Where Has This Year Gone?

It's Fall Y'all and that means cooler weather and glorious colors.  Raise your hand if you love fall!  For ten years I lived in the Midwest and nothing beat the changing of Summer to Fall; well except maybe the ice covered trees in winter which looked so much like the trees were made of crystal.  What glory nature can bring.  

I now live in coastal southern California and I don't get to enjoy the changing of the season quite as much but I always try to bring the memory of the beautiful Autumns that I enjoyed so much into my stamping.  

This year I have been creating cards using the Autumn Splendor Card Kit from Gina K Designs.  Gina K's fall kits are always my favorite and this year's kit does not disappoint.  It includes two sets of stamps, one is a layered leaf stamp set the other has large cone head daisies, its foliage and also some nice sentiments.  Also included in the kit are a number of dies for cutting out the stamp images, a mandala stencil and several pieces of cardstock ready to create mats and layers or card bases.

For these first cards I used Midas metallic ink pads by Spectrum Noir in Red Garnet and Jade Green and a variety of the leaf stamps from the Layered Leaf Prints stamp set.  I randomly stamped the largest leaf by dabbing ink of one color around the edges of the stamp and then the other color in the middle to create an autumn leaf color changing effect.  Then I filled in the background with some of the other leaves in solid colors.  These metallic inks are so vibrant on white cardstock, a little bit of matting and layering, add a sentiment and my cards were done.

This next card I used the same inking technique but stamped on black cardstock.  The black card shows more of the metallic in the inks and less of the vibrancy which made for a nice soft background to the Cone Head Daisy flower stamp.  I colored my daisy in shades of yellow for a fall sunflower feel and added a simple black and white sentiment.

This time using the Midas metallic inks in Jade Green, Blue Organza and Amethyst, I inked the mandala stencil onto white cardstock.  The inks are pigment inks so they remain wet for quite a while which allowed me time to heat emboss the ink with clear embossing powder creating an enamel look to the mandala.
 
To complete the card I cut the mandala in half and used a scallop edge die to create my focal point, I dry embossed a piece Plum Punch cardstock from the kit using the Studded Leather 3D embossing folder by Crafter's Companion, added a simple sentiment, a few jewels and a couple butterflies.

I hope you've enjoyed a little bit of fall fun and warm colors with me today.  I'm telling you, this kit is packed with lots of great inspiration.  You have to check it out!  

All products used are my own and purchased by me.  My blog posts, videos and opinions are not sponsored, and I am not paid by the product companies to create these posts and videos.   Thank you for visiting.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Dawn