The Color of Serenity

Russel Falls in Tasmania is an amazing set of terraced waterfalls.  It is really pretty, but I doubt that any picture can do it justice.  I know mine doesn't. 

This page has no title or journaling because it is the 2nd in a dual-page spread and all of that is on the first page. I decided to post it, just to point out the way color can affect a scrapbook page (and our moods).  I had a choice of colors that would have worked with this page, browns, whites - even contrasting colors like orange, red, or blue.  I chose green because I wanted to evoke the same sense of serenity that I felt when I was actually standing at the foot of these beautiful falls. 

Color can make a real difference in the feel of a page.  Try it sometime.  Take the basic elements of your page and try them with different colors. It can be quite interesting to see how different a page can feel with the same elements but different background and accent papers!

Challenge - Fancy Fold Using Shades of Brown

One of the first timed challenges on the Paper Wishes Message Board for World Cardmaking Day was to make a fancy fold card using shades of brown.  I made a gatefold card with elements that overlapped the "gate".  Though I made it pretty quickly using my Resplendent Rectangles set and a pre-printed tag for a focal, the time got away from me, so I missed the deadline by a minute.  I was thinking about the inside of the card and had just cut a couple of borders for it when I realized I had to get pictures taken and posted! 

These are not colors I use a lot, but I think it gives a nice look - especially if I want to use it for a masculine card.

Simple Thanks

Here's another timed challenge card.  This one was simply to use several sizes of the same shape.  A set of nesting dies makes that really easy and makes a nice focal out of a simple stamped "Thanks".  Embossing around the edges of the white and inking around the edges of the orange, help add dimension.

Thanksgiving Stencil and Paint

Since it's the last Thursday of the month, I would usually be posting a Christmas card, but since I posted one yesterday and we're so close to Thanksgiving, I decided to go with another Thanksgiving card.

This card was made for a "one layer" timed challenge - no additional layers of paper, embellishments, etc.  So, I decided to use paint and ink. 

I started with my leaves stencil, but it wasn't large enough to cover the whole card!  So, I found some similar leaves in outline stickers and added them.  I covered part of the design with a post-it note to save a place for my focal.  I used metallic chalks to color in the leaves, then sprayed all over with Walnut Ink.

After removing the post-it, I stamped the focal & sentiment to complete my card. Next time, I might shade the edges of the focal area with some chalks to soften them a bit, but overall, I didn't think it turned out too badly for a timed challenge of this sort.

ColorMe Christmas

I LOVE the ColorMe papers from Hot Off the Press. They are GREAT for when you need a color that you just don't have, or for making something that looks spectacular but takes only minutes.  This card was a case in point.  I made it VERY quickly for a challenge. In this case, I was to make a xmas card using purple & white, glitter, and a die cut.

I took one look at a couple of the tags that were included in this ColorMe set and saw immediately they would work great for focal and sentiment respectively.  The snowflake fit perfectly in the first, and the sentient was really dressed up nicely in the second. It was a pretty simple thing to take a small ink pad and brush it over the paper to add my purple color.  And, since I could use the same ink to stamp my pictures, I knew it would go together well!  The mats are cut with a set of Spellbinder's dies - the lavender one is a piece of vellum.

Black and White with 3 Patterned Papers Challenge

Today's card was made using scraps to meet another challenge.  For this one I needed to make a black and white card using 3 different patterned papers.  It's a bit hard to tell, but the largest mat is the third patterned paper.  As you can see, this was a pretty quick card to put together.  The Resplendent Rectangles dies really make the card, don't they?

Emboss Resist Backgrounds

I LOVE the ColorMe Paper that Hot Off the Press makes, and have gotten several different ones.  However, it can be a bit expensive for everyday use, and it's a lot of fun to make your own!  I made this card that way.

I started with a piece of glossy white cardstock which I stamped all over with a variety of stamps and embossing ink.  Then I embossed the images with clear embossing powder.  Next I took a couple of distress inks (Dusty Concord and Broken China) and applied them randomly using makeup sponges and a circular motion.  I LOVED the way it turned out:

To make the card, I cut a piece for the card topper.  I actually got two out of this letter-sized sheet (I set the second aside to make another card later), but the one for this card was cut from the upper left-hand corner.

I then looked at my scraps and cut some accent pieces from them.  I used three of the accent pieces on this card.  I inked the edges of my card topper and my accent pieces and matted the sentiment accent with a couple of die cut pieces in white and purple.  The accent pieces themselves are added with foam tape for a bit more dimension.

As you can see, I also added some ribbon.  The border is made with a 3/4" white grosgrain ribbon, a purple 1/4" fancy-edged ribbon on top of that, and then topped with a 1/8" turquoise satin ribbon. This helps bring all the colors in the card together for a unified look.

Evoke the Emotion - Koalas and Dingos and Peacocks, Oh My!

Today we'll look at how aspects of your layout can help carry the energy or emotion of your subject.  Take these first couple of pages, for example.  I wanted to remember the pouring rain and fog we braved in order to see these animals/birds.  The background paper gives a bit of a foggy feel, but to bring in the rain, I printed a bunch of little raindrops, cut them out, and added them to my page.

Fortunately, most layouts don't require that much work.  Take this next one for example.  These birds, called Banded Rails, were very hard subjects for a good picture.  They kept darting all over the place, never staying still.  The background paper with lots of arrows going every which way really reminds me of these little birds darting all over the place.

Here's another one where the background paper pretty much does the work.  This is another case where we braved some rain to see the sights, and the background paper is a perfect reminder of that.

Window Box Challenge

For the last several days, I've posted cards made for various challenges on the Paper Wishes Message Board - most were done for World Cardmaking Day.  Here's another one.  The requirements for this challenge were:

• 5" x 6 1/2" card with at least one each of the following:
• 1" x 3" rectangle
• 2" x 6" rectangle
• 3.5" circle
• and 2" square

As you can see, I ran ribbon across the 2" x 6" piece and put my sentiment on the 2" square (the Happy Birthday" is a piece of confetti, the "celebrate" is stamped, both are on a white die cut piece). The 3.5" circle backs the square.  I wish I had put the square more inside that circle.  I placed it as I did so the sun on the patterned paper is visible, but it just doesn't show well enough - even though I added Stickles!  The 1" x 3" piece has 3 circular die-cut pieces that were stenciled and then had jewel dazzles placed in the center. A ribbon and a few more jewel Dazzles in the upper right corner complete the card.

Picture Serenity

Another timed challenge I took part in was to make a water themed card.  I immediately thought of this picture I'd taken in the Chinese Gardens in Sydney - figured it would make a good focal for a sympathy card.  The shape on the front is cut using another of the templates in the Design Tool Kit I talked about on Wednesday. 

Kitchen Thank You

This was another card made for a timed challenge.  It required the use of a vellum layer.  I decided to make a card to express my appreciation to my husband for his willingness to clean up in the kitchen, and thought this stamp from a Hot Off the Press set would be just right (the words are also from that set). 

I stamped the images in embossing ink and embossed them with fine black embossing powder.  Then I colored the image in with metallic cream chalks.  I cut the shape using the Design Tool Kit set of templates that I talked about yesterday, and then embossed around the edge by inking the edges with embossing ink, and then embossing with the fine black embossing powder. My husband loves orange (one of the colors of the sports teams he roots for) so I put the card together with some orange scraps (inking the edges of them with black ink).

Design Tool Kit #1

One of my recent acquisitions was the Design Tool Kit #1 from Hot Off the Press.  It's a set of templates that is just great for cardmaking.  The biggest one in the set can be used to create shaped cards like the one you see here. 

I had this yellow card that I wanted to use up, and decided to make a window card with a pumpkin focal for Thanksgiving.  The focal itself is made using a Dazzles outline sticker.  I backed part of it with orange and yellow patterned paper, then used metallic chalks to color in the leaves and stem.  Spellbinders Marvelous Squares die set once again came to the rescue in matting and framing this window/focal. 

Even though the paper I used for the pumpkin had yellow in it, I found that when I actually put it on the card, the yellow really didn't come through well and didn't pull the card together as well as I had hoped.  I decided to tone down the yellow a bit with repeated stamping in two shades of brown.  Then I added some orange ribbon to help pull those colors together.  Not my best card, but it works.

Here's something else I made using the small tag template in the Design Tool Kit. One of the challenges I signed up for recently was to make a tag using ribbon/string/fiber and spritzing.  I cut my basic tag using the template, then laid string in a random pattern over it.  Next I spritzed with some Tattered Angels spray and removed the string.  I finished it by stamping snowflakes and a sentiment and adding some ribbon at the top.

The Design Tool Kit comes with 6 templates and 12 shapes - only two of which have been shown here.  I used a couple of the other ones on my scavenger hunt scrapbook page shown here.

Inspiration from Scraps

Today's card was actually inspired by scraps!  It all started with a white piece of leftover paper that had been cut with a wavy edge on one end. 

One of the things I've started doing with my scraps - particularly my solid colored ones - is to cut/emboss them with my dies and/or embossing folders so they're all ready to be used for something.  Looking at the piece of leftover paper, I realized it was just the right size for an embossing folder.

After embossing it, I just kept seeing it used with aqua and pink.  I knew I had these colored cards that I wanted to use up, and I knew I had these dimensional stickers I'd gotten at the dollar store that would make a great focal, so I pulled them out and started playing.  I decided I wanted an aqua mat for my flowers, so went looking to see what I had.  This teal piece was sitting there - already cut and embossed for me (Spellbinders Marvelous Squares).  I don't think I'd have thought to use that color otherwise, but with it sitting right there just waiting for me . . .

A touch of ribbon, a bit of inking around the white piece, a Dazzles outline sentiment sticker, and the front of my card was done. 

I find that when I'm using a colored card like this for the base, I really want something lighter for writing on on the inside.  I had a second piece of the teal that had already been cut and embossed (Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles) and I figured it would work perfectly as a mat for a lighter piece - so I cut one to go with it and stamped a sentiment for the inside (with a stamp I made with my Theresa Collins Stampmaker).  This leaves room to write my own message as well.

Shaker Card

This card was in response to a timed challenge on the Paper Wishes Message Board.  The challenge was to make a "shaker" card.  With all the cards I've made, I'd still never made one of these before, but didn't want to wimp out on the challenge.  This was the result, and here's how I made it:

1. Cut and embossed white piece with one of the dies from the "Marvelous Squares" set of dies from Spellbinders, and matted it on a piece of dark blue glimmer paper which I attached to the front of the card.
2. Using 3-d foam squares, I placed them side by side around the inside of the white border, sprinkled some birthday confetti inside, and then attached a piece of acetate for the front.  I framed the acetate with another cut-out frame made with blue glimmer paper and the Marvelous Squares die set.
3. Another piece of blue glimmer paper, stamped with opaque white ink forms the sentiment.

I managed to make it in time to meet the challenge!  Now that I'm not racing the clock, I can take the idea and try a variety of other cards using this technique.

Scavenger Hunt Challenge

These two scrapbook pages are about a recent trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco.  They were also the result of a REAL challenge.  In honor of World Cardmaking Day, the Paper Wishes message board hosted a lot of fun events.  One of them was a scrapbooking "scavenger hunt".

This scavenger hunt was so much fun.  They had a list of 33 things.  We were to include as many as possible.  Since some of them seemed pretty contradictory, it at first looked like an impossibility to get all of them - but I did it!  This dual-page layout is the result.  It was very challenging and required a lot of thought - and was a lot of fun to complete!

Here is the scavenger hunt list and how it shows up on my pages.

1. something blue

• Blue brad buddy flower by title on 1st page (and a bunch more stuff if you count the slightly greenish blues that are the main color on these pages)

2. 3 different colored flowers

• Did this twice on 2nd page - three small ones on word "garden" and 3 on stamped image

3. 1 word title

• "Garden"

4. bling-bling and more bling -

• 1st page: gel glitter pen faux stitches; stickles (on border, altered chipboard "G" and flower brad buddy);
• 2nd page: smooch inks, metallic numbers, butterfly path "innies", stickles (around "garden" brad buddy and on vellum butterfly wings), gel glitter pen faux stitches

5. ribbon -

• on tags in envelope pocket (2nd page)

6. 4 buttons -

• one by each of the 4 photos on 2nd page

7. 2 different fonts for your title -

• Yes, first letter is a different font from the rest

8. ink or paint -

• Used Stazon ink to stamp my image (upper left hand corner of 2nd page)
• Smooch inks to color stamped image and decorative parts of butterfly brad
• alcohol ink to color envelope and buttons
• enamel paint to cover chipboard letter for title

9. something from Paper Wishes -

• That's an easy one - most of it is from PW including the green vellum I used and brad buddies

10. card stock only...no patterned paper -

• Did this on the 2nd page

11. 2 different shapes -

• One of my square shapes has a heart shape and circle shape on it (2nd page)

12. Border punch or pre-scalloped paper -

• Used border punch on border on 1st page - Love Story multi-punch

13. 4 different patterned papers -

• Used 4 different papers from Winter Delights paper pack - two used on border, two different ones used on title/mats - total 4 different papers

14. handmade embellishment using a template -

• I made the butterfly on heart (2nd page) using the Scandinavian Hearts template

15. sewing or faux stitches -

• faux free-hand stitching around brad buddy "Garden" on 2nd page
• faux stitching on the border of each of the 9 blocks on the 2nd page and the photo and title mat on the 1st page
• more faux stitching around vellum heart
• real stitching to attach buttons

16. a number or monogram -

• on the envelope/pocket (2nd page)

17. the colors green AND yellow -

• several places including brad buddy on 2nd page (flower & word) and stamped image

18. 3 or more photos

• 4 on 2nd page + 1 on first

19. 2 page layout -

• Yep

20. handwritten journaling -

• on the tags

21. monochromatic layout -

• on one of the tags (green one) - (Here's a picture of this so you can see that it IS a monochromatic layout.)

22. altered chipboard -

• First letter of title

23. non-traditional scrapbooking item -

• packet of seeds (and origami crane in envelope with tags)

24. journaling strips or journaling tag -

• journaling tag in envelope/pocket on 2nd page

25. 7 brads -

• on 2nd page - 3 holding brad buddy (lower right), 1 is butterfly in upper left corner, and 3 are in the number on the envelope (I didn't have a "1" so had to layer pieces of border sticker!)

26. a heart -

• bottom left corner of 2nd page

27. vellum -

• green heart/butterfly in bottom left corner (2nd page)

28. stamps -

• used one stamp from blossoms & swirls set used in upper left corner of 2nd page,
• used tiny snowflake stamp from snowglobe small set as flowers on altered chipboard "G"

29. 2 eyelets -

• on tags on 2nd page

30. a mini-envelope -

• center of 2nd page, glassene envelope from one of my PW cardmaker packs - colored with alcohol inks and used as a pocket for tags and origami crane

31. a label -

• used two of the "Luscious Christmas Labels" for tags
• used label templates from Design Tool Kit #1 for large mats for title

32. lace -

• Border on page 1

33. Dazzles! -

• doily under blue flower on first page
• doily in lower left corner of 2nd page (under heart/butterfly)

Want to join in on the fun?  You can do this in a couple of ways.  You could take the list of 33 items and use it for your own scavenger hunt, OR you could go through your craft room, looking for things you need to use up and that would be unusual and make a scavenger hunt list for yourself!  If you're not a scrapbooker, you could still challenge yourself - to see how many things you could incorporate into a card or other paper craft.  Have FUN!  I'd love to hear about what you've done!

Beyond Paper Crafting

Paper crafting skills can come in handy beyond making that special hand-crafted card or scrapbook page.  Today's picture shows some of what I've been doing lately - jam making!  Our fig tree had a bunch of figs and I love fig jam, so I made some of that.  Then I had leftover lemons and decided to put those with some oranges to make some marmalade.  And we've got a lot of grapes, so I decided to see what I could do with those.  As you can see, I also made good use of my herb garden, because these are not just any jams - they are gourmet!  I made a several different flavors. Shown here is:

• Fig-lemon-ginger-lavender
• Fig-lemon-rosemary
• Lemon-orange marmalade with thyme (I just realized as I write this that I mislabled my marmalade. It's not rosemary, it's thyme in there! Guess I better go fix that!)

I also made:

• Fig-grape-lemon-ginger-lavender
• Grape-lemon-rosemary

Anyway, in the above picture you can also see what I did for my labels.  I printed them out on a sheet of standard address labels.  Then I used the smallest die in my Spellbinder's Resplendent Rectangles set to cut them out (it also does some piercing).  Next I used the die as a stencil with a marker to add the embellishments around the edge - gives it a personal touch.  I'll probably add some ribbon & a tag - maybe some tulle to dress them up a bit more. 

Napkin Focal Thanks

Awhile back I showed you some cards I made using decorative napkins.  Here's another one.

First, a quick review of the technique.  Make sure you peel the napkin layers apart and only use the printed one.  Napkins usually come in 2 or 3 layers and if you don't separate them and just use the top one, you'll find your lovely decorations on your card start coming apart!  After that it's pretty simple.  Cut out the elements you want to use, apply glue to the back and smooth firmly (but GENTLY!) onto your card.  I use a glue stick for this, but it CAN tear the paper.  I've also used a stencil brush with YES! paste.  You want to cover the element with glue as any little parts that aren't glued down will start to look messy.

For this card, I cut a part of the napkin border and glued that on first.  Then I cut out the turkey and added that.  Finally I added a tag with my sentiment on it.  Using napkins like this not only makes me feel good because I'm using up my leftover napkins, they also make a pretty card very quickly.

Thanksgiving Traditions - inked cutting & embossing folder

This is a special Thanksgiving card made with a cutting and embossing folder that was inked the same way I described in last Monday's post.  The stamped sentiment says "Thanksgiving Traditions" (from Melissa Frances Crystal Clear Stamps).  The additional stamped images are from the Sweet Tweets set from Hot Off the Press.

Sticker Focals with Distress Inks

This unusual card began with Distress Inks and a stencil - 3 colors of ink haphazardly applied over the stencil before the stencil was removed.  The maroon square was a sample piece of vinyl I'd gotten somewhere covered with the "innies" of a leaf outline sticker. 

Using innies is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.  I covered them with blue painters tape, burnished them, then carefully pulled them off the backing paper attached to the tape (making sure they all came off with the tape).  I then placed the painter's tape with stickers on top of the vinyl, burnished again, then carefully removed the tape, leaving the stickers in place. 

The outline was drawn with a copper-colored Sharpie pen. The sentiment was hand-drawn on a cream-colored oval, and a cream-colored ribbon looks like it is tied around the stem of leaves.

Candy Cane Use It Up

Here's one more of these cards that I've been working on using up.  As you can see, I found a penguin with a candy cane that I thought would make a great focal - I think it was from a Hot Off the Press book.  The mats and greeting were all cut and embossed with Spellbinder's dies.  The smallest mat is from the Fleur de Lis Rectangles set.  The larger one is from Fair Island Pendants, and the greeting was cut using one of the Fancy Tags dies.

Inked Embossing Folder Technique

Today I've got a couple of cards I made by inking the embossing folder before embossing with it.  I've seen examples of this technique several places on the web and wanted to try it.

For this first card, I inked a rubber brayer with a bit of re-inker. I then rolled it on my craft mat to smooth the ink before rolling it over the raised parts of the embossing folder.  I centered my piece of paper on the un-inked side of the embossing folder - right side up, then closed the folder and ran it through my Big Shot.  I set this aside to dry while I worked on the other parts of my card. Then I inked the edges before placing on the card front.

The printed paper is a leaf theme from Hot Off the Press.  I cut a rectangle from it, just a bit smaller than the card front, and then inked the edges.  Using one of the dies from my Marvelous Squares die set (Spellbinders), I cut the focal piece from the printed paper and once again inked the edges.  The focal greeting is printed on vellum and cut with one of the Fleur de Lis square dies.
 

Here's another card - this one simply embossed with ink as above - no other embellishments added.

Large Photo Background - Exploring

Sometimes I really like using one of my photos as my background paper for a scrapbook page, like I did here.  This is pretty easy for an 8" x 8" page or 8.5" x 11" page - a little harder for a 12" x 12".  I have a wide body printer that allows me to print my pictures in this larger size, but if you don't have one, there are plenty of places on the internet where you can order a 12" x 12" print.  When creating your background this way, you can print your journaling as a part of the background photo, by adding it in your photo editing software before printing. 

On this "Exploring" page, the background photo gives a feel for the area around where I saw the pelican, whose picture I added to this page.

Pergamano Thank You Card

I always seem to need Thank You cards, so here is another one I made.  The focal was created with pergamano techniques using a stencil (the same one I used with the glitter technique for yesterday's post).  The greeting is cut with my Silhouette out of adhesive-backed vinyl.  The card itself was embossed with my new M-Bossabilities folder.  A pretty straight forward card, but nice, none-the-less.

World Cardmaking Day at Paper Wishes

Welcome to the Paper Wishes*BLOG HOP - we are so glad you are here to help us celebrate World Card Making Day! Some card making day trivia for you:

• Today, card making is a worldwide hobby, especially popular in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• 1 in 6 U.S. households participates in making cards

• 86% of scrapbookers also create handmade cards

• 92% of paper crafters create cards more than any other type of project

Be sure to check out all the blogs in this blog hop, as well as visit the Paper Wishes message board*as there are lots of things going on there today, all sponsored by Paper Wishes, with some great prize packages! You don’t want to miss a chance to win!

To win a prize package of Paper Wishes products: leave a comment on ALL THE BLOGS and a random drawing will be done to choose the winner. You also must be a registered user on the message board.

So on with the fun – it doesn’t matter where you start the blog hop, just see where you are on the list and make sure you visit them all and leave some sweetness behind!

Participants:
Penny at Penny's Page
Nancy at Nancy's Creative Space
Michelle at Precious Thoughts
Patti Prince at Crafty Patti's Cards
Robin at Red Robin Lane
Jackie at Jackie's Cards & Stuff
Cheryl at Cher-ing Paper Memories -----you are here!
Sam at Never try to teach a pig to sing

This year's theme for the blog hop is gardening. I chose the ROSE to highlight on my card. Most of my materials are available from Paper Wishes, and I've provided links to many of these products.

I LOVE glitter (see wide array of glitters here) and I finally got around to purchasing these adhesive sheets so I could try the glitter technique shown here.

I started by drawing around my rose stencil onto the top backing sheet of my adhesive paper.  I then cut around that drawn line and was ready for the fun.

I started by removing the backing sheet and attaching my cut-out shaped adhesive piece to a white piece of cardstock.  Then I carefully removed the top sheet and placed my stencil gently on top.  I took a post-it note and covered the leaves/stem portion before adding the glitter to my flower and swirly border. Because of the way I had cut the adhesive sheet, there was just a thin border around the outer edge that I got too.  I was using some VERY FINE glitter so just put a bit on my finger and rubbed it where I wanted it - made it very easy to be quite precise with placement.

After brushing off any loose glitter, I removed the post-it and added my green glitter.

Finally, after again brushing off any loose glitter, I carefully removed the stencil from the adhesive piece.  I sprinkled a bunch of clear/white glitter over the remainder.  It was in larger chunks, but worked just fine. I just dumped off the excess and had my glittery flower.

Then, I trimmed the card stock close to the glittery flower to form a narrow mat as shown.

I cut a layer out of purple patterned paper (an old design from Hot Off the Press), using the Label B template from Design Tool Kit #1.

Before I assembled the card, I scored the front of it on a diagonal with lines 1/8" apart.  Then I added my layers as shown in the picture.  I wrote the sentiment by hand four times with an opaque white pen, and my card was complete.  I love the way it glitters and sparkles!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment on all the blogs for a chance to win! 

Metallic Cream Chalks with Outline Stickers and Fall Leaves Template

I recently bought some metallic cream chalks and have enjoyed using them.  The background of this card was made using a fall leaves template.  I colored the inside of the leaves with the metallic cream chalks, then sprayed it all with walnut ink. The focal was made using an outline sticker that I colored in with metallic cream chalks.  I wrote the sentiment with a metallic Sharpie pen.

Thanksgiving Metallic Chalk Background

I love the creamy metallic chalks for making pretty backgrounds.  I just applied bits of several different colors to the background, blending them together.

The greeting is stamped on and matted on papers cut/embossed with my Fleur de Lis rectangle dies from Spellbinders. I also used them as a stencil to add a bit of the metallic cream chalk to the border.

The turkey is cut from a pretty paper napkin (after the layers were separated and just the printed one remained). It was glued to a cream colored card which was then matted on the bronze paper and popped up on the card with foam tape.

Gingerbread Man Use It Up

Here's another "use it up" Christmas card - this one a gingerbreadman background.  I also had matching paper, so cut out one of the little gingerbreadmen and a green heart out of that.  These form the focal which is popped up on foam tape and then layered on several layers of die cutouts that form a sort of triple mat.  The greeting with double mat was cut on my Silhouette.

Thanks a Bunch

Here's a Thanksgiving card I made - shaped using the card shape from the Design Tool Kit #1 from Hot Off the Press.  The focal is created from one of the Autumn Scrapbooking Dazzles by the same company, matted by a tan piece cut with a Spellbinders die.  I used some water-color pencils to color in the fruits and vegetables, then used my aqua-painter (a water brush from Stamp-in Up to better add color and shade them.) The printed paper has subtle leaf shapes and is also from Hot Off the Press.