Beautiful Autumn Greetings
The name of this card, Beautiful Autumn Greetings, is a play on words as it uses two products from Stampin’ Up’s mini catalog–Beautiful Autumn and Autumn Greetings. While the name might be playful, this card is sweet and warm.
In card design, sometimes simple is better. I tried pairing the colored floral spray with papers in the Gilded Autumn suite, but nothing really worked. This stamped image is a little busy, and there was just too much going on with the designer series paper. I decided to back up and consider a high-contrast simple solution. The Subtle embossing folder provides a little extra texture, but it doesn’t compete with the beautiful stamped image.
In keeping with the simple-is-better theme, I also tried several different ribbon possibilities and ended up keeping it simple. I used a 1″ strip of the Early Espresso cardstock to create a decorative edge. I used the strip dies in the Autumn Essentials die set (part of the Autumn Greetings bundle). The die cut border gave it a little extra decorative interest but let the stamped image be the star of the show.
Who’s a little bossy?
Because I used the dark Early Espresso paper, the sentiment needed to be stamped in white embossing powder. While playing around with colored images, I tried different colors on the flowers/leaves and also colored it on Very Vanilla paper in addition to the Whisper White. Because the sentiment was being stamped with white embossing powder, that drove the decision to stamp and color the image on Whisper White cardstock. The Very Vanilla would have been pretty but there would have been discord with the white stamped sentiment.
The large stamped image also dictated that the sentiment be linear rather than stacked words. Lucky for me, the Beautiful Autumn bundle had the perfect greeting. I’m starting to think this stamped image is a little bossy…good thing it’s so pretty!
The Star of the Show
On this card, the stamped image is really the star of the show. While I could try to explain it here in writing, it really is easier to just watch the video below. I also show a variation on the Very Vanilla paper. On that version, the focal point roses are colored with Poppy Parade. While pretty, that color just didn’t pop as much against the Cajun Craze background.
Watch how to assemble the Beautiful Autumn Greetings card:
I put an instruction sheet together with all of the measurements and steps so you can recreate this card yourself:
You might enjoy other cards I’ve made with the products celebrating fall:
