Fall Leaves and DSP Strip Technique

October brings the beauty of Fall.  

What is more beautiful than the view of leaves in bright yellow, deep red, and golden orange?  Here in Florida, we don't have the luxury of seeing the beautiful rolling hills and mountains of glorious color.  But we can travel a few short hours and be caught up in the gorgeous views in Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  We do have to wait longer for those "Foliage Views" found in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, but the wait is so worth it.

My card below captures the colors of the falling leaves and with the embossing created by the dies and embossing plates, you can see the texture of the fallen leaves.  You can almost hear the "crunch" created when you walk on the fallen leaves!  

To create the card, I used the leaves from the Love of Leaves stamp set and Stitched Leaves dies found in the Stampin' Up!  2021-2022 Annual Catalog [AC] on pages 115 and 165.  Then, I used the technique of diagonal Designer Series Paper strips, which is so easy and fun to do.  The technique also has the advantage of using some small pieces of DSP you may have in your stash.    

Here's the directions to make the card:

1.  Create a card base 11 inches by 4 1/4 inches. (I used Cinnamon Cider cardstock).   Fold at 5 1/2 inches to create a portrait card. (Fold at top of card).

2.  To create the first layer, cut a piece of cardstock 5 1/4 inches by 4 inches.  (I used Early Expresso).  Cut several strips of DSP 1/2 inch by 7 inches.

3.  Starting at about 1 1/2 inches from top left corner of the cardstock (Early Expresso), lay the strips down on an angle.  Don't worry about extra inches laying over the edge, they'll be trimmed later.  Line up the strips in whatever order you like.  Here I alternated every three, but you can alternate less or more, or even use a different DSP pattern for each strip! Just be sure to have the strips touching but not over top of other strips. Once the strips are lined up how you like, glue them down, and then turn the card over and trim the extra DSP.  Next lay the piece of layers (Early Expresso cardstock) on top of the card base and glue leaving a small amount of the card base showing.  

4.  Cut three leaves using the Stitched Leaves Dies so the vein lines show and then emboss the leaves with the Bark embossing plate (AC Page 154) to give a little more texture. Use dimensionals to attach the leaves to the card and add a thread bow with a mini dimensional.   Add Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels (AC Page 142) to provide a little sparkle and then add your favorite sentiment.  Using Early Expresso ink, I stamped one from the Love of Leaves stamp set on a piece of Old Olive cardstock.

Simple and Beautiful!  Hope you enjoy using this technique to make your special card.  During the month of October, the kit to make the card above will be sent to you FREE as a thank you, with any Stampin' Up! order over $25, when you use my October Hostess Code: TC9HXA4W.  Please remember, if your order is $150 or more, do not use my code so you can receive the rewards you earn.