sympathy cards stamped with real leaves

I've got a set of stamped-with-real-leaves sympathy cards to share with you this Friday. It's true, once you start doing this, you cannot stop. I loved the serene look of the print made with the Smoke bush leaf, so I pulled out some pastel CS and this happened.

Leaves

Catherine Pooler Spa inks

RKartenkunst Trauer stamp

And because I liked the simple design so much, and need sympathy cards so often... 

Have you tried this yet? 

I'm heading to:

Papercraft Challenge - Herbst/Fall

Inkspirational - #197

experimenting with stamping with real leaves

Maybe you saw my über CAS card stamped with real leaves? Today's post shares my first experiments with real leaves.

First I went out in the yard and picked various sized leaves from our Sweet Gum tree and the Smoke bush.

Then I grabbed the nearest PP pad (a recent purchase from Action - a dollar store) and a black Versafine ink pad. Inked up the reverse of the leaf and "stamped" it onto the corner of the PP panel. Clear embossed the images. Did this 4 times and then made 4 cards from the panels.

First up the Sweet Gum leaf.

Then the Smoke bush leaf.

leaves

STAMPlorations Clear Stickers

Charlie and Paulchen Rectangle die

clear embossing powder

washi

This is such fun. I decided I liked the round leaf best. Keep watching to see what I did with it...

CAS cards challenge october reminder

Howdy friends! Have you had a chance to check out the three new monthly challenges over at STAMPlorations? I'm designing for the new CAS Cards challenge! Here's the inspiration for the month of October.

So the orange twist is purely optional, but I stuck with it and reached for some Thanksgiving place cards that were waiting to be recycled - the colors were perfect - and this happened...

STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves stamp

STAMPlorations Love Words die

distress inks

embossing powder

square punch

I punched the most interesting area out of the place cards and aligned them down the right third of the card front. For a sentiment I die cut a brown "XOXO" thinking it supported the cozy, fall feel of my design.

Don't you love how the shine of the embossing powder adds interest to this CAS design? What's your favorite trick for adding a little pizazz to your CAS designs?

Loving your CAS card creations this month! If you play with us your project might be chosen as the winner of a GC to the shop. Check out today's post over at the STAMP blog to see more cards from the DTs for all three of this month's challenges. There's lots of eye candy to be had.

And don't forget about my STAMPlorations discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off should you find yourself shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over. See you in the gallery.

STAMPlorations inspiration #238

Welcome to another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team.

I've another make for you made with a gelli background from my stash that I die cut leaves from. (Note to self: next time ink the edges of the leaves or stamp on all of them for more definition!)

 STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves 2 stamp and die

STAMPlorations Little Owls stamp
STAMPlorations Birds of Paradise stamp

Pretty self explanatory. I love that little sentiment (the inside reads "birthday") in the Birds of Paradise set and how it nestles into the pile of leaves. I doubt that owls actually perch on top of leaf piles, but what the heck.

For other ideas with this stamp set check out these cards.

As always you could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post here. And I'd love it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off if you're placing an order from the store.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Next week we'll be celebrating (belatedly) STAMPlorations' 6th birthday. Come by to see the new products and party with us. Actually you can already link up your wish list over at the STAMP blog...

stamping with real leaves

Have you noticed the stamp-with-real-leaves trend lately? I first saw it here and finally gave it a go today. I was also intrigued by the current challenge at AAA Cards.

Here's what I did.

Leaves

Catherine Pooler Spa inks

Right at Home Be Thankful stamp

Liquid Platinum embossing powder

Isn't this just so cool? It's addicting. I'll be back with more...

simon says stamp - more marie snowflake

Back today with more makes with the "Marie Snowflake" I got to play with for the Cheer and Joy release over at Simon Says Stamp.

I'm sharing my design process with you for the cards I created using this snowflake die. As I mentioned earlier I googled Christmas trends for 2019 and this site provided all the inspiration I needed to jumpstart my mojo.

Next up is Simple Christmas - actually a decorating trick I love to use. A branch to hang things from.

source: Christmas365greetings.com

SSS Marie Snowflake die

SSS Fa La La stamp

Hero Arts Pine Bough stamp

white embossing powder

This is my favorite design of all five. The simplicity of the pine branch with the stark white... and that yummy gold flake. I couldn't distract from that with a sentiment, so I heat embossed my sentiment along the bottom edge in white too. See it?

And then... I'm calling this one Farm House Christmas - as in Joanna Gaines kinda farmhouse ;)

source: Christmas365greetings.com

 SSS Marie Snowflake die

SSS Wreath Tag die

SSS Joy to the World stamp

I love that door mat. Perused my PP stash and found this pattern. Of course you could stamp yourself a plaid on kraft too. Added another PP with a touch of red, a white snowflake and a green wreath to wrap around it. A few sequins finished off my design.

This next card was born from the same PP pad. Just took the kraft up a notch with the black and gold, having seen so much of it in this Christmas trends post.

 SSS Marie Snowflake die

Klartext Frohe Weihnachten stamp

gold embossing powder

Since I'd chosen this busy background I backed the two black snowflakes with a circle from another PP to block out some of the busy pattern. I also chose to leave the cut pieces in the gold die cut for more shine. 

Hope you've enjoyed seeing how Christmas trends led me to these designs. You can check out all the new products in the Cheer and Joy release here and all the lovely makes with the products in this gallery.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm stopping by at:
Winter Wonderland - Merry and Bright
SSS Wednesday Challenge - Christmas
Happy Little Stampers - Christmas with option of Twinkle

guest designing at craft stamper TIMI

I'm joining the very talented ladies over at Craft Stamper magazine for their October Take It Make It challenge where it's always anything goes.

I made a one-layer CAS card but did some ink blending, ghosting, stamping and heat embossing to step it up a bit.

 Altenew Leaf Clusters stamp

Stampin Up Fantastic Foliage stamp

STAMPlorations Words of Gratitude stamp

distress oxides

painter's tape

water

clear embossing powder

I ink blended Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin and Candied Apple oxides. Stamped the solid Leaf Clusters with water to create the ghost images. Stamped the Fantastic Foliage images randomly with the three oxide colors. Stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed it clear. Voila!

Fun and easy to do yet adds a lot of interest to the simple card. Hope you'll give it a try. Check out this post for a step-by-step on this design.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend (get out and enjoy the fall color if you can).

I'm going over to:
SSS Monday challenge - Fall/Autumn
Basteltraum - Autumn

AAA Cards - One Layer with option of Autumn