Fall Leaves

Leaves! Beautiful autumn leaves everywhere! I love autumn, especially the colorful trees. Today's clean and simple card showcases some new products from Papertrey Ink. The leaf comes from the set "Leaf Prints". What makes this set so awesome is that there is a separate stamp for the leaf and a separate stamp for the veins. It's a picky little thing, but it really makes a difference! This could only be done with clear stamps, where you can see exactly where those veins are being stamped.

I also used the matching leaf die cut in my new Big Kick machine. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to get one of these fantastic machines? I am loving it! Thank you, my dear husband, for a great gift!

The sentiment, from Beautiful Blessings (PTI) is perfect, as I am sending these out to the families whom I have been assigned as part of my shepherding duties at church.

The big block of sahara sand ink? That's from the very old SU stamp set called "The Shape of Things". I had previously listed this set for sale, but have decided to take it off the market. I think it will have a lot of useful applications for my clean stamping philosophy. I added a little fine point line around the rectangle with my Pigma micron marker, and just like that, I've made a perfect frame for the focal point of this card. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!



I finally had the opportunity to walk the trail this morning. Now that I'm working, I've been missing my morning walks with the Lord. This morning, the sun was shining and the air was crisp, and I let my soles catch up with my soul as I talked to God. We had a lot to catch up on.



I found some amazing leaves on the trail today! Would you look at the size of them?!



To give you a little perspective, here's my Frodo Baggins-sized Hobbit hand on top of the leaf. Yep! That's a biggun'!



I was so excited to find this specimen alongside the trail today. Many of you may recognize this beauty as an Osage orange. But the shocking thing is that I found it here in central Indiana! My son, John, had told me last year about finding these on a winter cross country run. As he described this unusual nut/fruit, I knew he had to be talking about an Osage orange, but I couldn't imagine them growing this far north. Apparently they do! I brought this home to show John, who is on fall break from college. Yep! That's what he saw, too!

Many people use Osage oranges to keep bugs and spiders out of their basements. It just so happens that I have a basement that grows some pretty big spiders! I think this Osage orange has found its new home!