Cheery Lynn Die-cuts

I started the day by making a batch of sweet cucumber relish.  I make it every year and it's one of the preserves I give to family and friends at Christmas time (along with raspberry jelly and red pepper jelly).  This is a delicious relish which is awesome to have on hand for summer barbeques (great on hamburgers and hot dogs!) ... but it's also really great with roast beef (hot sliced, or cold in a sandwich).  Our family loves it!  I'll include the recipe in the Baking section of this website (see top left-hand column).

Sweet Cucumber Relish

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Today I received my first order from Cheery Lynn Designs (Phoenix, Arizona).  They offer several items for sale, but their specialty is die-cuts.  I ordered two sets of leaves (one small and one large).  I love the detail of the embossed centers of the leaves!  I also purchased some thick red foil which I'm thinking might work really well for Christmas cards.  Speaking of that ... I have seen a lot of Christmas cards lately on SCS ... I guess I should start thinking about making some.  The past few years I've worked on coming up with one design and then making 35 of the same card to send to family and friends.  Maybe this year I should challenge myself to make 35 different designs - sounds like fun!!!

For today, my card celebrates fall. ... I love the fall season (my favorite!) with all the beautiful colors of the changing leaves.  Hope you like.

"Changing Leaves" 

Stamps:  none!

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Whisper White (SU!)

Ink:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze (SU!)

Accessories and Tools:  Cheery Lynn Large Leaves #2 die-cut, Big Shot, Cuttlebug "Forest Branches" embossing folder, sponges, hemp twine, sticky strips, adhesives and dimensionals

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I ran a large piece of Soft Suede cardstock through the Big Shot with the Cuttlebug "Forest Branches" embossing folder.  I sponged Early Espresso ink overtop to highlight the embossing and also around the edges of the cardstock to add depth.

I ran four pieces of Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot with the Cheery Lynn Large Leaves #2 die-cut.  I sponged one with Old Olive ink and added a little Daffodil Delight ink for highlights.  I sponged a second leaf with Daffodil Delight ink and added Pumpkin pie ink around the outside edges.  The third leaf was sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink and Cajun Craze ink was added around the outside edges.  The last leaf was sponged with Cajun Craze ink with Early Espresso ink added around the outside edges.

I cut four 1 1/2" squares of Crumb Cake cardstock and sponged Soft Suede ink around the outside edges to add depth.

I wrapped hemp twine around the embossed background five or six times and knotted at the front (off center).  I used sticky strips to adhere the embossed background to the Crumb Cake card base (edges of the card base were sponged with Soft Suede ink).

I used dimensionals to adhere the four squares to the front of the card, popping them up to add depth.  Dimensionals were also added to the four leaves (so they are double-popped), which were adhered on top of the four squares - making sure each leaf was facing in a different direction to add interest.