Fun With Fall Colors!

Aloha, all!

     This was one of those mornings that I heard myself repeatedly saying (to myself, of course), "Hmmm.  What if I did this?"  I had no plan for the morning, except that I needed to get some ideas out of my head and onto some paper!

     The first idea that was in my head came from a comment I made during a class I presented yesterday.  One of the class projects was one from quite awhile ago where we filled a card front with a zig-zag quilted style design.  My comment was that they could use just one two-square high strip to make a layered element on a card.  Now why had I not done that before?

     The second idea that was in my head was that this is the first day of Autumn 2013!  Of course I had to go pull out my Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper (DSP) set.  I'd already used some of that paper in some paper quilt patterns last week, so why not try some others?! 

     The third – and most compelling – thought was that I hadn't posted on my blog for almost a week.  Yikes!  That's what getting ready for a big class will do to me.  So I've got some catching up to do!

     The zig-zag element at the top of the card is made up of six 1" squares across and two 1" squares down, all of them using the punch technique that I've included in a tutorial that's part of my New Newsletter Welcome message. (Fill in the form up to the left and you'll get that tutorial as soon as you confirm your name on my list!).

     For my original card, I trimmed the pattern to 5" across (I trimmed 1/2" on both sides to keep the pattern somewhat symmetircal).  But here was one of my "what if I did this" moments.  I'm no longer stuck with my A2 sized envelopes (well, I never have been; it's just not been this easy) with my Stampin' Up! Envelope Punch Board!  So I looked at the list of sizes and found that a 5-1/2" x 7" (or A7 sized card) would hold the full zig-zag element very nicely.  After that it was:

• what if I used Old Olive as an accent?
• what if I used Apothecary Accents Framelits and the new Harvest of Thanks Stamp Set?
• What if I used the Chevron Embossing Folder on the quilt element – nice with all the other Chevron stuff!
• what if I stamped onto some Tangerine Tango DSP?
• what if I added some Old Olive Candy Dots?
• what if I made my envelope out of the Sweater Weather DSP?
• what if I put some Washi Tape on the envelope (I used the Epic Day Washi Tape)?
• what if I put a couple of left over "quilt" squares on the envelope?
• what if I made an address label using the same Apothecary Accents Framelit that I used for the card?

     Using the Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon wasn't ever a "what if?"  Once I saw the colors in the DSP, I knew that the Chevron Ribbon was going to be added.  I just didn't know WHERE it would be added until I tried out all my other "what ifs."

     Of course, now that I see the finished project, the question is, "What if I had…?"  Nope, not going there.  There are other projects to be done!  This one is finished, and I'm moving on. 

     But I sure had fun with it on a lazy Sunday morning!

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