Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you have a great week ahead of you. I had a super fun weekend with a trip to San Francisco to the farmers market and a foggy ferry ride. It's one of our favorite ways to escape the heat here in Sacramento. We are so lucky that we can go about 75 miles away and it's 40 degrees colder! We love going to the ferry building and hanging out for the day. My favorite photos from the day are on my Instagram! I really enjoy taking photos of flowers and gorgeous produce... I find all that color and natural beauty so inspiring. God truly is the master artist!
Lots of my crafting friends are already knee deep in Christmas crafting! I am so grateful that I can wait on that this year and enjoy the natural flow of the seasons in my art and creating. I can feel the light changing ever so slightly in the evenings signaling the first glimpse of fall... And that has me super excited and anxious for Fall cards. Because Fall is my favorite time of year. I'm sharing two cards today with Fall colors and themes. I couldn't help myself- couldn't wait! LOL.
There were two amazingly awesome new stamp sets that caught my eye from Concord & 9th recently. Angie and Greg were kind enough to send them to me so I could play! (they literally are the nicest people and I'm so glad they are my friends). I've seen lots of projects with both of theses sets (City Stacks and Furry Friends)... But I wanted to put my own twist on them - I made them Fall themed!
First up is a card using the beautiful and innovative City Stacks Stamps and Dies. One of the things at the very top of my life bucket list is to visit Central Park in New York in Autumn. I soooo want to do this one day. Until then, I've created a card to look like Central Park might look in October! I stamped and die cut and layered and water colored and had the best time making this!
I tried out some new watercolor paper for this project - for the city pieces and the trees/ground pieces. It has a nice linen texture to it, instead of the typical bumpy texture. It colored very nicely! Coloring the city was easy with my MIjello Mission watercolors. I mixed black with indigo blue to create a steely blue grey color like buildings. I did a wet on wet technique and really didn't fuss over it too much. I die cut them out with the matching dies. The dies include a pretty cloud border that I used at the top of my layers.
***One note about my watercolors... I got this set of watercolors about a year ago. They have been so 'life changing' to my crafting. Yes, they are expensive! But I have not regretted spending the extra money on them. The tubes are still about 80% full and I've been painting with them all year. So I figure that they will last me at least 6-7 years. They are creamy and vivid and beautiful. I never thought I would be able to see the difference but I can!! Just wanted to put that out there for some of you who are on the fence about the Mijellos. I like the set I bought because it comes with a palette and everything. XO
This finished card is a slightly modified A2. My card measures 5.5 x 4.5 inches.
The stamp and die with the ground and trees has three trees on it. I stamped and die cut out three of these pieces so I could have extra trees to put in my scene. I water colored the ground with a few shades of green and water colored the trees using vivid yellow, orange and a touch of red. This is how my brain sees Fall trees! LOL. The welcome die comes with the set. The stamped and heat embossed sentiment is from an old set that I don't know the name of!
Here's a close up of the trees/coloring. The biggest tree stamp has a tire swing on it, so I just trimmed that part off.
This is how the city scene looks when stamped and die cut.
This photo shows how I layered everything.... You know I love layers!!! More is more!
If you look closely at the ground pieces you can see where I trimmed off the trees. Then I used foam tape to attach them where I wanted them! Never be afraid to play and change things up!
For this second card I used the awesome Furry Friends stamps and dies. This stamp set is SO GREAT!!! It has a deer, a bear, a fox and a horse and matching accessories. I love a good woodland creature stamp set, yes I do! I immediately wanted to make a deer with a flower crown! I mean, right?? I had just gotten some new Fall paper pads too, and I used two of them for the paper layout of this card. I combined it with my favorite wood grain paper too. Yes!
This finished card is A2 size. I started by layering my paper pieces. I used cream paper instead of bright white for this one. I used a bit of brown twine to add texture and softness to the overall feel of the piece. And, as I am known to do, I got some gingham in there.
I stamped and die cut out the deer, the antlers and the flowers/leaves. I colored them with inks and also with Copics. For the sentiment and the circle, I used Distress Ink and a sponge to ink the edges and make it look more vintage. I finished with a few enamel dots from my stash, picking up that pretty blue color from the paper pad.
That's it for my first Fall projects of 2018. I'll be back to making Summer projects later in the week! LOL. But I literally could not wait to stamp these stamps and bring these ideas to life. Thank you for stopping by my blog today! CLICK HERE TO shop Concord & 9th! I hope you have a great week. See you soon! XOXO
SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!
Thanks for the entertaining read! I am regularly visited your site and found a wonderful post every time. Thanks for sharing this post guys. Lots of love.
Posted by: David Schillo | 09/12/2018 at 03:21 AM
I love both these cards. Love the layered cityscape and park. So pretty!!
Posted by: Dorlene | 07/28/2018 at 07:13 PM
Thank you! Makes me feel cooler just looking at them. I shall try making my own Fall cards just to keep the “cool” going!
Posted by: Rosa M. Vasquez | 07/25/2018 at 03:16 PM
Like you...a fellow Fall birthday....Fall is my favorite season. I wish I could detect autumn in the air, but it’s just. too. hot. I love both cards, but the second card (and the wonderful patterned papers in the Echo Park collection) is vintage Wanda. In fact, the papers in that pad remind me of one of your earliest blog posts!
Posted by: Julie | 07/23/2018 at 02:57 PM
Love the crown on the deer....fall colors are grea
Posted by: Geneva | 07/23/2018 at 09:52 AM
Wanda, love these fall cards! I will be MORE than ready for fall and heading to Montana soon where it will feel like fall to me! The first card you made is just so unique! I really like the elements. And the second card is just so you! I love how you mix papers and create such inviting cards! Appreciate your input on the watercolors you used— I have Kuretake but was considering Daniel Smith as well. Now will look into the Mijellos. Have a lovely week!
Posted by: Julie L | 07/23/2018 at 09:16 AM
Your cards always make me smile!!
Posted by: Nancy Hassan | 07/23/2018 at 07:46 AM
Love your endorsement of Concord & Ninth.... I have several sets, I think this one is really great. Summer is going by quickly. Our daughter is getting married on Aug. 8th, our last big occasion for this summer. So we will head north to upper Michigan. A place near and dear to us, as we were married on Mackinaw Island 32 years ago this month!! Your cards are so beautiful and you are inspiring. I need to try Instagram I know I'm missing loads of pictures.
Posted by: Anne Sturgeon | 07/23/2018 at 07:27 AM