pictures of fall

So Dana, from the Papertrey Playhouse has a giveaway over at her blog and to enter you need to post a video or picture of your house of neighborhood relating to the beautiful fall (or whatever season it happens to be where you live. The prize in some American Crafts goodies she is so generously sharing!! Too cool!! I had to enter!!! However, the contest ends tonight, so hopefully you can get over there and link up your own photo before it's over!!

I live in Florida, so technically (as in, according to the calendar) it's fall. However, as most Floridian's know (at least those that live from Central Florida on south know) there are really only two seasons...hot summer and cool summer (HA!). It's still in the 70's here, early this past week it was in the 80's. Our coldest day so far happened a few weeks ago and we got down to the brisk upper 50's for an overnight low...still got into the upper 60's during the day. There is usually a week (maybe a little more than that) where we get close to freezing, maybe even below freezing. But that usually doesn't last too long...hence the hot summer and the cool summer. But fall is my favorite season...still...even though I live in Florida now. I am originally an upstate New Yorker, living in central NY to be more specific. I spent 4 years in Oswego for college...and had 4 years of a lakeside view from my dorm room. I know snow!! But I love the changing of the colors of fall. My neighbors have a few sugar maple trees in their yard. One year one seed planted itself into my mom's tomato pot. I wouldn't let her pull it out. That tree is now huge (maybe 25 feet tall) and a few years back it too had seeds that planted themselves into some of my mom's pots. In 2005, she brought me three little sugar maples. One survived (they are not native to central FL and the heat really confuses them) and we have since planted it into our side yard. My mom take pictures of the big tree every now and again with Instagram to show me...so I take pictures of the baby maple here to show her. This is the most recent...

It stands about 4 feet tall right now, and as you can see the leaves are still quite green. They don't change colors but they do fall off sometime in December or January (when it gets cold) then they start to regrow in March or April (totally different from the cycle I was used to growing up). The grass is still green, and it will remain that way. It does stop growing during the fall and winter months, so my husband enjoys that a lot...no mowing. He usually uses that time to trim the big oak trees in the front yard.

I also thought I'd share the photo we took yesterday. It's pretty close up, but you can still see some of the leaves on the trees in the background...and the sun shining. It was a nice breezy 75 yesterday!! Still can't get used to that on Thanksgiving (or Christmas for that matter) no matter how long I live in FL.

I hope you Friday has treated you well. Have a super fabulous weekend (and find some crafty time if you can). Thanks for stopping by!!

Deb

4x6 photo love - October

Holy Moly has it really been almost 4 weeks since I last blogged?? I guess I really needed a break from blogging. Sorry about my absence!! But, I now have tons of projects to share!! But as we get into full holiday swing, I have a feeling my posting will be sporadic at best! I am planning to do a December daily again this year and I would love to say that I will be keeping up with it daily, but I didn't actually finish the 2010 album untill well into February...so I am not making any plans or promises to myself that I know I am sure to break. I will take photos often and keep track of the daily fun with a notebook or journal (just like I did last year) so I can really enjoy the season, then put the actual book together as it fits in with my schedule. I will work on it in December, but I am not going to put pressure on myself to keep up with it daily. As long as I am recording the memories of the day I figure I will be in good shape!! So that's my December Daily plan!!

On to the layout I want to share. I put it together for the latest 4x6 photo love class over at 2 peas. This time using 10 photos on a layout. In this latest installment, Shimelle uses a 10 photo page protector (5 photos on each side). I don't have any of these specific page protectors so I just went with the layout design. Here's what I came up with...

This is very much a photo-centric layout with little journaling. I also had 2 other photos from this particular activity, not worthy in my opinion of a full page to themselves. So I decided to add an 8x8 supplemental page for those 2 photos and more journaling. Here are those to additional pages...

I used lots of American Crafts Margarita (with a few Amy Tangerine leaves) in keeping with the theme of the album. These are layouts from our Hawaii trip back in 2004 and that's the collection I am using to give the pages some continuity. I am also happy to report that I am almost done with this album!!! Hopefully I will be able to call it complete before 2011...but if not that's OK too!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

shimelle's pretty paper party

First off, let me just say Happy Halloween!! I can't believe it's Halloween and November starts tomorrow!! Crazy how fast time flies as you get older!!

I signed up for Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class a few weeks ago, but I am about 2 weeks behind on completing the prompts!! It's always good to show up fashionably late to a party right. If you want to sign up and take the class you can do so here. Like all of her classes, you can sign up at any time and have access to all of the class information forever! And, no, I don't get anything for letting you know about the class. I just love Shimelle's classes so I try to pass along the info when she has a new one.

This class is all about pattern paper and using it on our layouts. I love me some pattern paper that's for sure, so this class was perfect!! And I am determined to start and finish this class...maybe a little late on both sides, but I am doing my best to get caught up and at least finish on time...or close to on time! I will be working through all the prompts (I keep telling myself that so it comes true...I feel like I should write that out on a chalk board somewhere over and over and over...HA)!!

First order of business is to share our paper. I have lots!! I am a paper collector that's for sure. I usually get new stuff, let it sit in my stash while I actually scrap or craft with older stuff. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to cut up the brand spankin new papers!!! I am slowly getting over that thanks to Shimelle's Stash Diving class from True Scrap I (I picked up the class when they went ala carte back in May). But here is a shot of some of my paper stash...

Sorry about the quality of the photo...it's a bit dark for my taste. But this is completely unedited. I didn't move papers around for this photo, so I figured I would leave it as is...exactly how it turned out from the camera.

I will be back tomorrow with my projects from the first two prompts of the class. I am up to working on prompt #7, though I received #13 this morning (we get 6 each week). Catch you back here then...thanks for stopping by!
Deb

happy thanksgiving

Victoria is the latest host over at the Papertrey Playhouse blog, and she has challenged everyone to make a fall themed card, or if you're ready for the holiday season, to make a holiday card. Fall is my favorite season, even though there really isn't much of a fall in FL (it really just goes from summer to summer, with maybe a week or two of cold weather sometime in January...ha)! I grew up in central NY and went to college right on Lake Ontario, so I know fall and winter well...the last 11 years have not been the same for me with out the distinct change of seasons, leaves turning warm shades of red and orange, and not even the remote possibility of snow during the holiday's. So I jumped at the chance to make a fall themed card, and decided to make a Thanksgiving card to send to one of my family members in a few weeks. I used a stamp set that I've had for a while, but haven't used in a while. I did some masking and layered lots of ink colors.

I popped one of the pumpkins up off the card with some foam adhesive to give it some added dimension. It was a little flat without doing this. Loved making this card and I am going to be using this set again soon!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

bring happiness & joy

One of my new favorite stamp sets is Candy Cane Christmas (I used it yesterday and will be using it again today)...and I haven't even busted out the matching dies or inked up the actual candy cane from the set yet...that's how much I love it...so useful in creating so many fun projects. When I saw this card from Maile Belles, I knew I wanted to try to recreate it...and it was so easy. You can check out her post of this card on her blog here.

I just needed to be a bit creative because she used the Green Thumb stamp set for the ornament strings/hooks, and I do not have that one. Instead, I use the School Time set. I found that the ledger stamp set had a perfect line that I could use to recreate the look, all I needed to do was carefully ink up one line from the ledger stamp. It was perfect if I do say so myself, and a became a new use for an stamp set I already had...you know, stretching my supplies!!

I went for a non-traditional card this time around with the color scheme. I am loving aqua, pink, and light green for Christmas cards this year...and this one would be so easy to recreate. Oh and I can't forget to mention my fondness of the new Stylish Sentiments: Holiday stamp set either. I had such a hard time picking which sentiment to use on this card. I can't want to ink up another stamp from this set. I can already tell I am going to have quite a fun time making my holiday cards this year!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb

sweetest christmas

I have another card to share today! I broke out some more new stamps and dies for this card, and an old impression plate that hadn't gotten much love! I am loving this color combination, too - red and rustic cream! I think rustic cream is my favorite from Papertrey Ink. I love it so! Have a looksie...

I used the new damask snowflake dies, the pinked circle die from the 1 3/4 inch limitless layers collection, and my trusty 1 3/4 inch circle punch. As for stamps, I broke out the new Candy Cane Christmas (love this set) and stamped the label and sentiment onto the rustic cream circle. I added some pearls for extra interest and dimension...plus I think they make that layeres snowflake look lovely!!

I didn't want to add any pattern paper to the card, but I also didn't want just a plain card base, so I used the Holly Jolly impression plate for the base of the card. So subtle, but it is a great addition to the finished card.

Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

October Blog Hop Challenge

It's time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!! This month it's all about autumn and fall!! Love this time of year...just wish I was back up north and able to see the leaves change!! This is the one season I miss the most since relocating to Florida!! Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas have never been the same here!!

Anyway, on to the challenge!!! It's another photo inspiration challenge!!

photo credit

For this month's blog hop inspiration we've selected something with a bit of an autumn flair. The fabric selections and pattern combinations used on these petite pumpkins are a prime way to jump-start a fabulous fall paper project. Use the colors as your inspiration, or perhaps focus on the patterns You can also utilize pumpkins or maybe some felt die-cut leaves. Whatever you choose, you are sure to have amazing results!We look forward to seeing your projects!

I decided to use the colors of the photo as my insipiration, and pulled out a stamp set that I haven't used in a long time...Autumn Aubundance! I also pulled out the paper collection that went along with this stamp set. Here's what I came up with...

I love all of the layers on this card...though it is quiet a simple card! I started with some Rustic Cream cardstock for the base of the card and layered on the dotted pattern paper from the Autumn Aubundance collection. I then used my Mat Stack 1 die (with Terracotta Tile cardstock), Layerz Mat Stack 1 die (with Orange Zest cardstock), Doily Details die (with Spring Moss cardstock), and a 1 3/4" circle punch (with Rustic Cream cardstock) to create the main focal point. I then layered this on top of some Spring Moss ribbon. I stamped the leaf image from the Autumn Aubundance stamp set using Spring Moss ink, and then stamped the sentiment from the same set using some Stampin Up Chocolate Chip ink.

I think I may be sending this to my parents as we get close to Thanksgiving...I hope they aren't looking!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Deb