A Gorgeous Fall Day

It is gorgeous this morning! The sun is brightly shining, the birds are singing, and the fall colors are stunning. I can't ask for a better start to the day than the one facing me right this minute!

In celebration of this glorious day, I'll share a card I made earlier this week for the {Caardvarks} Scallop Challenge! I didn't get it to Jen in time for the launch of the challenge (sorry Jen), which bums me out, but I thought I'd share it anyways since it's so perfect for today.

I stamped the pumpkins from SU's Autumn Harvest set onto some watercolor paper using the mask technique. Then I watercolored them using my aqua pen and SU inks (Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel and a tish of Old Olive). To represent the blistery wind on a cool fall day, I stamped the swirl from Barouqe Motifs right above the pumpkins using Creamy Caramel ink.

The card base is More Mustard. I cut the front of the card slightly shorter than the back, and then adhered a scallop strip cut out of some Heidi Grace paper to the short end of the card. Then I glued the pumpkin image down right next to the scallop, and then layered another scallop strip on the opposite end of the card to finish it off. The buckle I used on the left side of the card is actually a vintage buckle I bought at a flea market a few years ago. I have about a million of them and have never used them before. I thought stringing ribbon through the buckle would look adorable, and I was right. I love the thought that this buckle was actually worn by someone, somewhere, at some point long ago. I'm not sure what the buckle was attached used for. It's obviously too small to be used on a belt. Does anyone out there have an idea? Since the brown and white gingham was too bright for the muted nature of this card, I sponged some Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut over it to make it more brown and CREAM!

I really love how this card turned out, althought it just sort of happened. I had no vision, no grand idea when I started making it. It was the first card I had made since being away from stamping for so long due to the funeral, so the mojo was seriously lacking this point. I'm glad it turned out. It was instrumental in getting me back in the groove of things!

I received two amazing RAKs yesterday from Lila Holgate, thanks Lila! I could hardly believe my eyes (or my luck) when I pulled this gorgeous card out of the envelope yesterday, it was like I hit the jackpot! Can you believe this card? Stunning. I love the huge flower Lila used, which she embellished even more using some stamps from Technique Tuesday! The sentiment says "you inspire me" and is from Verve Visual. I love every inch of this card and it's going up on the ledge right in front of me so I can look at it all the time....

This is the other card Lila sent....it's a sympathy card and it too is stunning. I love the way Lila used the curly clip along with her ribbon! I've got these same clips so I'm going to have to be trying this little trick out soon! Thanks so much Lila, for thinking of me. I'm touched you took the time to think of me! Hugs!

I've got some fun news! Tomorrow marks the beginning of another new challenge over at {Caardvarks}! I promise that you're gonna love this one...here's a little sneak peek at my contribution to the challenge......it was so much fun to make this little ditty. Can you guess what the challenge is going to be by looking at this picture? Stay tuned to find out!

Hugs everyone!
Amy