'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 15 October 2019

I've been playing around with some Autumn colours, so I thought I'd share them with you before I get waylaid...

Daring Cardmakers have a 'Use up your scraps' challenge on at the moment, so once I'd fulfilled my need to stamp a pear or two 😉 I used some of my favourite card colour (rich, red brown) scraps to brighten up the card and add a little more interest. I used Promarkers to colour the pears (PSX), having embossed them in gold ep. Autumn just seems to cry out for gold and copper, don't you think? I haven't used many eyelets, either - as you can see from the pic - one of them went disastrously wrong... but I didn't want to waste my nutty coloured card - even if it is a scrap/offcut! The pear words are an old favourite from Stamp in the Hand, stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.

I have a few baskets of scraps and offcuts, in various sizes, so I pulled out a couple to try out my new TH skeleton leaves, using various shades of Versafine Clair to stamp them and clear embossing. On one of the cards I smooshed some Distress inks (Toasted Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany and Fossilised Amber, with a touch of Walnut Ink; on the other, I sponged on the inks. My favourite seasonal Hero Arts stamp had its seasonal outing for the words, using either Acorn or Walnut ink for a contrast, with some splotch stamping around in Walnut ink and Shimmer Gold Delicata, which I edged both panels with. I wiped the excess ink off the embossed leaves with a baby wipe, to show the stamped images more clearly. 

The smooshed card was just crying out for something 'natural', so I found my twine and wrapped it round, adding a metal charm with gold thread, for a bit of interest...while rooting through my charms I came across some metal words, so I thought it was about time I stopped hoarding them and used TWO! A certain friend of mine would faint if she knew I'd even used one 😅 let alone a copper one!!! (Yes, I love copper and aged metal)
  
Last but not least, a couple of days ago, I played with blue and grey and my Lavinia and Inkylicious stamps... I used Weathered Wood and Tumbled Glass Oxides, with a touch of Versafine Clair Paradise, some Brilliance Moonlight White and some Stormy Sky DOX. Some of the stamping was done with the Weathered Wood and Tumbled Glass, to add dimension. The (very) misty mountains (no, they're not hopping - and only we ageing Led Zeppelin fans would have a clue what I'm talking about...) in the background are inked with an Inkylicious stencil. A touch of Prismacolor pencils added a little more definition.
I'm pleased to be able to enter the following challenges:-

Sweet Stampin, Autumn Colours/Harvest
Stamping Sensations, Trees/Leaves/Autumn
Make My Monday, Fruit/Vegetables
Incy Wincy Designs, Autumn Colours
Artsy Stamper, Autumn Colours
Moo Mania & More, Count Your Blessings (Reflect)
Creatalicious, Autumn
Paper Minutes, Autumn

I've also decided that I'm going to do a charm giveaway - or two - so if you're interested, keep your eye on my posts... I have a RIDICULOUSLY large stash and they're here, by my side, waiting to be sorted out, so I know I'll have quite a few to share. I could never use what I have even if I added a charm to every card I make... I used to be a real collector, and amassed quite a number via RAKs on my Yahoo group, not to mention the remainder of those I also used to sell when I had my shop... 😌

Thank you for calling in today. I hope you're well...
I'll be back soon
Cath
xxx

30 very kind comments from lovely people:

theras kartenblog said...

Wonderful cards! I like the colours so much.
Thanks for playing along with us at Friendship Challenge.
Happy crafting!
Ilse (thera)

My name is Erika. said...

I am really inspired by these autumn cards Cath. I like the different takes on autumn too. I'm with you using copper. It a fabulous autumn color, isn't it? hugs-Erika

brenda said...

Totally agree about gold and copper Cath, in fact copper EP is one of my favourites, so rich and lush.

Again you have a wonderful collection of cards and Autumn never fails to release all those creative juices as highlighted by today's makes, by contrast the smokey blues of your last card with touches of glitter bring the lovely Fairy to life.

Many thanks for joining in with our 'Trees/Leaves/Autumn' theme at Stamping Sensations challenge, always great to have you play along.

B x

froebelsternchen said...

Those are just wonderful cards! Amazing Cath! Happy rest of the week !
Thank you so much for joining MOO MANIA & MORE!
Hugs, Susi

Beverly said...

Love your CARDS! The color of the posted one threw me a bit, but when I visited your site it all made sense. Thrilled to see this beautiful card in our very first challenge at Artsystamper Digitals Challenge. You can find future challenges in our sidebar.
Hugs,
Beverly aka Artsystamper

Caty said...

Your cards are WON-DER-FUL Cath !! Really gorgeous, I looove them all. The first one is amazing, special design. The Autumns cards are so beautiful with the skeleton leaves, great colours. And the last one is fantastic and magic! Lovely stamps and I like the blue and grey colours together.
I wish you a very nice day, and send big hugs,
Caty

Jane Savage said...

Great cards!
Thank you for joining us this month at We Love 2 Create With Polkadoodles! Jane (DT) Paper, Pencils & Pretty Things xxx

Donna Ellis said...

Oh MY, Cath! Your lovely card trio is a breath of fresh Autumn air! Each one is gorgeously designed. I especially enjoyed the stenciling and masking. So happy I saw your pretty card at Lavinia World Challenges >. Hope to see more of your creations in the future.
Smiles,
Donna
{Creative Smiles - my little crafting world}

Lori Kobular said...

All of your cards are so lovely! The autumn colors are perfect on your cards and I really love the fairy card you made! It is precious! Thank you for sharing with us at Lavinia World Challenges!

Joan said...

Beautiful cards Cath, love those rich autumn colours. I think the change in postal charges put paid to using charms on cards, I also have rather a lot of them and all kinds of stuff I hoarded and then found it's out of date now!


Joan x

crafty-stamper said...

Fabulous cards Cath the beautifully coloured pears are my favourite but love the Autumn and silhouette stamps cards too
Carol x

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I love that pear stamp and card. It is beautiful. Seems to me Stamp in the Hand was a favorite stamp company by those of us who like rustic and original.

Not sure you know this, but I used copper in my kitchen. My kitchen counter is copper, I painted the ceiling copper, and I collect copper pots and kitchen ware. That means the copper word really pulled me in. I also love the other card with the two metal embellishments.

You make incredible cards, Cath. I love everything you make.

I wanted to ask if you are doing AEDM again this year. Just letting everyone know because it was so much fun having others who I "know" play last year, too.

Darlene said...

WOW these are awesome! Great job! Thanks so much for playing in our challenge at the Artsystamper Challenge Blog!
Darlene
ARTSYSTAMPER CHALLENGE
DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS Please stop by for a visit.

Nonnie's Cards and Gifts said...

Beautiful work. I especially like the blue top on the mushroom. Thank you for crafting with us at Lavinia World. Vicki DT

Allison Clark said...

Fabulous cards you have created, Thank you for joining us at Make My Monday challenge, hugs XoX Alli C - DT

Heidi said...

Tolle Karten, die Birne gefällt mir besonders gut!
Danke, dass du sie bei Paperminutes zeigst.

Liebe Grüße -
Heidi.

Rosie said...

Your cards are very beautiful, Cath.

Have a wonderful weekend

Bastelkueken`s Kreative Welt aus Alsdorf said...

Hallo meine Liebe,
deine Karten sind zauberhaft und wunderschön.
Danke für deine Teilnahme bei Friendship
Lieben Gruß Anja

Neet said...

I too am in love with the autumnal colours and your cards have captured that richness that I always think of in colour with the word Autumn. I would never have thought of using pears but these are truly brilliant. Love how you have coloured them. Do you mean that you masked the words and the pear image? If so brilliant masking. The addition of the two strips and the eyelets against the white background makes this card look so clean that it really appeals to the senses.
The next two cards really showcase the richness of the autumnal colours and the addition of the string and charm on the bottom one adds to it even more so. Then we have a complete contrast with the blue grey card. So different but so captivating. It really has a magical quality about it and transports one to the night-time when the fairies come out and bathe in the moonlight. Fantastic colouring!
A wonderful set of cards - as always.
Hugs, Neet xx

Julie Odil said...

Such gorgeous Fall cards! I'm not a Led Zeppelin fan, but I'm guessing my husband would 'get' the reference. Thanks so much for joining us at Lavinia World Challenges. Julie, DT member

Lynne K said...

Wow, stunning autumn colours, Cath, and a lovely leaf. Perfect for our autumn challenge at Stamping Sensations, thanks for sharing with us.

Lynne

Sandma's Handmade Cards said...

A lovely selection of cards Cath and I always enjoy looking at autumnal creations x

Grandma Bonnie said...

Cath, i love your post.. your cards are so gorgeous! Thank you for entering the Lavinia World Challenge!
Bonnie - DT Lavinia World

Lena said...

All your cards are absolutely lovely! Thank you so much for playing along with us at Lavinia World Challenges. We hope to see you again next time. Have a wonderful day.
♥ Lena ~ DT
Lavinia World
Lena’s Creations

Steph Ackerman said...

Beautiful cards, love the colors. Thanks for sharing at Lavinia World Challenges.

Janeen from DemiDoodle.com said...

Cute cards! Thanks for sharing the pear one for the Make My Monday fruit and/or vegetable challenge! I like how you did some masking and had both the picture of the pears and the background words with pears. You really nailed the theme.

Janeen
MMM Design Team
https://www.demidoodle.com

Judy McKay said...

Beautiful autumn card. Love the colours and texture. Thank you for joining us at Creative Artiste this month. Judy DT

Silvis Kreativstube said...

Hallo liebe Cath,
deine Herbstkarten sehen alle ganz toll aus.
Eine so schön wie die andere. Ich bin ganz begeistert.
Vielen Dank für die Teilnahme an der Friendship Challenge.
Liebe Grüße Silvi

Cazro said...

A well constructed and designed card. Perfect for our challenge. Thanks for joining us at Make My monday. Caz DT.

Aimeslee Winans said...

sO GORGEOUS!!! Sorry so late, just found this blog post in my inbox, Cath, but seriously those are some primo stamps and so of course would make a primo card! I like what you did with the pretty red brown strips and the eyelets also.

I'm also in the kind of mood today to riff a fave line, since you brought it up~! And with my full-of-holes memory, I'm certain I am paraphrasing: "Folk down there really don't care which way the pressure lies". That is my favorite line from that song. XOX