I really struggle to take accurate pictures of anything with yellow in it and this was no exception. This is some of that special paper that I've used before, albeit very sparingly. However, once I saw Nichole's Inspiration Image, I knew I didn't have anything else as perfect as this plaid, and so I used it. I have just 2 full 12 x 12 sheets of this plaid left now. That means I should be able to get at least 8 and probably 12 more cards before I am completely out of this paper forever. It is a very old Sandylion paper from back in my scrapbooking days and I have carefully hoarded it to make it last this long.
Nichole always finds the most beautiful inspiration photos to inspire us and also mentioned that it would be a great time to have one last hurrah with some of our favorite autumnal products. This card uses one from last year and one from this year as well.Give Thanks is a favorite set of mine designed by Dawn McVey. I love the wheat stalks in it, particularly since I am from Kansas (the largest producer of wheat in the world) and it always makes me think of the family farm back home. In this case, I just wanted to use one of the sentiments from the set.
For my card base, I started with a top folding card made from Kraft Cardstock and worked my way up through the layers. The very bottom layer of the mat is cut from Sun Shimmer Cardstock, and then a slightly smaller rectangle of the plaid paper was put on top. I wanted to use a label or banner for my sentiment and this one is always on my desk. I had just one panel of Gold Shimmer Cardstock (another treat from my friend Cindy O.) and I wanted to use that little bit lighter shade. It's an oldie Spellbinders Die that I got a GASC more than a decade ago. The cool thing about it is that it embosses also.
Because my RA and Fibro have been giving me so much difficulty lately, especially with intricate dies, I gave in and ordered a Gemini Electric Die Cutting Machine which arrived yesterday afternoon. I really wanted to see if this machine would do anything at all with dry embossing because the embossing pad is so very thin that you wouldn't think it would work at all. HOLY COW! The embossing is so impressive and about ten times better than I could ever get with an embossing mat in my hand crank die cutting machine. I was impressed! You can find more information about the Gemini on the Crafter's Companion Website, HSN, or Blitzy.com as well as others I'm sure. The Gemini Junior is pretty hard to find right now. They were only available at Crafter's Companion and HSN before, but I wanted to be able to cut a full sheet if I wanted and I have a dedicated space for my studio, so smaller and more compact was not important to me. I have my little red sidekick and the new thicker cutting pads for it sitting on my desk for small dies.
Some of the embossing detail was there just from the die cutting sandwich but when I ran it through with the embossing sandwich, I was floored at how well it worked! After that, I took some Summer Sunrise Ink and an inexpensive cosmetic brush using it like a stencil brush, and inked all around the edges of the label. I dried it just a bit with my heat tool to make sure the ink was dry and then prepped my surface with my powder tool to get ready to heat emboss it. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat set it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder, then stamped it again and heat it again with another layer of embossing powder. This has become my preferred way of Heat Embossing with at least two layers of embossing powder and sometimes 3 or 4. This particular card was done with two but I kind of wish I had done one more.
For the final element, I die cut the large branch from the Beautiful Berries: Autumn out of the scrap of Gold Shimmer Cardstock and then stamped it out using Dark Chocolate for the branch, and Melon Berry and Orange Zest for the Bittersweet Berries. I thought it would look strange if I did the die cuts from White or Cream Cardstock and the Gold Shimmer Cardstock took the ink very well. Just as I was finishing this card, I decided it needed some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Copper Penny for the finishing touch.
While I made this card for the Papertrey Blog Hop, it will work very well for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #470 as well!
 Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS |  Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS |  Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies Shop at: SSS |  WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS |
 Versamark Ink Shop at: PTI | SSS |  Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS |  Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS |  Papertrey Ink Kraft Cardstock Shop at: PTI |
 Papertrey Ink Gold Shimmer Cardstock Shop at: PTI |  Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops - Copper Penny Shop at: SSS |  Give Thanks Stamp Set Shop at: PTI |  Beautiful Berries: Autumn Shop at: PTI |
 Beautiful Berries: Autumn Dies Shop at: PTI |  Perfect Match Summer Sunrise Shop at: PTI |  Perfect Match Melon Berry Shop at: PTI |  Perfect Match Orange Zest Shop at: PTI |
 Perfect Match Dark Chocolate Shop at: PTI |
