The Paper Players Challenge #317

This week over at The Paper Players, they have a Clean & Simple Leaf Challenge.  One of my favorite color combinations for Fall this year is Scarlet Jewel and Dark Chocolate so I created my card using those two reinkers.

I started by stamping a couple of the WPLUS9 Autumn Leaves outline stamps onto Canson  #140 Watercolor Paper using Versamark and heat embossing with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  Since I was coloring in the leaves all the way it didn't matter that the paper was a little more cream colored than white.  Putting a few drops of reinker onto an acrylic block and picking it up with a waterbrush, I colored in the leaves. I wasn't going for a "watercolored" look, just a colored look but I wanted the paper to stand up to the water without pilling. There's some variation in the color just where the paper was more or less wet. Once I had those colored I set them aside for a little while.

While I was waiting, I made a top folding card base from Dark Chocolate Cardstock and cut a stitched rectangle panel from Rustic White Cardstock using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies.  I stamped the sentiment from WPLUS9's Grateful Greetings Stamp Set  in Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder. This is a small stamp set with three different sentiments in it for $6.00 and it pairs well with the Autumn Leaves Stamps & Dies. In fact, last year, Dawn made some gorgeous place cards with both of these sets as you can see in these photos on the right. These were all created by Dawn Woleslagle, owner and designer of WPLUS9.

Next, I went back to the colored pieces while they were still a bit damp to do a trick I learned from my friend, Yana Smakula. She shapes her leaves, petals or what-have-you while they are a little damp and then lets them dry the rest of the way.  If you wait until the paper is completely dry, it can tear or mess up the heat embossing, but not if you do it while they are still damp. Be sure to stop by and check out Yana's blog.  She always has great projcts there and does awesome videos as well.

Before I started assembling my card but after the die cut pieces were dry, I went back to them and did a bit more shaping.  I didn't change the shape of anything, only intensified the gentle creasing I had done in the centers of the stems.

I attached the Rustic White background panel to my card base using my ATG Gun and then attached the leaves down the center using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  Once the glue was dry, I selectively placed a few Thin 3D Foam Squares to add a little bit of dimension without making the whole thing popped up and too thick for easy mailing.  

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my project.  I have several more finished for this week and just need to get the blog posts written.  I am wishing you all a beautiful fall week!