"A Year of Leaves" Tip Sheet

The images and sentiments in "A Year of Leaves" will take you through an entire year of masculine and feminine cards, for simple and elegant thank yous or birthday, as well as covering occasions celebrating beauty, change, growth and recognizing loss or difficult times.

Makes quick masculine cards, perfect for any guy in your life!

Change your colors with the changing seasons.

Leave are easily shaded with just a few greens in the spring but no rules apply in the fall, anything goes. Drops bits of different colors onto the same leaf, make them patchy or streaky or look at photos for examples.

Use gorgeous yellows and greens with your leaves for beautiful spring cards and use them with the related Spring and Easter/spiritual quotes in the set.

Collage stamp them in different colors to make beautiful background papers.

Cut out the leaves and pop them up for dimension.

Paper piece them with patterned paper for a whimsical look!

Add drops of Crystal Lacquer for dew, this will work perfectly with the "dew on the tip of a leaf" quote!

Added a pierced or dotted trail for the leaf to fall from. Or, stamp a leaf at the bottom of your mat and then stamp off going up tilting the image back and forth to imply the falling motion (this is also called generation stamping)

Sketch a simple branch to attach the leaves too. For fun, glue a real twig to your card, just add stamped leaves! or use a stem image from "A Year of Flowers".

The caterpillar represents growth, change, new beginnings. Paired with the caterpillar sentiment, it is appropriate for a sympathy card, or to give anyone who is on the verge of great change or needing to make big choices. Or it can just represent a caterpillar LOL!

Place the little caterpillar on or around the edge of the leaf. Stamp him along edges of mats and borders or even along the top of a sentiment, exploring your card!

Use the caterpillar with a butterfly from Gina's "Take Flight" set, perfect with the new sentiment. Put them both on the front or save the butterfly as a surprise for the inside.

Mix them with other nature sets, one or two large leaves from this set will be the perfect addition to the corner of a card made with these Gina K sets:

Happy Camper

Tree Silhouettes

Winter Foliage

Home Tweet Home

The Journey

Autumn Beauty

Kindred Kids and Dads

and many more!

Mix and mask leaves with the flowers from "A Year of Flowers" to make very full and festive looking arrangements, simply stunning with the sunflowers, see examples here of some gorgeous fall bouquets!

After cutting the leaves, curl the edges with their fingers to give them interesting shape.

Stamp them on brown paper and crumple for crunchy fall ones!

Stamp on colored paper and sponge the edges, easy coloring!

Stamp on Polyshrink or into Sculpy Clay to make beautiful charms for book marks, wine rings, jewelry, etc!

Created stamped framable art or coaster with the leaves and on e of the inspirational quote for a friend.

Make a gift box of note cards with the different leaves and a greeting on each.

Create a calendar or planner coloring the leaves to represent the changing seasons.

Mask or cut them to make a beautiful seasonal wreath.

Mask or cut them in a pile like raked leaves for a "Happy Fall" card.



Techniques with leaves:


bleaching, embossing, water coloring, cracked glass, Emboss resist, wax crayon technique, Joseph's coat, Versamark resist (ghosting) etc!



More projects:
home decor: stamped place mats, napkins and napkin rings, coasters
place cards for a dinner or thanksgiving Feast
candle ring
gift wrap
scrapbooking accents and frames (back to school, raking leaves, and other Fall themed pages)
easy background papers