fall colors adventure

Tom and I like to take a "color tour" in the autumn, since we live in the beautiful state of Michigan.  We drive north after work on a Friday evening and stop when we get tired - this first leg of the trip is closer to home, and we don't feel the need to drive it in daylight.  Saturday morning we head north again, and eventually over to one of the coasts, and meander home sometime Sunday.  Sometimes it's hard to judge which weekend will provide peak color, and a lot of times we accidentally run into homecoming weekend (when it's hard to find a hotel room) in one college town or another.  This year we couldn't fit the "tour" into our schedule, but it's been a fabulous and long-lasting season and we've enjoyed the beautiful autumn colors on all the little trips we've taken close to home, even just running errands.

In honor of Firework Night (a/k/a Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes Night, or Guy Fawkes Day) Mandi and Chrissie at Less is More have asked for clean and simple cards featuring red and orange.  I got rather naturally "stuck" on autumn colors and looked through my leaf and tree stamp sets for some time.  While I was thinking, I remembered that I needed cards to include with Stampin' Up!® orders for customers.  I specifically wanted 3"x6" cards so I could easily tuck in the $1-$2 they over paid on shipping & handling, and I also wanted to feature our Well Worn designer series paper:

Stamp sets are Gently Falling and Pursuit of Happiness; ink is Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, and Soft Suede; card stock is textured Sahara Sand and Cajun Craze.  I used the Decorative Label punch for the sentiment and popped it up on Stampin' Dimensionals.
 
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, I just decided maybe I've done enough autumn for now, and out came my new stamp set Floral Fillers, and this card nearly made itself:

Card stock is Peach Parfait and Very Vanilla; ink colors are Poppy Parade, Tangerine Tango, and Peach Parfait.  The sentiment was punched out with the Large Oval punch, sponged at the edge with Peach Parfait, and, again, elevated on Stampin' Dimensionals.  I didn't feel I'd done enough of this shape card, though.  This one is 3-1/4"x6-1/2" and will nicely hold comic strips that need to be shared as well as checks or paper money, and fits perfectly in our small open-end envelopes.  I've decided now that I'd like to have those envelopes in Very Vanilla as well as Whisper White, especially since they can be mailed without extra postage!