Fall Birthday Cards

'Tis birthday season in my family and friends.  This means that card making season is in full swing as well.  I made this set of cards, inspired by our recent cooler weather.  Arizona doesn't officially have a fall season, so I decided to make my own.

I used my long dormant Distress Stain to create the papers from which I used my Hero Arts September 2016 monthly card kit dies to decorate the die cut wreath.  The Distress Stain that I used included:  Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Gathered Twigs and Ripe Persimmons.  I added some Antique Bronze Distress Stain to each which created this fantastic shimmer without being too girly.

I then created the backgrounds for the cards.

The backgrounds were made with varying amounts of Antique Bronze, Wild Honey, and Gathered Twigs Distress Stains.  My fingers were so inky after this - mostly brown - which caused my husband to remark later in the day.  He wondered how I hurt myself... ha.  I stamped the sentiment inside the wreath using brown Archival Ink and clear heat embossed to make it stand out (shiny!).

All that was left was the arranging the tiny images onto the card and adding a little Nuovo glitter drops in copper to the card fronts.  These really made me feel the fall air in our sunny Arizona.  I'm staring at the stamp set from the card kit and thinking I really need to make some good use of this years-old stamp set.  Hopefully I'll be back to share those soon.

Plus, today is my mother's birthday.  I've made a card, but haven't given it to her yet, so I'm holding off the posting until after we've had a chance to surprise her.  Looks like I'll be back soon.