HOLIDAY MINI SPOTLIGHT SERIES - DAY ONE

Hi all!!!! As promised, I am starting my Holiday Mini product spotlight  where each day for the next 10 days I will share a fun project of some type using products from the fabulous Holiday Mini catalog!!! I am very excited to share these projects with you as I love the products and had a ball playing around with them :-) I know I should have started this on Monday BUT it was a holiday and Tony and I took a spur of the moment couple trip out of town and went to the coast, just him and I!! It was soooo wonderful, we really enjoyed ourselves so I figured you would forgive me since we got back yesterday *wink* So, here is the first project!! It features the brand new stamp set called Gently Falling, and what an AWESOME stamp set this is!!!  Look at all those pretty leaves!!!  They are just beautiful, aren't they??!!I will go into more details on the leaves in just a few, but first, let's explore the rest of the card! This stamp set is a two-step stamp set - one of my very favorite kind of stamps to use because there are sooo many possibilities.  I made a front step card to show off these beauties and I love how it turned out!! The scoring was made VERY easy by using my fabulous new Simply Scored scoring tool that is now available in the Holiday Mini!! This is a tool that I know a lot of us have been waiting for, and I hope to do a video tutorial very soon to show you just how amazing this tool is :-)   The base of the card is Early Espresso with the oh so yummy Spice Cake Designer Series paper! Right below the sentiment - which is from the Always Thankful stamp set, also found in the mini - is some of the Spice Cake fabric - isn't it pretty??! All I did was tear (yes tear) a strip from the fabric and tie it around the card, tying it in a bow.  I love how the ends start to shred, it really adds to the card!  Along the bottom of the card, I punched some of the Spice Cake DSP using the Lace Border punch, and added some pretty pearls.  Love it!! And, if you look up close on the sides, you will see that I added mini silver brads to each flower center! The leaves are adhered to a piece of More Mustard card stock that has been embossed through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder (hint, always do your stamping BEFORE you run your card stock through the embossing folder so it stays nice and crisp and clear).  I then lightly sponged over it using More Mustard classic ink.

Lastly, the leaves - let me show you a close-up and talk a little bit about how I did these!  As I said before, this is a two-step stamping set, which means there are all kinds of color combo possibilities you can do with these! Just like snowflakes, there are no two leaves alike, so I wanted to make sure all mine were different as well.  I first stamped the outline of each leaf in Early Espresso ink on Naturals Vanilla card stock because I like the texture it adds to the stamped image.  Next, I stamped the actual leaves in several different colors: Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake.  I did the first layer of each leaf, then went back and stamped the leaf again in a different color! Most of them have three different colors on them, which really gives them that gorgeous fall look! I cut them all out and then took my stylus (you could also use a paper piercer) and curled the edges and sides of all the leaves.  Some of them are adhered directly to the card, while others I popped up on dimensionals.  They really remind me of fall, which is my favorite season of the year! I am looking forward to it cooling down here and seeing some of the pretty leaves on the trees in our yard.  But for now, I am content to make my own fall :-) I hope you enjoyed this first in the series of spotlights I have coming your way!! If you love these products shown here, and want them for your very own, you can order in my online store, or contact me and I will be happy to put your order in! I will be back tomorrow with another fun fall project that I just know you will love! Until then, I hope you find some time to create!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Early Espresso, More Mustard, Pool Party, Naturals Vanilla card stock, Spice Cake Designer Series paper
Inks - Early Espresso, More Mustard, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake classic inks
Stamps - Gently Falling, Always Thankful (sentiment)
Tools - Simply Scored Scoring tool, Stylus, Lace Border Punch, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, sponge, dimensionals
Accessories - Spice Cake fabric, Mini silver brads, Basic Pearls