Lovely as a Tree, Stampin'Up!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Just a reminder... today is the last day to get 15% off any and all stamp sets in the annual and holiday catalogs.  Don't miss out!  

Can you believe that I'm using the oldest stamp set ever?  This one has been in the Stampin'Up! catalog ever since I joined the company in 2001.  And it was in the catalog before that.  I'm not sure how long this set has been around, but let's just say it's been a looong time.

Check out my card and then I'll tell you about it...

First, let's talk about the colors.  That's Delightful Dijon card stock, along with touches of Early Espresso.  The colors I used to sponge the scene with are, from the top down:  So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, and Crumb Cake.  The bare trees are stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.  I cut a hole in the Delightful Dijon panel, then framed the hole with an oval mat cut from Early Espresso.  To make a thin mat, just layer two sizes of framelits, one inside the other and run it through the Big Shot.  That was easy! 
 I left off the sentiment to allow the card to be customized.  It could be a great fall birthday card, a Thanksgiving card, a thank you card, a thinking of you card... even a sympathy card.  Why not make some cards like this and leave them blank like I did?  Then when you need a specific type of card, pull out the appropriate stamp and you'll be "good to go!"

Speaking of bare trees... we cannot wait until the trees surrounding our house look like that!  We are buried under an avalanche of gorgeous red maple leaves.  They are truly beautiful, but we have way too many to really appreciate!  Right now there is a tidy row of them raked into the street, the regulation 12 inches from the curb so as not to clog the storm drains when it rains.  The city is supposed to come and remove them, but we'll be working on that all week, bagging them up and taking them to the leaf disposal site ourselves, since waiting for the city removal folks has resulted in an ugly, mushy mess the last several years.  In case you haven't tried it lately, I can say that raking leaves is a great aerobic workout.  

I'll be taking a break from raking this weekend, with back-to-back classes on Saturday and Sunday and I hope I will see your smiling face at one of them!
Weekend happiness to all!
Susan