Misty Autumn Leaf

Full disclosure: Today's card is not one of my favorites, but I like some of the elements so I decided to share it anyway.  I have been making so many winter and love cards lately (mostly for Operation Write Home) that I wanted to step back and make an Autumn card.  I love Autumn, but I really, really, really love Christmas!  I seem to rush into the Christmas season faster and faster each year (much to my husband's dismay, I switched the ring tone on our house phones to "Jingle Bells" months ago!).  I am also running behind on my monthly cards for the Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers, so this will be my October verse card for the challenge. 

Here is my effort to refocus on Autumn as we approach Thanksgiving:

I started by die cutting a circle from a piece of scrap paper, then used the negative of the die cut as a mask.  I placed it over my card stock panel and sponged Ancient Page Saffron, Memento Desert Sand and Memento Potter's Clay in the open space of the circle.  I thumped Summer Sun, Garden Green, Always Artichoke and Handsome Hunter markers on my leaf stamp, then misted it with water and stamped it over the circle, then removed my mask.  I stamped the sentiment in Ancient Page Pine and adhered the panel to a piece of Ultrasmooth Vanilla and a brown card base.  I used a distressing tool to rough up the edges and sponged some Distress Ink over the panel (I forgot to write down which Distress Ink I used).  I think if I made this one again I would use less Distress Ink and maybe an add embellishment or two. 

I apologize for not keeping track of the card stock and Distress Ink colors as I used this time.  I've tried to get into that habit but my memory slips now and then!

If you're like me and overwhelmed with pre-holiday planning and shopping, I hope you will take a few moments for yourself to create something just for your own pleasure.  If you're crafting for the holidays (or in my case, for the holidays and my daughter's upcoming birthday), it can start to feel like work or a chore.  If I can do some crafting just for fun and relaxation, it helps balance out all the stress-inducing "have to" items on my list.  I am hoping to sneak away for a bit of crafting every day or two during this busy season, just to maintain my sanity!  I hope you will, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used:
 

Stamp: PSX
Paper: Various sources

Ink: Summer Sun, Garden Green, Always Artichoke and Handsome Hunter markers (Stampin' Up!); Ancient Page Saffron, Ancient Page Pine (Clearsnap); Memento Desert Sand, Memento Potter's Clay (Tsukineko); Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger)

Tools: Big Shot (Sizzix); Circles #2 (Sizzix); Edge Distresser (Close to My Heart)