cut and split from a Norway Pine that died in our front yard and we had to cut down. Time to get our wood room ready to store wood, order wood for delivery, go for crisp and crunchy walks in the yard and the park. Getting the last of the summer stuff put away out of the yard. And thinking about what Christmas lights I want up this year. Soon it will be too cold to be outside trying to hang those things up!

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