Autumn is here!

Well, I guess technically fall doesn't start until the 21st of September but the leaves are turning and the air is cool. Here is a card I made using a scrap of a One Sheet Wonder I had made awhile back. (a one sheet wonder, aka OSW, is when you stamp an entire sheet of cardstock to create a patterned look and then cut up pieces to use on projects, a very fun and efficient way to stamp) In this case my scrap came from a whole sheet of glossy cardstock I had stamped with the Sketch It set. The colors are more mustard, old olive and ruby red. After stamping them, I went back over all the images with a sponge dauber inked in the various colors and burnished it. Burnished you ask?? Basically it is rubbing in the color and works best on glossy paper. It gives it a more subtle look. Afterwards I inked up the Weathered background stamp in close to cocoa, stamped off once and then stamped over the images to give a faint crackled/aged look. The Weathered stamp is also used on the card base in close to cocoa. The "Autumn" is from the Season by Season set, I stamped it on old olive cardstock and punched it out with SU's new large oval punch. I also popped it up on dimensionals. Add a bit of ribbon and you are done.
If you know me at all you know that I love learning and sharing tips and I always love a bargain. My tip for today is about sponge daubers. If you have never seen one, they are like thimbles with a sponge tip. You can stick your index finger in them for better control. I use them for burnishing, sponging the edges of things to create a dirty or aged feel, with pastels (ie poppin' pastels), and more. I think they give greater control than other sponges. I am slowly growing my collection of daubers and assign/label them to a specific color so I do not constantly have to wash them out. Which you can do by the way, simply put a small drop of dish detergent on them and rub them under running water until the water runs clear and let them dry. They may be stained but clean. I am a SU demo but I also am cost aware and in the case of daubers SU has the best deal I have found. I have not looked extensivley on-line but Joannes carries them in a 3 pack for 3.99. SU sells them in a pack of 12 for 9.99. They last quite awhile too.
Have a blessed day!