I'm baaaccckkk....

...to stamping and cleaning the house and posting and all that fun stuff! Whew! I have to say that I missed all both of you and am happy to have a little one-on-one time with my computer, although I had more fun than should be allowed in the two weeks that my friend was here. The good news: we did not need bail money. I figure if you can say that after two weeks with your best friend that you haven't seen in 13 years, then you are doing pretty doggone good.

Now, how about a card? I was in a cool weather mood the other day and wanted to play with one of my retired sets, so out came Basket Full of Fun.

This card uses Really Rust and Sage Shadow for the cardstock colors. I ran the sage panel through my Cuttlebug with the Textile embossing folder. Then I went through one of my huge stacks of paper to find a pattern that felt autumnal to me. You know, it is hard to feel "autumnal" when it is still in the 70's everyday, but it is a fun word to say so I had to throw it in here.

I used the masking technique and stamped the leaves all over the ground, then masked a couple sets of them so that the bucket of apples could sit behind them. This was one of the trickier masking jobs I have ever done simply because I realized that I was not going to be able to remember or reproduce the way that I had turned the stamp all willy-nilly to get random leaves down, so I ended up making 3 masks and piecing them together.

Then I got out my trusty ink pads and a blender pen and went to coloring. I tried to draw from the colors of the patterned paper to tie it all together. These apples are one of my better attempts at producing light and darkness using regular dye inks instead of copics. After I finished the coloring I just sponged on some blue for a bit of sky above and some caramel for the ground under the leaves and put everything together.

I hope that everyone has a great day, and look for me to be posting much more regularly again! Now, it is off to work on some Christmas cards of my own, then I am going to figure out a timeline o' cooking for this week so that I can sit and enjoy the Macy's parade myself come turkey day instead of being trapped in the kitchen cooking all morning long. Check back soon for an incredible brined turkey recipe that will make your tummy sing and your guy offer you stamps for life. Yes, it is that good! Also, check back on Wednesday for information about an upcoming Stampin' Up! special as well. Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim