field notes

Happy Fall!  i know, it officially began on Saturday, but with our 90 degree weather over the weekend, it just doesn't feel like it here.  but i do have a very definite Fall project to share tonight.

for the September Creative Weekly over at the Crate Paper blog, we were asked to create a project that celebrated Fall and focused on neutral colors, especially shades of brown.  woodgrain immediately came to mind and as i started going through my CP supplies, it became apparent that nature, too, would play a large part in my project.  my goal was to create something naturally neutral.  

this month, i also wanted to do something more than just a single card, and with the amount of products i found to use, i decided to make a mini card set.  and what mini card set is complete without cute packaging to hold it?  i took an A6 paper bag envelope, created a simple liner for it out of yellow paper, and then decorated the outside.  the liner was incredibly easy to make, and one of these days, i'll show you how i did it.  

as i searched through my Crate stash, i came across the "field notes" note card from the Portrait collection and was drawn to it immediately.  it's an older piece but i knew i had to use it for the color and the images of nature it invoked.  i also went with butterflies and flowers, hemp twine, wood buttons, wood veneer pieces, cork patterned paper, and burlap.

i used my vintage typewriter to write a little description for the set, then added on a few bits of yellow and orange and woodgrain, naturally!

 first up, this little guy uses a woodgrain tag from the new On Trend collection.  i added a chipboard butterfly from the Random collection, a smaller die cut butterfly from Pretty Party, and a cork cut out from Story Teller.  the butterfly washi tape is Tim Holtz.

this next card has more cork paper from ST, a woodgrain tag from OT that i made, and the tweedy "happy" cut out is from Acorn Avenue.  i cut the book page piece out of a Garden Encyclopedia that belonged to my grandmother.  lastly, i used a Little Bo Peep wood veneer tag and a small piece of burlap trim.  

  

on this card i used a couple of different woodgrain patterns.  the tag is from Acorn Avenue and the cork border strip sticker is from ST.  the orange leaf tucked behind the tag is another cut out from AA.  Little Boy Blue alpha stickers, along with the Story Teller "a moment in time" die cut, make up the sentiment.  the yellow zig-zag striped paper i've been using for hints of color is also LBB.  

so many papers and embellishments worked together, being that they were neutral.  i just had to make sure to add in the pops of color so that the cards didn't look too washed out and boring.  it wouldn't have taken much for the elements to all just blend together into one big, bland piece of brown.    

onto the last card (it might be my favorite!)...the orange and red "hello" sticker is from ST, as are the background cork paper and the die cut flower bouquet. i used a LBB wood veneer tag and tied a bit of hemp twine onto it.  the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch and i typed "my friend" on a tiny piece of vellum with my typewriter.  the chicken wire-looking paper is from On Trend while the woodgrain washi tape is Hambly Studios.

these little cards were all about building layers and trying to cluster items in a haphazard, yet orderly, way--if that makes sense.  basically, i just planned them all out to make them look random.  this project was so much fun and a great way to take that first step into the wonderful season of Autumn--even if it still feels like the middle of summer here.