DIY: Autumn Blessings Handmade Greeting Cards

Hello friends! I'm so excited to show you this group of four 'Autumn Blessings' handmade greeting cards I recently crafted to send to my cousins. These incredible leaves were made with my Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutter, and the Concord and 9th Triple Step Autumn Leaf Dies.

Each leaf is a double layer - the bottom layer is a solid leaf and the top layer is a pattern. The bottom layer is cut from a leaf-shaped outline die and the top layer is cut from a patterned die that fits inside the leaf-shaped outline die. When glued together, the leaves become dimensional and are so colorful. The possibilities for color combinations are endless. This is a great way to use up your card stock scraps. I had fun looking through mine and creating the color combinations shown here.

To make the cards, I first applied Recollections Sparkle embossing powder to a piece of Webster's Pages 'Begin Again' wood grain paper (I think it was produced around 2016) and to the white card stock circle embellishment (punched using a circle punch) using Honey Bee clear embossing ink and set them with my heat tool. (I bought my heat tool years ago but here are some options if you want one.)

I then created a card base by gluing a piece of brown card stock onto a Tonic Studio A6 card base and then glued the embossed Webster's Pages paper on top of the brown card stock. I glued each leaf pair together and then adhered onto the base, along with the white circle which I trimmed along the top. And lastly, I wanted to add a little more gold so I die cut more leaves from a piece of Lawn Fawn Metallic card stock (saved for another project) and glued some of the leaf and star-like cut outs into a few of the cut out portions of the leaves.

I used black ink to stamp the 'Autumn Blessings' sentiment from the Spellbinders Fall Greetings stamp set and the three Paige Evans Garden Shoppe leaves (a Scrapbook.com exclusive freebie now gone) using my MISTI stamp tool.

On the inside of the card I stamped the 'May the Season's Bounty fill your heart' sentiment from the same Spellbinders Fall Greetings stamp set, again using the MISTI stamp tool.

And that's it! Which one is your favorite?

If you have any questions, let me know!

DIY: Decoupage Chinoiserie Mini Pumpkins

Hello friends! October is here and it's time to get crafty with some faux mini pumpkins! As one who enjoys making scrapbook pages, decoupage is another fun way to be creative with paper. And while I'm new to this wildly popular activity, despite some challenges, I managed to come up with the three designs shown.

It's actually very easy, just tedious and messy.

So let's gather our supplies:

You will need:

• faux pumpkins in size(s) of your choice (I used this set)
  
• white acrylic paint
• paper napkins of your choice (ginger jars, birds & florals)
  
• paint brushes and paper towel for blotting
  
• scissors
• Mod Podge
• gold leaf kit (optional)
• ribbon (optional)
  
• newspapers and parchment for your work surface

Step 1 - Apply white acrylic paint to the surface of each of your pumpkins. The paint will provide 'grip' for your napkins to adhere to. I used white because my pumpkins have a lot of negative space showing. You might consider the colors in your napkins as to what your choice of paint color would be.

Step 2 - Separate the printed layer of your napkin from the other one or two layers. You only need the printed layer. It will be very thin.

Step 3 - Fussy cut your desired elements from your napkin. This is not an exact process - you don't have to cut on the lines and your cuts do not have to be perfect.

It's a good idea to cut little snips around the perimeter of your cut-out shape. It helps the image ease onto the round pumpkin better.

Step 4 - Apply a small amount of Mod Podge to your pumpkin in the area where you want to adhere your image. Lightly tack your image to the wet medium and adjust as needed.

Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to the remaining areas behind your tacked image. Now you'll want to work quickly using a generous amount of Mod Podge on your brush to apply the medium over the top of your image using light pressure and working from the middle (where you tacked the image) outward. Keep your brush wet with the medium and gently 'push' the paper into place. Be careful because the more wet your paper becomes the easier it will tear. Don't worry about the wrinkles - they will take care of themselves. Once your image is adhered, use your brush to gently smooth the image to the surface. Again, make sure your brush is wet and use light strokes. Repeat for the remainder of your cut-outs.

Here's how I cut my napkins to make the other two pumpkin designs:

And here are a couple of ideas I had for embellishing the tops of two of the pumpkins:

Step 5 - The last step is applying the gold leaf to the stems of the pumpkins. The gold leaf kit has three parts - the adhesive 'size', the metal leaf (thin sheets of metal) and the sealer. (Tip: pull the stems of your pumpkins up about 1/4" so there is a gap - this will make applying the gold leaf easier.) First, apply the adhesive size with a paint brush. The size is very watery so use caution when dipping your brush into it. Be sure your brush goes into the crevices of the pumpkin stem. Let the size dry to a tacky consistency.

After the size becomes tacky, cut a piece of the gold leaf. It should be larger than the surface area that you want to cover. Hold the gold leaf up to your pumpkin stem and use a dry paintbrush to gently push the leaf onto the stem. When you see the leaf is adhered to the stem, gently work the leaf into the crevices with your brush.

Push the leaf with your brush so that it goes under the stem (see tip above). Gently work your way around the stem with your brush until the leaf is adhered to all the tacky areas. As you cover the size, the still dry parts of the leaf will begin to fall away.

And lastly, apply the sealer to the stems with a paintbrush and let dry completely. Now you can push your stems back down onto the surface of your pumpkins.

Step 6 - Tie some ribbon to the stems and you are done! Now you have a beautiful hand made craft to enjoy every autumn season for years to come.

If you made it this far, thank you for looking! If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

 

Autumn Photo Shoot - A Scrapbook Layout

Hello friends, happy autumn! The wheels of 2022 are spinning fast, don't you agree? I was able to finish this autumn themed scrapbook layout a few months ago and it reminded me that it's never too late to finish a project that's been on your bucket list, even if the project has been on the list since 2015!

That was the year Jimmy took the photos of me featured in the layout. It was a 'just for fun' adventure, where we went around town taking pictures in a few different areas. The photos featured in this layout were the best ones from that day.

I purchased the supplies to make this layout back in 2015 and they have been sitting in a folder all these years. So never say never, right?

First, though, the photos. I have been getting my photographs printed at Persnickety Prints for several years now. The owner, Chari Pack, is a scrapbooker that understands the unique needs of those that enjoy this craft. For example, there are three sizes of photos on my layout - a 4x12, two 4x6's and three 2x3's. I enjoy using a variety of photo sizes, especially on a double page layout, and Chari offers many choices. The large 4x12 photograph is the feature photo and the rest of the pictures add interest and tell more of the story.

The paper crafting products I used for this project are from the Bo Bunny Enchanted Harvest line. Although they were discontinued long ago, I found a website that still has a few of the items available, and so you can see what the papers, stickers and embellishments look like in the link provided.

I started with two sheets of the Gratitude paper, then mounted my photos onto plain white card stock and adhered them down.

I then fussy cut several leaves from the Foliage paper and scattered them around the layout.

The three squares are cut from the Autumn and Traditions papers and mounted onto the 'B' side of the Foliage paper.

As well, I fussy cut the word 'Autumn' from the Traditions paper and used a small section from the Autumn paper to mount it on. The rest of the title letters ('photo shoot') are from the Combo Stickers sheet.

I fussy cut the sunflowers border next to my profile picture from the Autumn paper and then added more stickers to the layout from the Combo Stickers sheet.

I inked all of the card stock edges in brown. 

The green gems on the left and right sides of the photos are from Queen and Company.

And that's it! I crossed this task off my list and added the layout to my album.

What autumn inspired activity is on your to-do list?

DIY: Painted Mini Halloween Pumpkins & a Día de Los Muertos Skull Banner

Hello and Happy Halloween friends!

This is indeed the strangest Halloween ever. Our city is heavily discouraging trick-or-treating, gatherings, corn mazes - all the traditional group activities. So I'm guessing there are many parents out there coming up with ideas for new ways to celebrate Halloween that don't include getting sick with the coronavirus. I'll bet pumpkin painting is on the list!

For this easy-peasy project, I bought three different kinds of ornamental pumpkins in three sizes and decorated each type the same.

For the large white pumpkins, I chose black and orange paint and black and orange decorative ribbons. To make the stars, I traced around two different sized chipboard stars with a Sharpie marker, then painted them in with black tempera paint. The plaid and polka dots were painted free hand.

For the small white pumpkins, I chose gold paint, gold wire 'vines' and velvety autumn colored leaves. Hint: to make the wire vines I wrapped the wire around a pencil, then slipped it over the stem.

And for the little orange pumpkins I painted the stems gold and then used my favorite white Gelly Roll pen for the embellishing.

I made the Día de Los Muertos banner a few years ago and I still love it. I simply drew one skull to use as a template and cut five out of white cardstock, drew in the facial features, and gave each a floral head piece. I then mounted them on the banners which are hand cut from a sheet of 12 x 12 Bo Bunny scrapbook paper, which I embossed with gold embossing powder around the outside edges.

And last but not least, in order to give my vignette above an extra wow factor, I filled my little plaster 'boo pumpkin' with seasonal mums. This is my only vintage Halloween decoration and I am crazy about it. I love that facial expression!

Thank you for looking and have a safe and fun Halloween (insert blood curdling scream here)!

Happy Autumn

Hello Friends, long time no publish!

I am still here, and unremarkably, still on leave from my government job due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In looking back, I see that the last time I published a post was on May 23rd, which was 66 days into my leave. Let's just say I'm not counting the days anymore...

Not surprisingly, nothing has changed for me. Like so many of you, I'm still waiting for some kind of normalcy to creep back into everyday life. But the virus keeps my town, county and state from moving beyond it. A glimmer of hope turns into another setback. For example, around the first of September there was a huge wild fire in our area and our town became engulfed in smoke. With the sky and air filled with hazardous soot and ash, it looked and felt like we were living on another planet. Staying home and staying safe took on yet another layer of new meaning. When the smoke finally cleared after about two weeks, it took several days to wash down all the lawn furniture and garden tools, scrub the front porch and the back deck and wash all the windows.

It was around that 66th day mentioned above that I started feeling all my creative energy fall away. Suddenly all my artistic endeavors seemed to evaporate. It felt like none of it was important, yet it also felt liberating to no longer be pushing myself. I let it all fall away. I dove into house cleaning and organizing activities and painted one of our bathrooms. I then turned to my art studio (nothing more than a space in the garage) and started cleaning up and organizing. Old paintings I made were either donated or thrown away. Unfinished scrapbook projects are now done. Years and years of family photos scattered everywhere are now in photo albums in date order!

With the change from summer to autumn I've started feeling a bit inspired by the colors of autumn. And I started a practice of taking a photo of anything that makes me happy - my morning coffee, a flower in my garden, my new slippers! This kind of exercise helps me focus on the good, even if just for a moment. It's the scrapbooker in me. I love making a page of my seasonal favorites.

But also, now that summer is gone and the days of living in the cold and dark are upon us, I'm feeling like I need to sink into coziness and to do activities that will keep me feeling life's energy. The time between autumn and the new year, even with the darkness and covid, are still opportunities to appreciate life, right? So now is a good time to start incorporating elements of hygge into our homes! Let's hear it for home made soup, flannel sheets, wool sweaters and the scent of eucalyptus floating in the air...

And on that note, I have a fun Halloween DIY to share with you, so I'll be back tomorrow!

Autumn Garden and a New (Second Hand) Lumix GH2

Hello Friends - have you ever had a desire to up your photography game?

For a long while now, I have been wanting a DSLR camera. I know - what have I been waiting for? Similarly, my journey from a film camera to a digital camera was a long one. I didn't start taking digital photos until 2008 and it was James that convinced me to give it a try. Our kids were already well versed in the new medium and there I was kicking and screaming, clutching my film camera.

But once I started learning how to take photographs with an LCD screen and seeing the quality of the digital images in comparison to film, there was of course, no going back.

My first digital camera was a Lumix DMC-TZ3 with a 10x optical zoom and a macro setting. I know it doesn't sound like anything much these days but it was a great improvement for me at the time. A couple of years later I got my second Lumix model - the DMC-ZS25 which has a 20x zoom. Both the DMC-TZ3 and the DMC-ZS25 are basic pocket-style cameras with both auto and manual capabilities. I have been happy with how easy they are to use and impressed with the image quality but knew some day I would upgrade to a DSLR.

That day finally arrived about two weeks ago when James and I had an opportunity to purchase a second hand Lumix GH2 in mint condition. The GH2 originally was sold with a standard 14-42 mm lens but the seller was also including a 45-200mm lens which definitely sweetened the deal.

On the ride home that day with our newest Lumix, I was thinking about how much I am going to enjoy having a bigger sensor, a telephoto lens and improved image quality.

Once home I thought it would be fun to take my new camera out in the garden for a test run and attempt to capture the last of the autumn season.

The GH2 has a lot of bells and whistles so beforehand James and I set up the features to our liking and I put it on 'Program AE Mode' and headed out the door. I figured it was best to just start intuitively taking photos based on what I already know how to do just to see what I could accomplish without over thinking or over analyzing the process. And here are the results:

Depth of field is one of the most sought after effects for photographers and something I would like to work on with the GH2. The Program AE Mode is very responsive to a shallow depth of field which made it easy for me to focus on whatever aspect within the composition area that I wanted it to.

I think my next step is to learn how to use the Program Shift feature. Program Shift exists in Program AE Mode and I can make the background more blurred by manually decreasing the aperture value. That idea sounds appealing and I'm also interested in learning how to get the 'bokah' effect. So, we'll see!

It's been a very long time since I experimented with photography. At a very young age I had a dream that one day I might become a photographer. It's a bit embarrassing but I still have my eighth grade autobiography where I confessed this desire!

In part six, 'Ambition' I wrote:

My career is maybe someday I'd like to be a photographer. My sister and brother are photographers now. They both have real nice cameras. I'd like to get a Miranda camera with a photo lens. I've had experience with photography already. I've been to Mayfair school with my sister because she went their for 2 years. She showed me how to enlarge pictures and the steps in developing pictures. It is very interesting. The reason I would like to be a photographer is because it is a interesting hobby to have. Its fun taking pictures of anything and everything.

I have a vague memory of that time period at Mayfair College with my sister Joyce. A more vivid memory is spending a month learning photography and film developing at my brother Larry's apartment one summer a year or two after the Mayfair College experience.

Larry and his roommate Sam had set up a dark room in their spare bedroom and they loaned me a 35mm single lens reflex camera (I don't remember what brand) and free reign to take it with me wherever I went. Both Larry and Sam taught me film developing and before long I was processing on my own.

Years later I took photography classes in junior college. I used one of the Yashicamat cameras on loan from the school library. The Yashicamat is a twin-lens reflex camera and formatted for 120 film.

The first camera I ever owned was a 35mm Olympus OM-1 SLR which was gifted to me by an old boyfriend. I remember being thrilled about the built in light meter. I used the OM-1 for a long time until it was stolen in a house burglery. After that I used James' 35mm Canon Sure Shot (with auto focus!) for years. I think we went through two of those before we got our first digital camera, the Lumix DMC-TZ3, mentioned at the beginning of this post.

With the Lumix GH2 I am entering into a new phase of photography and excited about the prospects of surfing on a new wave. Now I can't wait for spring and the promise of a new season of garden photography.

As always, thank for reading!