Autumn Thanks for Friends With Flair

Happy Friday!! I'm back again this week with another project for Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop. Check the Unity blog for details and a list of today's participants.

I am so psyched that the new {ippity} challenge is to make a card inspired by Fall. I really needed to start a supply of autumn-ish cards, so this was just what I needed to get going. I was inspired by what I think are quintessential fall colors.

I used three different {ippity} by Unity stamp sets to create this card: the flower is from Now & Always, the background is from A Bit of Burlap, and the sentiment is from Regal Greetings. Building that layered fall flower was a blast! I got to play around with canvas (so hot right now in the papercrafting world!) for the first time. It was fun experimenting with coloring the originally all-white canvas. For the bottom layer, I sponged the edges with distress ink. The middle layer was sponged all over with dye ink. And the top layer? I sprayed it with Gold Glow Smooch Spritz!

In other news, I had a bit of a field trip on Wednesday--I finally got to meet a blogging friend in person! It turns out that the oh-so-sweet and extremely talented Debbie Carriere, one of the Mojo Monday designers, lives in the next town over from us. Crazy, right? And now that our very busy summers are over (Debbie was busy with just a little thing called Paper Crafts GALLERY IDOL, making it all the way into the Top 10. WOW! Lil' ole me got to meet a papercrafting celebrity in the flesh!!) and our kids are back to school, we meet up for coffee this week. Meeting Debbie was delightful!! So cheery and down to earth. And thoughtful, too! After reading on my blog that I am die-less, Debbie gave me some fabulous die-cut panels and shaped cards that she had cut just for me--along with some fabulous Close To My Heart goodies. See? I told you she was oh-so-sweet!! I can't wait to use it all. To thank her for her generosity, I dropped this autumn thank you card in the mail to her this morning. (Debbie, if you are reading, I'm so sorry if I spoiled the surprise!!) Anyway, it was so fun to chat face-to-face with someone who "gets" this hobby of mine. I'm looking forward to getting together with her again soon--and next time, I'll remember to bring my autograph book!

Well, that wraps things up for now. Thanks so much for dropping by for my little slice of bliss today!!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} by Unity: flower from Now & Always, background from A Bit of Burlap, sentiment from Regal Greetings
Paper: SU Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron CS; Daydream from 365 Degrees collection by Pink Paislee; Still in Box from The Thrift Shop collection by October Afternoon
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, SU pumpkin pie, Palette burnt umber, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz
Accessories: SU oval punch, SU circle punch, SU corduroy brad, sewing machine, white canvas
Techniques: machine stitching, misting, handmade flower