B is for Blessings

Another autumn collage card before I start posting Christmas themed cards. This was another one that was so much fun and so satisfying to do. There really is something with the vintage genre that soothes my soul. For my collage cards, I start out with a designer paper or a color scheme and then start reviewing my stamps and my embellishments to see what will work. Sometimes I have lots of elements and move them around to get an idea of whether or not they will fit. Sometimes I have made a piece of ephemera that I love, only to find out that it really doesn't fit the design that is evolving. No worries! I just set the element aside to be considered for a future work. Right now, in my stash I have a lovely gold embossed angel panel waiting for the right canvas.

For this card, I started with a 5.5 x 5.5" base panel of Close to Cocoa. The next panel up was Appricot Appeal embossed with the Cuttlebug Textiles embossing folder. I distressed and sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa plus I sponged some of the high points of the embossed design with Close to Cocoa. The next layer is Melissa Frances DSP that I distressed with scissors rather than a distressing tool to give more of a torn edge effect. Again, I sponged it with ink - this time Chocolate Chip. The DSP was then machine stitched onto the embossed panel.

I took a scrap of Appricot Appeal and another of Pumpkin Pie and punched the eduge with the SU Scallop Punch. I punched holes in each scallop of the Appricot Appeal panel with my Crop-o-Dile. The edges were torn and sponged with a darker ink and then the two panels were sewn together with a zig-zag stitch for a country feel. "Blessings" was heat embossed with Judi-Kins Eqyptian Gold EP as was the SU chipboard letter B. A maple leaf was punched with my old Creative Memories leaf maker and also gold embossed, topped with an SU button and hemp thread.

The two butterflies are Cuttlebug Butterflies die cuts. The die also comes with four embossing folders. The DSP is also Melissa Frances. I sponged darker ink over the high areas of the embossed images for effect.

The two tags were cut with the Cuttlebug Halloween sign die (whichi also comes with an embossing folder that I didn't use for this card). I first heat embossed the Really Rust card stock with Versamark and clear EP using some stamps from Garden Silhouettes and then dry embossed it with the CB Textile folder and sponged the high areas with Craft White ink. The Bittersweet Farms sticker is also from Melissa Frances and the gingham ribbon is from SU. I topped it off with a random silk flower that seemed to be the right color and a topaz colored rhinestone.

What do you think? Am I giving you too much information? I am still pretty new to blogging and don't really know how much everyone wants to know! Feel free to leave comments.