Hello everyone! It’s Julissa of Paper Gems by Jules on the blog today sharing how I was inspired by nature when coloring this beautiful maple leaf included in the “Letting Go” stamp set. This stamp is just so beautiful and big! It is a perfect image for any fall or even spring themed card!
As Thanksgiving approaches, I was inspired to make a thank you card that I’ll give to my mom… but I’ll get to that later. In the mean time, I wanted to share how I was inspired to color this leaf. Using Pinterest, I looked up “fall leaf.” Here’s the image that came up.
I loved these colors and looked to see what Copic markers would create this gradient from rich burnt orange to yellow. Here’s what I used: E19, YR18, YR15, Y17 and Y08. Starting with the darkest color (E19), I colored the top five points of the leave solely at the edges. Using the YR18, I blended down and colored the edges on the top of the lower points. Keeping the shadowing in the reference in mind, I continued the blending from darkest to lightest, with the center of the leaf being the point of lightest color. Once the coloring was done, I fussy cut this beautiful intricate leaf. After cutting it, I used my black Memento marker to color the edge so that you don’t see the white core of the paper.
To add texture to the background, I stamped and heat-emboss with glitter gold embossing powder the “Small Details” background stamp set. I so love this stamp because it’s small enough to not be too distracting, but still adds interest. Next, I layered some torn scraps and wrapped orange string around that part. Using foam tape, I added the leaf and then used the NEW “thanks” die from the Unity Essential Greetings Die set! Yes… I said by UNITY! Not only do they make amazing stamps and stencils, but they even have dies out! Using gold glitter paper, I die cut one layer of thanks and then adhered it to several die cut layers of brown card stock and glued it to the string. And we are done! I can’t tell if I love the leaf or the die cut “thanks” more!
Now the reason for this thank you card is because my mom is so amazing. This will be my first year cooking for Thanksgiving and as much as she wants to dive in and help, she’s letting me figure it out and I so appreciate it. She inspires me to be a loving and caring mother, the way she has been with me and I truly can’t show her enough appreciation. I can only hope that I am as good as she is… and I can also hope that my turkey is as good as hers! 🤦🏻♀️ Thank you, mom. You are such a blessing.
Thank you everyone for stopping by and I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving. Don’t wait for this holiday to show your appreciation to those around you. There is so much to be thankful for. Oh… and did you check out the HUGE sitewide sale. Well, I’m thankful for ALL the great discounts from this amazing company!
Until next time… Happy Crafting!
Jules
