There is just something magical this time of year. I don't know if it is the way sights and sounds can easily take me back to my younger days or just the way colors seem to change before my eyes. Have you been seeing children kicking through leaves on their way to school or heard that infectious giggling when they jump in puddles? It immediately takes me back to my days of walking to school and making sure that every leaf pile or puddle between my house and school got a sample of my footprints in them. Were you that way too? It didn't seem to matter to me then that my feet would get wet even through that extra protection layer provided by an old bread bag in each boot (or maybe you're not as old as I am). Crunching of leaves under my feet is still a favorite sound to my ears, and it makes me imagine I could run and jump into that pile of leaves like I am the next great Olympic high jumper or a youngster of 6 or 7.

Most of all this time of year just makes me feel grateful and I find I start to count the blessings in my life. It doesn't take me long to start thinking about all the special people in my life and why I am thankful to know each of them. I like to design and make Thank You cards as often as I can. I just think they are appropriate anytime and don't get sent as often as they should be. This week's card was presented at a recent card making party as one of my "fall" cards. It could easily be turned into a sympathy card or a masculine birthday card as well. 

Here are the card basics:

• Cardbase (Soft Suede) 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" folded in half. Put fold to top for a horizontal opening card.
• Accent Layer (Very Vanilla) 5 1/4" x 4"
• Embossed Layer (Cajun Craze) 5" x 3 3/4"

There is something special about the Petal Burst embossing folder. It blends in nicely with a floral background or it it right at home with this leaf look. I love it when products are so versatile. It brings value to the purchase. Speaking of value, this set of framelits looks beautiful when the leaves are stamped and then cut-out, but as you see I am using the "negative" effect on my background. I cut my leaf using the Leaflets framelit out before I embossed, because I wanted to put the leaf inside the card for an extra embellishment, but you could cut the leaf out after you emboss to have a little texture on that accent piece as well.

Some tips to help assemble the card. 

• Adhere the accent layer to the cardbase.
• After embossing and cutting out the leaf use Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up the embossed layer to give some added shadow to the card.
• Attach the greeting to the cutout accent layer then tie a cut bow with the gold ribbon.

You can get additional help with the instruction page or if you don't have these great products in your stash do a little shopping today!

 

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