Stamping Sunday Blog Hop — Rich Comforts and Rustic Elegance

Welcome to the October 2024 Stamping Sunday Blog Hop. This month, our theme is “Rich Comforts and Rustic Elegance.” It’s perfect for cooler weather, falling leaves, and Autumn holidays. I bet the international team of designers will dream up some fun projects for this one! So be sure to follow along the entire blog hop for lots of great inspiration by clicking the links at the bottom of this post.

My 34th wedding anniversary is coming up, so I decided to make a card for my dear husband. It’s a slimline card that will fit inside one of the retired Stampin’ Up! slimline envelopes. I love this style of card, because it gives me more room for decorating!

The main focus of the card is the watercolored leaves, but there are lots of fine details as well. IFor example, dry embossed the leaves and wood background to add texture.

To create the leaves, first I die-cut them from Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. Then, I watercolored them with Coastal Cabana, Pumpkin Pie, and Cajun Craze ink. I love these vibrant colors against the dark wood background! I have to confess that Cajun Craze is probably my least favorite Stampin’ Up! color … I’m not exactly sure why; I think I just don’t like the color rust. However, I really love it with this color combination!

Once the die-cuts dried, I aligned them inside the Changing Leaves Embossing Folder and dry embossed them for texture. Then, I added both dark brown and white splatter. For the dark brown, I used the darkest Natural Tones Stampin’ Blend Marker (SU 100) and for the white, I used a mixture of Craft White Ink Refill and a little water.

Behind the watercolored leaves, I added a layer of dark wood and some detailed leaf die-cuts. Both are cut from sheets of Country Woods Designer Series Paper. I dry embossed the layer with the Birch 3D Embossing Folder for added texture. Finally, I added a few sprigs die-cut from Coastal Cabana Cardstock.

Since this is an anniversary card, I needed an appropriate sentiment. Therefore, I used “Happy” from the Greetings of the Season Stamp Set and “Anniversary” from the Everyday Greetings Stamp Set. These two stamp set coordinate together, have the same fonts, and both pair with the Greetings of the Season Dies, which I used to cut out my custom sentiment. All three are favorites of mine.

The final touches on the front of the card included some gray baker’s twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack and some Textured Dots, keeping with the masculine, rustic theme.

On the inside of the card, I added one more watercolored leaf and some matching Country Woods Designer Series Paper.

I hope this card inspires you. The Changing Leaves Bundle is one of my favorites by far and a definite “keeper.” Be sure to check out the other designers’ projects by clicking on the links below. I can’t wait to see what they create! (If you’re reading this via email, click on my header to move over to my blog and then you’ll see the links.)

Stamping Sunday Blog Hop Designers:

Enjoy your Sunday! Hope you find time for a little paper crafting,

Use Host Code 9ZEM4RAE for purchases at my online store to qualify to receive free exclusive project tutorials. This month’s PDF includes 12 fantastic tutorials designed by my demonstrator friends and I to inspire your creativity! The projects feature products from the 2024 Annual Catalog, Online Exclusives, and new January-April Mini and Sale-A-Bration Catalogs. Enjoy!

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