#SimpleStamping Saturday First Frost. I have really enjoyed putting this project together for you. It uses one of my favourite stamp sets from last year’s Autumn/Winter Catalogue too. First Frost is a great set for so many occasions, or ‘just because’, which is what today’s card is all about.

As ever I have started with a Quick and Easy card, using one of our Note Cards and Envelopes, and a very technical piece of equipment, a Post-It-Note! I have used First Frost, which might be seen as a strange choice, because it is a it is almost impossible to stamp it badly. It layers so well.

The colours are Cherry Cobbler, Mint Macaron and Sahara Sand, which may not be an obvious choice, but I love them. For me, the key to all Quick Easy Cards is to make sure they don’t look too ‘meant. So, to avoid this I have made sure that some of the images come off the edge of the card, and overlap. The Post-It-Note is used to mask off the flowers when adding the foliage. I used second generation Sahara Sand as I just wanted those images to fill in some of the ‘white space’. I repeated the stamping on the envelope, using a larger Post-It-Not to mask the front of the envelope.

For the next version I added some coloured card and a piece of our wonderful smooth Whisper White card, but basically the stamping is the same. I chose to hand draw a frame around the stamped area. This is a technique I love, but forget to use. It is so simple and for this card I just used a Basic Black Stampin Write marker. The trick is to draw the lines deliberately not straight, and to skip anywhere there is stamping. It just adds some depth to the finished card. The final touch was to add some gold Metallic Pearls.

The the Avid/I have all the Stuff card, I added a second colour of card, keeping the Cherry Cobbler as a mat to take the place of the hand drawn frame. I also added the dies, which were originally available as a Bundle, saving 10%. It is worth remembering that Bundles only last for the length of a catalogue. The individual items may carry over, but not as a Bundle, so to get the First Frost stamps and the Frosted Bouquet Dies, you have to pay full price now. I added an extra small rose, but otherwise it was the same card, even down to the gold Pearls.

So did you enjoy that? The full making of the Quick and Simple First Frost  version is in the video above. In the video I said I would put a Starter Kit together that I think would be a great investment for a newish stamper. It takes full advantage of the current Extra, Extra offer and is EXACTLY £155 worth of product. Now, here’s the thing. Although I have listed it with links to my Online Store, if you want to try the Starter Kit, you need to click the Join my Team button, NOT the Shop Online button. This really is a great deal, more information further down this post.

The products I used in today’s projects are listed in order below:

Nail Varnish Colours

Today’s Nail Colours are by Nails Inc. PLEASE NOTE, I get no commission from Nails Inc if you choose to shop from them using this link.