Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Today is officially Thanksgiving Day in Canada, although many people have the big feast on the Sunday so they can travel back home on the Monday. Much turkey is eaten, pumpkin pie consumed, family gathered and gratitude expressed! It's more of a Thanksgiving Weekend than just a Day! I wanted to celebrate with a card, but I went a little non-traditional this year. It was my first time using the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set, having just ordered it. But it was the perfect set to use with the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for this week, and it coordinates with the Leaflet Framelits!

Everything is my card is a little funky, including crooked (on purpose, as opposed to my usual slightly off kilter) panels, over sponging and touch ups with the gel pen.

• With my colour scheme, I wasn't sure I would like the finished product, but I do! I love the Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Black together, especially with these folksy images.

Cajun Craze       Crushed Curry   Always Artichoke        Basic Black

• I stamped the different leaves in Versamark Ink ( after using my Embossing Buddy) and covered them with Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, then heat set them with the Heat Tool. I then sponged over each leave with a different colour, pulling the colour out toward the edges of each panel.
• The Uni-ball Signo white gel pen was used to add highlights to the leaves and I love the impact they made, plus it was fun colouring in the little areas. Stampin' Up! is definitely taking advantage of the Adult Colouring Book craze with this Lighthearted Leaves stamp set. So many cool little areas in which you could add colour!
• I purposely made the panels crooked on the card front, adding to the unconventional look of this card. It can be tricky to do this, making sure everything is balanced.
• The sentiment is from the same set and it is embossed in black on the Cajun Craze circle and backed with Always Artichoke. A scattering of Rhinestones finishes the look.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Lighthearted Leaves Photopolymer Stamp Set [139712]	Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119684]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Always Artichoke 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105119]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650]
Versamark Pad [102283]	White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen [105021]	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [126965]	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad [126972]	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173]
Stamping Sponges [101610]	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder [109133]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Heat Tool [129053]	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246]
Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911]	1-3/4" Circle Punch [119850]

Vintage Leaves for The Paper Players' Colour Challenge

The Paper Players have a colour challenge this week that I found a little odd. There was a pastel yellow, a bright orange and a dark blue-green. Since blue and orange are opposite each other on the colour wheel, they are complimentary colours. The funny thing is that I don't find complimentary colours very complimentary! I usually avoid them like the plague, so I wasn't sure how I was going to use this combination. I decided that leaves would work and got out my Vintage Leaves stamp set.

I started by looking for some Designer Series Paper that had Tangelo Twist in it and I found a plaid design I liked with Black and Vanilla as neutrals in the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper. I decided to use Black as my main neutral and started out with layers of Basic Black, Lost Lagoon and the designer paper. Here's my design:

• I embossed the leaf images on Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist and So Saffron cardstock using Black Stampin' Emboss Powder. Then I covered the images with Versamark Ink and coated them in Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and heat set it. That not only gives the images  a sparkle but also intensifies the colour. 
• I used the Leaflet Framelits to die cut the leaf images and then added them to a finger bow made of Basic Black Stitched Satin Ribbon with Glue Dots and adhered the whole swag to the card front. The Vintage Leaves stamp set and the Leaflet Framelits are one of the many bundles in the Annual Catalogue that will save you 15%.
• The label is die cut using the Tags & Labels Framelits and the images come from For All Things stamp set found in the Annual Catalogue.

This afternoon we will be heading up north to visit with my daughter and her family! She has advised us to bring warm clothes, so we're anticipating cooler weather there. I will update you as the week goes on, but right now I can hardly wait to get there and snuggle with Kesten and Cedar and visit with Kristen and David. Grandma's bringing some treats, too!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Vintage Leaves [138802]	For All Things Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135155]	For All Things Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135152]	Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper [139584]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]
Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133679]	So Saffron 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105118]	Tangelo Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133677]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [133644]	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder [109133]	Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder [101930]	Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon [138430]	Heat Tool [129053]
Embossing Buddy [103083]	Leaflets Framelits Dies [138283]	Tags & Labels Framelits Dies [138282]	Big Shot [113439]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]
Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Glue Dots [103683]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]