Hand Cancel!

I don't know if there's anything more enjoyable than experimenting with new stamps and "stuff." When I ordered the Playful Petals stamp set, it was with the realization that it's not my usual style and that it would push me to venture out of my comfort zone. I'm happy with my first attempts. The square card is all cardstock (Indian Corn Blue, Mustard, Cocoa and Colonial White while the other one is using paper from the new Free Spirit Paper pack (I love it!). There isn't much that requires explaining here. I lightly distressed the Colonial White with a Bamboo ink and sanded everything else. I used a sponge dauber to color the chipboard piece on the smaller card. Now that I've played with Playful Petals, I'm anxious to see what else I can create with this fun set.

I only used one new item from the latest CTMH catalog - the Foundry Frames - for these autumn cards. Everything else is from last year's Fall/Winter Idea Book, including the Abundance paper packet and Harvest Memories and Summer's Wave stamp sets. New to me was the StickStock Twill. I'd never tried it until I stamped the pumpkins on it. It worked great. Package directions suggest that you ink your stamp well and press firmly to get a good image. I used a piece of foam underneath for cushion. Now, about that Foundry Frame. What you see is not the painted metal frame. Rather, it's a piece of embossed Goldrush cardstock. While I could have sworn there was a little tutorial explaining how to do this in the catalog, I can't find it. Evidently, I must have heard about it somewhere. Regardless, it's easy. Simply mist your cardstock with water, lay it over the frame, and go over it with a brayer. When it was dry, I sanded it a little, trimmed it up, and cut out the center with an X-Acto knife. If you don't want to mess with a cutting instrument, you can cut a square of paper to fit in the center instead. The images on both cards are colored with PrismaColor colored pencils. About the Abundance paper, I love it this year more than last, and I'm glad it's not on the list of items being retired.