The Plaids of Fall

 

Shorter days, cooler nights, the crisp air and flannel shirts.  I always knew it was Fall when my Dad would put on a plaid flannel shirt to work out in the garden.  The final harvests of the season were starting and, as the leaves fell, he'd rake and shred them for the compost pile.  He liked to putter around in the garden.  So, when I saw the Plaid Tidings 6x6 Designer Series Paper in the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (MC p. 57)  I was reminded of my Dad and decided I needed to make some Fall themed cards with the Plaids. 

While Dad doesn't do a lot of garden puttering these days, he does still walk a mile a day.  And soon the flannel shirts will come out and he'll wear them.  Here are some of the fall colors in the Plaid Tidings pack of paper.  The other patterns in the pack are more winter-holiday related, so look out for another post using them in a different way.  In the meantime, enjoy these fall themed cards.  I used the Gathered Together Bundle (MC p. 47) on each of the cards.  The large leaves are stamped in Rich Razzleberry, Cajun Craze, Mango Melody.  The pumpkins on the second card are stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink.  I also used the Brushed Metallic Cardstock (MC p. 45) for die cutting leaves and frames on the cards.   On the first card, the sentiment is stamped in Cajun Craze and die cut with the Ornate Frames Dies (AC p. 182) and then layered on another of the frames cut with the Brushed Metallic Cardstock.  The gems on the card are the Gilded Gems (AC p. 157).  

This card uses the pumpkins from the same set.   I used the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (AC p.147) to add some color and sparkle to them. The labels are cut from Bumblebee and Whisper White Card Stocks using the Celebration Labels Dies found on page 58 of the Mini Catalog.  The metallic ribbon is from the Ribbon Combo pack found on p. 45.  Again, I added a leaf cut from the Brushed Metallic Paper. 

Lastly, I made a slightly quirky Fall Card again with the stamped and die-cut leaves from Gathered Together.  This time the sentiment is from the A Wish for Everything stamp set (AC p. 14).  I used the die cut letters in Cajun Craze, Mango Melody and Rich Razzleberry.  They're from the Playful Alphabet Dies (AC p. 178) which have multiples of some letters so you don't have to roll things through your die cut machine so many times! 

I hope your fall is starting out to be a good one!  When in doubt, reach for plaids.  

Returning after a long break...to Snowflakes!

After a long break, I have decided that the easiest way to share my fascination with all things Paper is to return to the Blog.  Paper Curiosities is back and hopefully will inspire all of you to create.  My goal is to post once per week in as much detail as possible.  Thank you for visiting.  

For my first post back, I decided to highlight the new Snow Flake Splendor Suite on pages 36-38 of the Stampin' Up!Ⓡ August-December 2020 Mini Catalog.  Since we are entering the season to craft for giving, I created a gift box filled with notecards.  The box itself is one of the Mini Paper Pumpkin boxes found in the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog (p. 152.) The boxes are sized to fit Note Cards and Envelopes (AC p.153), but they are also food safe, so you could choose to put some goodies in them, as well.  

The boxes come like this:

They're white and so you can decorate them as you choose.  I colored my box with a sponge and Balmy Blue ink to stick with the color palette of the suit.

The great thing about these boxes is they go together without any adhesive.  And for those of you who are wondering how they compare to the boxes that the monthly Paper Pumpkin kits are in, here is a snapshot of the two next to each other:

Back to the project at hand

After sponging the box, I decided that I would decorate it with a "belly band."  This would make the box easy to open and close.  I cut a piece of the Snowflake Splendor Designer Series Paper to 3.5" x 12".  The 12" length wraps around the box with enough overlap that you can tape it together securely.  I then decorated the top using one of the Celebration Labels (MC, p 58), but any label would work here.  I stamped on the label using the Snowflake Wishes stamp set in Pacific Point and Highland Heather inks.  I also used the So Many Snowflakes Dies to cut snowflakes out of Highland Heather, and Pacific Point card stock and also the lovely Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper (MC p. 37).  I assembled the band while it was on the box and then slid it off so I could fill it with the cards.

For the Cards, I started with 5 of the Note Cards and Envelopes (as mentioned earlier).  These are 5" x 3.5" and can be used to attach to a gift or sent in the mail for a quick note.  They come in a package of 20, so you could fill 4 boxes with one package.  

I decided that the cards should match the decorations on the box, so I started by sponging the fronts of the cards in Balmy Blue.

Next, I used some more of the Designer Series paper that I used on the belly band (a 3" square for easy cutting) and matted it with a 3.25" square of Pacific Point) and attached it to the front of the card.  I added snowflakes similar to the ones on the belly band and stamped a sentiment in Pacific Point on each card.  I decided to make each on different.  Here is one of the cards close up. 

 I put a Blue Adhesive-backed Gem (MC, p.37) in the middle of the layered snowflakes.  A bit of bling just for fun.

Here are all the cards finished.

Don't forget the Envelopes!

All that's left is to stack them together and place them in the box.

The five cards and envelopes fit perfectly even with the bling on the front.  Now it's time to put on the belly band and we're ready to gift it to someone special this season.  

Once again, thanks for visiting and reading through.  I hope you found the project inspirational.

Until next time, craft well!