| Autumn themes are rich and warm, as such they are | | | | trees, either in their autumn colours or stark and |
| usually my favorite seasonal themes for scrapbooking. | | | | mysterious. Create the misty effect by covering the |
| 1. Autumn Leaves. Obvious? Perhaps, but still fun. If you | | | | page with vellum, you might like to attach the vellum |
| can't find a suitable themed paper you can easily | | | | with a leaf shaped brad. You can make an interesting |
| create your own to fit this theme. Using dark green or | | | | border by using a leaf shaped punch on the vellum to |
| burnt orange card (or ivory card and dark green and | | | | allow little leaf shaped patches of the background to |
| deep red inks) stipple distress inks on your background | | | | show through. Add a heading with chipboard letters, |
| card using a real sponge. You can then use a soft dry | | | | you can easily color these by stippling with green or |
| brush to smudge the inks softly so they merge, | | | | rust distress inks, such as those in the Tim Holtz |
| creating a misty unfocused background of autumn | | | | collection. |
| color. Make a decorative outer edge (the left edge for | | | | 4. Knights of Old. Not specific to autumn, a Knights or |
| the left hand page, the right edge for the right hand | | | | Heraldry theme uses all the autumn colors with the |
| page) by stamping with a leaf stamp and embossing in | | | | addition of copper and gold. This sort of theme is |
| gold to make the result stand out. Add your pictures | | | | useful for a family tree style page, where you might |
| on a matte of a contrasting autumn color (say burnt | | | | put together information about your grandparents and |
| orange if your background is dark green) and if you | | | | their parents and create your own idea of a family |
| want to add more, cut the matte in the shape of a | | | | shield or crest. Use brown, dark red and green and |
| sycamore or maple leaf. You can create a journaling | | | | create shield shaped mattes for your pictures, trimmed |
| tag in the same way and add assorted brown and | | | | with gold either from peel-offs or conventional |
| gold fibres as decoration. As a final touch add tiny | | | | embossing. Use a red ribbon to show the connections |
| vellum stickers of autumn leaves and you'll have a | | | | between the pictures. You can complete the layout |
| lovely leafy layout. | | | | with one of my favorite embellishments, a reverse |
| 2. Food For Thought. If you've ever picked berries and | | | | emboss. If you can find a dark red embossing powder |
| made jam, or made pie from home grown apples, | | | | and a monogram stamp, take a circle or shield shape |
| you've experienced the wonder of harvesting your | | | | of card around 1 inch in size and start building up the |
| own, home grown food. No matter how the | | | | red embossing powder on it in layers. Keep adding |
| technology around us advances there is still a particular | | | | more and more, all the while using your embossing tool |
| sense of achievement in growing something, whether | | | | to keep the powder hot. Once you have built a |
| it's fruit on a tree, grapes on a vine, herbs or | | | | number of layers, ink your monogram and stamp it |
| vegetables from the garden. If you've harvested | | | | hard into the thick embossing powder. The result |
| anything of your own, or if you plan to, record the | | | | should look very much like an old fashioned seal. Add |
| event in your scrapbook with pictures of before and | | | | a red ribbon below it and attach to your very |
| after as well as a recipe or two. If your pictures are | | | | aristocratic looking layout. |
| digital, and most are these days, why not use the | | | | 5. Halloween. If you have pictures of your little ones |
| graphics program on your computer to create a | | | | dressed for Halloween, you need a Halloween layout. |
| collage of all the 'before' pictures for one page, and | | | | Die Cuts are ideal for this but you'll also find plenty of |
| then add a picture of a completed pie, wine bottle or | | | | stickers in the shape of ghosts, skeletons, bats, |
| meal, along with the recipe, on the facing page. For | | | | witches hats and pumpkins. Use these and decorate |
| journaling, cut out (or get die cuts) in the shape of | | | | the page with glitter and bright colors. Large witches |
| vegetables, and add colorful vegetable stickers and | | | | hats make great journaling tags, while pumpkins make |
| you'll preserve your achievement for future | | | | great mattes for photographs, especially if they are |
| generations. | | | | round. As a background black is ideal, if you find your |
| 3. Autumn Mists. I used to drive through Runnymede, | | | | witches hats and bats don't show up, either cover |
| the site where King John signed the Magna Carta, on | | | | them in adhesive stars, or rub the edge with silver ink |
| my way to work each day. In the autumn, mist used to | | | | and emboss to make the shapes stand out. Use |
| lie right on the surface of the river, giving it a really | | | | metallic sakura pens for your journaling and you'll |
| otherworldly feel, just like something from a legend. | | | | create a layout which will preserve all your Halloween |
| Since then I've always thought of autumn as slightly | | | | memories for years to come. |
| supernatural. An ideal background is a paper showing | | | | |