#TGIFC596 — Inspiration Challenge

For this week’s TGIF Challenge, the designers are using the inspiration photo below. It’s great for Fall-themed cards. I decided to focus on the trees on the right and falling leaves on the left. Therefore, I selected the Splendid Autumn Designer Series Paper (DSP) for my trees. It just recently retired, but it’s such beautiful paper that I kept it for this season.

The rest of the card features the Elegant Leaves Bundle and a few smaller leaf die-cuts from the Painted Pumpkins Dies. Also, since I needed a birthday card, I used a sentiment from the A Family Celebration Stamp Set.

I love the “movement” in the inspiration photo. To mimic that on my card, I cut the Splendid Autumn DSP into progressively smaller strips and spaced them out. Then, I also randomly adhered the leaves so they looked like they were flying.

To create the leaves, I pre-painted Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper with Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Golden Glow, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, and even a little Moody Mauve ink. (I added the retired Moody Mauve ink because that color was used in the Splendid Autumn DSP. It helped to dull the bright reds and oranges a bit.) Afterwards, I die-cut the leaves using the Elegant Leaves and Painted Pumpkins Dies.

In the background, I watercolored a sky with Balmy Blue and Azure Afternoon ink. Then, I added splatter with Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, and Golden Glow Stampin’ Blends Markers to make it look like there were smaller leaves floating in the distance.

The fun layer under the sentiment is copper colored Metal Effects Specialty Paper. I dry embossed a strip with the Elegant Leaves Dies.

On the inside of the card, I used both a sentiment and leaf images from the Elegant Leaves Stamp Set.

Hope this card inspires you to join our TGIF Challenge this week!

Have a great day!

Purchase products from my online store to qualify to receive free exclusive project tutorials. This month’s PDF includes 12 great tutorials designed by my demonstrator friends and I to inspire your paper crafting! The projects feature products from the September-December 2026 Catalog and current Online Exclusives. Enjoy!