Fall Project Series: #2 Card Sketch and Stamping With Bleach

These cards were just FUN to make!  When I was a little girl, my Mom taught Sunday School at our church.  Her class became known among us kids as the "messy fun" department! Even though we were dressed in our Sunday Best, Mom always had plenty of Dad's old dress shirts that we could each put one on backwards (buttoned at the neck) as an Artist SMOCK and then we were free to use paint or glue or whatever was needed for our project. Every fall one of her projects called for us to take a walk outside to gather  up some of the beautifully colored fall leaves. We would use wax paper to capture them for a "placemat" to use at home.  I think that is when my love of fall first began! I just LOVE the colors and the smells and sounds of fall.

The "sounds of fall" you might be asking.  Yes - there are some distinctive sounds that signal fall for me. Crunching leaves, a whistle in the wind and one that you might not expect...the sound of a high school marching band and drum-line practicing! We always lived near the high school when I was growing up...and even before it was my turn to "take the field" with the Mighty Mustang Marching band, I always knew it was really FALL when I could hear the sounds of the band practicing off in the distance.  Last night, as I stepped outside to pick up a few things scattered around the yard, I heard that familiar sound...coming from the Mt. Juliet Marching Band. It brought a smile to my face..."fall is really almost here!"

That is probably why the inspiration for these cards came from this set of stamps by Tim Holtz.  They're called Autumn Blueprint and I put them on my "must have" list when I saw them during Tim's CHA reveal.

So many possibilities....so I ended up creating a little sketch to work from for these cards - one that would allow me to create a LOT of cards in an assembly line - but make sure that each one was a unique work of art that would convey the love and gratitude I have for the recipient.  Here is the sketch. To make it larger just double click on it - and if you want to save it, right click and do "save as" so that you can print it off for your own use.

I have done a video to show you the different techniques I used to create each of the elements for the cards.  The big technique focuses on how I used a stamping with bleach technique to create the focal image - but I also share other techniques that allowed me to use similar supplies that were just bits and pieces in my scrap drawers to personalize the embellishments.

I hope you enjoy! Here are a few additional pictures of some of the cards!

Have a great weekend...and hope fall is headed your way!