Well, Hello Autumn!

Let me start by saying I had so much fun making this card! It started with the stamp from the Brutus Monroe Fall Inspiration kit which is coming as a new release soon. If you are lucky enough to have received the Fall Inspiration Box the stamp just might look familiar. I used the leaves and the largest sentiment for this card. But wait — that cute print you see in the background — it is from the new Brutus Monroe Digital Paper Kit called Autumn Harvest! Yes, it is digital — which means once you buy and download it you can print and use all the designs!

The specifics: I started with the digital paper and scaled it to 75% before printing (another plus to digital papers!). I cut the white cardstock card back to 5” x 5” so it would fit in the slightly off-center way I placed it on the 6 x 6 Brutus Monroe Square Card Base. I stamped the sentiment on white heavy cardstock and then spritzed it with Liquid Elements Spray in Penny followed with Guilded. I am in love with the Penny — especially for this time of year. Once again I issue the warning — don’t freak out when you first spray it — it dries much lighter than you think it will! Panic averted! I stamped two versions of the big oak leaf on a basic goldenrod cardstock. Using Brutus Monroe Alabaster Premium Pigment Ink I did the solid leaf. After it dried completely, I used the matching leaf skeleton stamp with Detail Ink in Raven and placed it right over the top of the Alabaster. I also used the Detail Ink to stamp a few of the smaller leaves and some of the larger acorns. Oh, I almost forgot, I spritzed the leaves and acorns with Penny and Gilded, too. Just enough glitz with a hint of rose gold to make them special! Just a side note — I love how the Squeaky Clean let me move from Raven to Alabaster and back with no bleed-through of inks. It is the hero in all of this!

Stamping complete, I did some fussy cutting of the leaves and acorns. I’m probably the last person standing who likes to fussy cut! Remember…I’m from the age of dinosaurs when no digital cutting machines were at hand!! Luckily, we had good sharp little scissors back in the day! I backed the sentiment with a print from TRLPlansandPrints ECV-0153 (shameless promotion) and love the way it looks on the Brutus Monroe Digital Paper. Then it was time for the leaves — I popped the big leaves up with one layer of foam tape, giving them a bit of depth and tucked the smaller leaves in place with regular double-sided tape that I used on all the elements. The acorns are scattered here and there. I topped it off with a few rounds of twine and a bow, nestling an acorn in the knot.

I love the color combos in all the elements and the Liquid Elements Penny and Copper push it up a notch. Funny how the littlest thing can sometimes make a big difference. I think I see a tag or bookmark using these same elements in my not-so-distant future. They would be perfect for all you planner community people and make great holiday gifts that are affordable and can be mailed easily. I'm thinking you’ll be inspired when you see all the fun new digital papers and stamps this month. I’m sure ready for cooler days and long cozy nights in the studio — dreaming about spiced cider and all things fall. There are so many new things at Brutus Monroe to experiment with — curious to hear what you’ll be playing with this season.