It's starting already!

Hello stamping people!  Thanks for joining me on this sunny September Wednesday!

Yesterday when I got out of the car in our driveway, I looked down and saw the most beautiful small leaf that had fallen from one of our Red Maple trees. Yikes... it's starting already and it is just 2 days after Labor Day!  This little leaf was about half Lucky Limeaid and about half Cherry Cobbler, to put it in Stampin'Up! terms... just a gorgeous mottled leaf!  I thought, "how beautiful," and then I looked up at those massive trees with zillions of leaves and I had another thought entirely and it wasn't a pretty one!  While I love fall and the amazingly vibrant colors of the leaves, raking them is not one of my favorite things.  Luckily, my "yard man"  (that would be John) is pretty good about keeping the yard looking neat and tidy.  When things get really bad--- leaves more than six inches deep--- I pitch in and help.  You are welcome to stop by... don't forget to bring your own rake!

So what, you are asking, does this have to do with stamping?  Well, I'm getting to that right now.  Of course I'm sure you've guessed that I have a card featuring fall leaves today, so here it is...

This card could work for almost any occasion... an autumn birthday, Thanksgiving, thinking of you, get well, etc.  Just pick a sentiment for the inside and you're in business.  I used several new products from the Holiday Mini-catalog on this card, most notably the new stamp set Wonder-fall, which is on page 33.  I used the Autumn Accents Bigz Die, also on page 33, to cut out the leaves. The third product I used from page 33 is the new Woodgrain embossing folder--- I just love it!
The colors of the leaves are Old Olive, Cajun Craze, and More Mustard.  The card stock colors are Crumb Cake for the card base, Core-dinations card stock in Early Espresso, and the horizontal accent strip is Cajun Craze.  You can find the new Core-dinations card stock on page 6 of the Holiday Mini catalog.  I embossed the Core-dinations paper with the Woodgrain folder, then lightly sanded off the top layer, exposing the lighter core of the paper.  This gives a wonderfully rustic look to the card. 
Some Linen Thread and a button from the Regals collection, p. 176 of the annual catalog add a nice finishing touch. 

We'll be making this card at Connie's party on Saturday September 15th at 1:30 at my house.  Please drop me a quick email (sjrstamps@gmail.com) and I'll add your name to the list of people who will have the fun of using some great new products.  That's all for today, stampers, as I am off to cut more paper for my upcoming Jingle Bell Jump this Saturday.  Have a great Wednesday and I'll look forward to visiting with you again on Friday.

Stamp something pretty today!
Susan